Sky Hub "Auto" channel selection is broken

I live in an area with no other wireless networks visible. I have two Sky Hubs (SR101) sitting next to each other. The wireless channel on both Hubs is set to "Auto".

If I turn one on after the other, the second Hub always transmits on channel 1, even though the first Hub already transmits on channel 1 and all other channels are unused.

Hub documentation says: "Sky assign different channels to your wireless network randomly to minimise interference with other networks in your area. It should not be necessary to change the wireless channel unless you notice interference problems from another nearby wireless network so Sky recommend leaving this set to auto"

Even if the channel selection is "random" as the documentation suggests, it always selects channel 1. I could manually set the channel on the second hub to 6 or 11, but this defeats the point of having an auto channel selector.

Clearly the "Auto" setting on the SR101 Hub just sets the channel to 1 regardless of interference from other networks and is never randomised either, so the "Auto" function in the Hub appears to be broken.

Considering how important it is to have wireless using the most uncongested frequency for performance, especially in the congested 2.4 Ghz area which these Hubs operate, a bug such as this potentially is slowing down a lot of wireless connections.

A visual example might help: http://s7.postimg.org/j80itwwvv/wifi.png

Top two networks are my Hubs sitting together, both set to auto channel selection. Bottom network is a neighbour's (very weak signal).

The break in the second graph was me rebooting the second Hub. The router came back on the same congested channel (1). First hub was on channel 1 all the time.

When no traffic multiple wifi on the same chanel is not a massive issue.

Does any channel hoping occur if you start a video stream on both for example?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

When no traffic multiple wifi on the same chanel is not a massive issue.

The second Hub knows (or should know) that channel 1 is already in use by the first Hub. Even if the wifi link is idle at the time of connection (which it was), that's not to say it will be for the lifetime of the connection.

So there's no justification for "auto" not to take channel 6 or 11 since there is less chance of post-connection congestion.

Channel hoping would produce amusing results.

And could explain some of the buffering moans people have

I agree

WiFi is really only good for web browsing and maybe audio streaming.

It's not that big of a deal using the same channel for routers. It's other things that are analog that cause major issues on the spectrum. I mean ideally it should choose another channel as they're free but performance wise it's not the end of the world.

I've always found my sky hubs defaulted to channel 6 or 11 as the neighbour uses 1 always though.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

I mean ideally it should choose another channel as they're free but performance wise it's not the end of the world.

I agree it's not the end of the world, that would be slightly over-dramatic.

But with the amount of wireless routers around now, I feel that the "auto" channel setting is something router manufacturers should get right.

I agree with you however realistically auto channel section works like this.

The router instantly tries for channel 1. If there's some big interference it will jump to 6. In some extreme almost winning the lottery chances it may even make a wild jump onto channel 11. That's just my experience of auto channel selection. Of course some people swear it works brilliantly.