Why Test Channels 1, 6

and 11 in 802.11?
There are three main causes of Wi-Fi interference: co-channel,
overlapping channel and non-Wi-Fi wireless interference.

Channel related interference can be reduced or eliminated by selecting

the proper Wi-Fi channel for your network. Ultimately improving your 2.4
GHz Wi-Fi network coverage and performance.

Let’s get technical for a moment. The 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
spectrum is 100 MHz wide and made up of 11 channels centered 5 MHz
apart. Each 2.4GHz channel is 20 – 22 MHz wide making the spectrum a
little crowded.

If each channel is 20 MHz wide, this means there will be a minimum of 10

MHz of overlap with neighboring channels (overlapping channel
interference). For example, if your network is on channel 9, it will overlap
with channels 7, 8, 10, 11.

Creating a situation where your network is yelling loudly in a foreign

language, distracting any network on an overlapping channel. Vis-versa
for the other networks and your network.

In the case of Wi-Fi, channel overlapping is bad. This leaves only

channels 1, 6 and 11 not overlapping with each other.
General rule of thumb, you want your network to be anti-social
with other networks. So, avoid being within 2 channels of any other
network.

If you cannot avoid them, join them. Sharing the same channel, co-
channel interference, is not ideal, the impact of the interference is
reduced because the 802.11 specification has methods to negotiate same
channel communications.