Channels 12 and 13 on WiFi

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Channels 12 and 13 on WiFi

I have browsed the different forums about problems with connecting to WiFi. Dropping out.

I have found the "bug" to be that this MacBook Air cannot connect to channels 12 and 13 on WiFi.

One sollution is to set the Router to channel 9, but this is not an optimal sollution since 12 and 13 are the least cluttered channels in the flat where I live. It also does not help when connecting to public networks which utilize channel 12 and 13.

Is there a way to allow the MacBook Air to use the channel 12 and 13?

I have read that there would be possible to change the time zone for the network card, since these channels are not allowed in the US, and setting the time zone to a european would help. The suggestion is to go to "about this Mac" -> More Info, and selecting Network --> Airport, but I can only see Overview, Display, Storage and Memmory.

It woud be really weird if it would not be possible to use these channels in Europe.

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 15, 2013 1:24 PM

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Answer 1

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Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 15, 2013 4:49 PM in response to Silje Hellum

Each country has its own regulations governing wireless communication. The Wi-Fi regulatory domain (country code) is set by polling the first access point within range, whether connected or not. You don't have any direct control over it on the client. If your device is adopting the wrong domain, and is therefore locked out of using some Wi-Fi channels or operating at full power, the only permanent solution is to fix or remove the errant WAP.

To find out which Wi-Fi networks are broadcasting a discrepant country code, do as follows.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/S*/*/P*/*/*/*/*/airport -s | open -ef

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).

The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.

A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. The first line should look like this:

SSID BSSID RSSI CHANNEL HT CC SECURITY (auth/unicast/group)

Each subsequent line represents a Wi-Fi network within range. Compare the two-letter code in the column headed "CC" with the ISO code for your country. The code X0 means that the country couldn't be determined. If a network with a discrepant code is not under your control, try rebooting the computer as close as possible to your own router.

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