Spectrum assignments and operational limitations are not consistent worldwide: Australia and Europe allow for an additional two channels beyond those permitted in the US for the 2.4 GHz band (1–13 vs. 1–11), while Japan has one more on top of that (1–14).
A Wi-Fi signal occupies five channels in the 2.4 GHz band. Any two channel numbers that differ by five or more, such as 2 and 7, do not overlap. The oft-repeated adage that channels 1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels is, therefore, not accurate. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the only group of three non-overlapping channels in North America and the United Kingdom. In Europe and Japan using Channels 1, 5, 9, and 13 for 802.11g and 802.11n is recommended.[citation needed]
Equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) in the EU is limited to 20 dBm (100 mW).
The current 'fastest' norm, 802.11n, uses double the radio spectrum/bandwidth (40 MHz) compared to 802.11a or 802.11g (20 MHz).[citation needed] This means there can be only one 802.11n network on the 2.4 GHz band at a given location, without interference to/from other WLAN traffic. 802.11n can also be set to use 20 MHz bandwidth only to prevent interference in dense