page_title: IEEE 802.11
section_title: Channels and frequencies
hierarchical_section_title: IEEE 802.11 / Channels and frequencies
context_page_description: IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network protocols, and specifies the set of media access control and physical layer protocols for implementing wireless local area network Wi-Fi computer communication in various frequencies, including but not limited to 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and 60 GHz frequency bands.
  They are the world's most widely used wireless computer networking standards, used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, and smartphones to talk to each other and access the Internet without connecting wires. They are created and maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers LAN/MAN Standards Committee. The base version of the standard was released in 1997, and has had subsequent amendments. The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand. While each amendment is officially revoked when it is incorporated in the latest version of the standard, the corporate world tends to market to the revisions because they concisely denote capabilities of their products. As a result, in the marketplace, each revision tends to become its own standard.
context_section_description: 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n-2.4 utilize the 2.400–2.500 GHz spectrum, one of the ISM bands. 802.11a, 802.11n and 802.11ac use the more heavily regulated 4.915–5.825 GHz band. These are commonly referred to as the "2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands" in most sales literature. Each spectrum is sub-divided into channels with a center frequency and bandwidth, analogous to the way radio and TV broadcast bands are sub-divided.
  The 2.4 GHz band is divided into 14 channels spaced 5 MHz apart, beginning with channel 1, which is centered on 2.412 GHz. The latter channels have additional restrictions or are unavailable for use in some regulatory domains.
  The channel numbering of the 5.725–5.875 GHz spectrum is less intuitive due to the differences in regulations between countries. These are discussed in greater detail on the list of WLAN channels.
caption: Graphical representation of Wi-Fi channels in the 2.4 GHz band