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Wireless & Mobility · Intermediate

Channel Bonding

Combining adjacent 20 MHz channels into 40, 80, 160, or 320 MHz channels for higher data rates.

Definition

Introduced with 40 MHz in 802.11n and extended to 80/160 MHz in 802.11ac and 320 MHz in 802.11be, bonding roughly doubles data rate with each doubling of width. Wider channels reduce the number of available non-overlapping channels and lower SNR by about 3 dB per doubling. Enterprises usually use 20 or 40 MHz in 5 GHz.

Example

Bonding channels 36 and 40 creates a 40 MHz channel.

Exam tip

Wider channels increase peak speed but can reduce overall capacity in dense deployments.

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