Every Wi-Fi channel in the 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz bands, with its channel number, centre frequency and how channels bond into 40, 80, 160 and 320 MHz. Pick a band and a region, then click any channel to see its details and every wider channel it belongs to.
Channel numbers and frequencies
A Wi-Fi channel number is a shorthand for a centre frequency. In the 5 and 6 GHz bands, numbers go up in steps of 5 MHz, but Wi-Fi channels are 20 MHz wide, so only every fourth number is used as a 20 MHz channel. Wider channels are made by bonding neighbouring 20 MHz channels, and they are named by the channel number at their centre: in 5 GHz, channels 36, 40, 44 and 48 bond into the 80 MHz channel 42. Wider channels are faster but leave fewer separate channels to spread access points across.
1 · The channel map
Band
Rules for
2 · Channel ↔ frequency
Enter a channel number or a centre frequency in MHz.
Band
Formulas: 2.4 GHz: 2407 + 5 × channel (channel 14 is 2484 MHz). 5 GHz: 5000 + 5 × channel. 6 GHz: 5950 + 5 × channel. The channel number of a bonded channel is the number at its centre.
3 · How many channels you get
Separate (non-overlapping) channels of each width, for the rules selected above. DFS channels are counted but need radar detection; restricted channels are left out.
4 · Power limits: EIRP and PSD
The most power a device may radiate (EIRP, including antenna gain) and the most per MHz (PSD, power spectral density), for the rules selected above. Where there's a PSD limit, a wider channel may send more in total: max EIRP = PSD + 10 × log10(channel width in MHz), up to the EIRP cap. Click a channel on the map to see its own limit. Device types such as low-power indoor, standard power, AFC and very low power are explained in Definitions below.
The power that actually leaves the antenna in its strongest direction: transmitter power plus antenna gain, minus cable and connector losses. Most rules limit EIRP, because that is what reaches other users.
The power delivered to the antenna connector, before antenna gain. US 5 GHz rules are written as a conducted limit plus a maximum antenna gain (usually 6 dBi); a higher-gain antenna means turning the power down by the difference.
Power per MHz of channel, in dBm/MHz. With a PSD limit, total power grows with channel width: max EIRP = PSD + 10 × log10(width in MHz), up to the EIRP cap. A 20 MHz channel is 13 dB above the PSD, 80 MHz 19 dB and 320 MHz 25 dB.
Two ways to write power. 0 dBm = 1 mW, 10 dBm = 10 mW, 20 dBm = 100 mW, 30 dBm = 1 W and 36 dBm = 4 W; every 3 dB doubles the power.
Access point, client and subordinate device
An access point (AP) runs the network; clients (phones, laptops) connect to it. In 5.9 and 6 GHz, clients may only transmit after hearing their AP, and usually at lower power. In US rules a subordinate device is an indoor device such as a mesh extender that works under an indoor AP and has the same limits.
The 6 GHz class for ordinary indoor access points. No coordination is needed, but the AP must be indoors, with an integrated antenna, and in the US it may not be weatherproofed or battery powered. Limits: US 5 dBm/MHz and 30 dBm (clients −1 dBm/MHz and 24 dBm); EU 23 dBm; Thailand 24 dBm (250 mW).
A US 6 GHz class for access points indoors or outdoors at up to 36 dBm EIRP and 23 dBm/MHz, in UNII-5 and UNII-7 only. Standard-power APs must use AFC, so they can't operate until an AFC system approves their channels and power.
An online database service that protects licensed users of 6 GHz, mainly fixed microwave links. A standard-power AP sends its location (and antenna height) to an AFC system, which replies with the channels and power it may use there. The AP must check in again at least once a day.
A 6 GHz class for portable devices such as phones used as hotspots, wearables and AR/VR headsets. VLP devices can work indoors and outdoors without AFC, but only at low power: 14 dBm EIRP, with −5 dBm/MHz in the US and 1 dBm/MHz in the EU.
A US 6 GHz class adopted in 2026, at up to 24 dBm EIRP and 11 dBm/MHz in UNII-5 and UNII-7, indoors or outdoors. Instead of asking an AFC system, the device uses a geofencing system (a map of exclusion zones) to avoid frequencies near licensed links. GVP devices may not be mounted on outdoor structures such as buildings or poles.
Required on 5 GHz channels 52–144, which are shared with radar. Before using a DFS channel an AP listens for radar (the Channel Availability Check, usually 60 seconds and up to 10 minutes on EU weather-radar channels), keeps listening while it operates, and moves to another channel if it detects radar.
The ability to turn transmit power down on demand. In the EU, 5 GHz devices without TPC must use limits 3 dB lower; in the US, TPC is needed on UNII-2 channels above 500 mW EIRP.
A general EU licence-exempt category with its own low power limits. At 5725–5875 MHz it allows 25 mW EIRP, far below normal Wi-Fi limits, which is why that range is marked restricted for the EU.
One 20 MHz channel in every four in 6 GHz (5, 21, 37 … 229). Clients scan these first, so 6 GHz APs usually put their primary channel on a PSC or advertise themselves on 2.4 or 5 GHz.
UNII (Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure) is the US name for the 5 and 6 GHz Wi-Fi sub-bands (UNII-1 to UNII-8). The 2.4 GHz band is part of the ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) band shared with microwave ovens and Bluetooth.
↗ opens a term's full entry in the Wi-Fi Glossary, which explains over 400 Wi-Fi terms with their IEEE 802.11 references.
Notes
2.4 GHz: 802.11b channels were 22 MHz wide and OFDM channels are 20 MHz wide, but the channel numbers are only 5 MHz apart, so neighbouring channels overlap. Channels 1, 6 and 11 don't overlap, which is why they are the usual plan everywhere (1, 5, 9, 13 is sometimes used where 13 is allowed). 40 MHz on 2.4 GHz uses two of the three clean channels and is best avoided. Channel 14 is only allowed in Japan, for 802.11b.
DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection): channels 52–144 share spectrum with radar. An AP must listen for radar before using them (usually 60 seconds, up to 10 minutes on weather-radar channels 120–128 in the EU) and move away if it hears any. Clients don't send first on a DFS channel until they hear the AP.
6 GHz: clients can't scan all 59 channels quickly, so APs are found on preferred scanning channels (PSC: 5, 21, 37 … 229, every 80 MHz) or through the 2.4/5 GHz radios of the same AP. 6 GHz requires WPA3 or Enhanced Open. In the US, standard power outdoors or at higher power needs an Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) system in UNII-5 and UNII-7; low-power indoor use is allowed across the band.
320 MHz (Wi-Fi 7) exists only in 6 GHz. There are two overlapping sets, "320-1" (channels 31, 95, 159) and "320-2" (63, 127, 191), so an AP can pick the one that avoids its neighbours.
Regional rules in this tool are a summary for planning, not legal advice: United States (FCC Part 15, including UNII-4 at 5850–5895 MHz indoors and 6 GHz at 5925–7125 MHz), European Union (ETSI EN 301 893 and Decision (EU) 2021/1067 for 5945–6425 MHz; 5725–5875 MHz is only open to low-power short-range devices, and some countries allow more), United Kingdom (Ofcom IR 2030: 5725–5850 MHz indoors at 200 mW, 6 GHz at 5925–6425 MHz, and 6425–6585 MHz added for Wi-Fi by a July 2026 decision), Thailand (NBTC TS 1035-2562 for 2.4 and 5 GHz; NBTC TS 1039-2566 for 5925–6425 MHz, up to 250 mW indoors and 25 mW outdoors), Japan (MIC Radio Act rules: W52/W53 indoors at 200 mW, W56 at 1 W, 6 GHz at 5925–6425 MHz since September 2022; W58 at 5725–5850 MHz is marked "check") and China (MIIT Notice [2021] No. 129: 2400–2483.5, 5150–5350 and 5725–5850 MHz; 5470–5725 MHz isn't open, and 6 GHz is allocated to mobile networks). The power limits in section 4 come from these rules. They change over time: check the current rules and your equipment's country setting.
Channel 144 (5710–5730 MHz) straddles the edge between the 5470–5725 and 5725–5850 MHz ranges. It is allowed with DFS in the US, Japan and Thailand; in the UK it's marked "check" because support varies by equipment and country setting.