I turned off 160MHz channels on my router, and my Wi-Fi got more stable for every device in the house
Turns out my laptop never used 160MHz, anyway.
Asus TUF Gaming AX4200 router reduced channel 160MHz to 80MHz, improving Wi-Fi stability for all devices. The 160MHz channel can double 5GHz speeds but often overlaps with DFS channels shared with radar. When the router detects radar, it must leave the channel within 10 seconds and stay away for 30 minutes. The author changed the router's settings to a radar-free 80MHz channel and observed a significant reduction in channel hops, freezing video calls, buffering shows, and smart plugs going offline.
After two weeks, the router stopped hopping channels completely. The author tested Wi-Fi performance at different devices and locations, noting that the MacBook Air M2 maintained stable 5GHz connectivity. The back bedroom experienced fewer Wi-Fi drops due to the lower noise levels in the 80MHz channel. The author concluded that keeping the router at 80MHz provided better stability without sacrificing much speed.
Written by urgent.news from XDA Developers's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
