On my P4 and P7 revision boards, you may occasionally see issues when using a WiFi channel lower than 6, especially when using full TX power and when native USB is enabled.
This includes connecting to a WiFi AP on a low channel, starting an AP on your device with a low channel, and using ESPNow with a low channel.
You can usually eliminate any issues by using a channel 6 or higher, and/or reducing the TX power down to between 75-90%.
My latest P8 revision boards eliminate the lower channel issue by implementing a broader bandwidth range, at the cost of a slightly lower signal strength.
Will lowering the TX power reduce my WiFi range?
It will, but not as much as you might think. Most applications won’t see any range related issues at 75%, and if you really do run into range issues, you were most likely already at the limit and should consider moving to a board with a u.FL connector instead of the onboard antenna, so you can connect a bigger external antenna that has a higher gain, and therefore a much longer range.
wifi connection, wifi dropouts, wifi packet loss, packet loss