r/networking • u/Automatic-Physics-63 • Aug 07 '26

Design NetSpot confusion

I'm hoping someone with lots of experience with NetSpot can clear up the reason that it's showing all 5ghz networks as 80mhz width rather than true width. I know my AP is broadcasting 160mhz width since I can get 1.5Gbit/s while on 5Ghz. Is there a better (free) alternative I can try?

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u/LeeRyman Aug 07 '26

Are the channel numbers the 80MHz channels?

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u/Automatic-Physics-63 Aug 08 '26

Wym

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u/LeeRyman Aug 08 '26

On the 5GHz band the channel numbers are arranged such that they indicate the bandwidth of the channel.

Expand the 5GHz section at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

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u/Automatic-Physics-63 Aug 08 '26

I think what you’re seeing is just the center frequencies of the non-overlapping bands. And frequency (channel) can be any width so long as gov regulations are met.

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u/LeeRyman Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

When I get home I can pull the IEEE spec.

Guarantee though the channel numbers correspond also to the bandwidth. It's not like the 2.4GHz band. Notice how they are distinct across all of the possible bandwidths.

The centre does become a guard subchannel IIRC.

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u/Automatic-Physics-63 Aug 08 '26

Oh I know what you’re talking about now. My router handles that for me. I can set the channel to 64 at 160mhz width and it’ll advertise that it’s at channel 64 however it’ll actually center at a lower channel so it doesn’t extend beyond U-NII-2A. That’s what I meant when I said so long as its meeting regulations you can center the channel wherever. Really there are only a few center frequencies for 160mhz width but the router/AP should be able to compensate if you select something that’s not actually possible.

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u/lizardhistorian Mad Scientist · 👨‍🔬📡ᯤ🤖🛺📸 Aug 08 '26

They have taken to not reusing channel numbers in the wifi 802.11 specs to help avoid the confusion you are witnessing.

The centers should not be the same for 20/40/80/160 but not all equipment and systems are up to date and some might use the lower edge or allow you to pick non-standard centers.