[SOLVED] Is my 2.4G usage impacted by 2.4G usage on my neighbor's router?

[hw_user]

This is more for learning purposes. I use WIFI analyzer software to show channel maps. With a lot more people going online these days, all the 2.4G channels are busy. All 2.4G channels has up to 10 access points. My laptops are all old and have only 2.4G. I think I can buy a dual channel dongle and use 5G. But I like to understand this more before spending the money. I only have 3 devices using 2.4G to my router. I know that there are many more 2.4G devices using the frequency. But they are not connected to my router. how is that affecting my throughput to my ISP ? If the other devices has no impact to me, then the solution is not just buying a 5G dongle.

 

[DeauteratedDog]

Short answer: Yes, all devices on the same wi-fi channel share the channel. It doesn't matter what SSID they are on.

 

[USAFRet]

Also depends on proximity.
Apartment/condo, with your router on one side of the wall and their router 12" away on the other side...huge impact.
Single family homes with the other guy 5 houses away, not much impact.

But, if you can see it on your analyzer thing, then yes, it can have an impact.

 

[DeauteratedDog]

Found a nice diagram and description of the process:
https://www.wifi-professionals.com/2018/08/802-11-deferral-process-medium-access-method

 

[bill001g]

You will likely find the 5g band just as packed. First the channel numbers you see mean very little. On 2.4g they are only 5mhz wide. The common data encoding uses 40mhz. This means it is impossible for 2 signals to fit in the total bandwidth without overlap. So pretty much every device you see is currently interfering.

On 5g it is somewhat better. Channels there are 20mhz but 802.11ac uses 80mhz. There are only 2 blocks large enough. People using tri band router with 2 5g wifi radios use both blocks. The new wifi6 uses 160mhz blocks so 1 user will use all the bandwidth depending on how it is set to run.

The only hope we have is the new 6g bandwidth in the upcoming wifi6e. If I remember right there is room for 6 or 7 radios running 160mhz blocks. So for a while we might be able to find non overlapping channels. I am sure someone will invent something that will use all the bandwidth on a single user.