An Investigation into Signal Strength of 802.11n WLAN
Kemisola Ogunjemilua, John N. Davies, Rich Picking, Vic Grout · Glyndwr University Research Online (Glyndwr University) · 2009
With the continual improvement in IEEE 802.11 standards wireless networks are being deployed in ever increasing numbers. As technology advances the data rates and coverage of Wi-Fi increases and so the usage for different high bandwidth requirement applications increases. These enhancements to the technology do provide network design engineers with some significant problems when designing the network infrastructure. Prior to the installation of Access Points it is difficult to predict whether access can be guaranteed at specific locations. Additionally, to increase the level of security, it is often preferable, despite the use of security protocols, to ensure that the signal strength is not large enough to enable connection in areas other than those designated. Experience with existing equipment may not be sufficient to ensure a secure design. It is shown that it is likely that equipment built to the anticipated IEEE 802.11n specification that uses MIMO provide a far more complex situation than equipment designed to previous standards. By combining the theory of antennae and the measurement of the performance of equipment built to the IEEE 802.11n draft, it is possible to create a mathematical model that can predict the network coverage which should be extendable to the new standard. Additionally it is argued that due to the backward compatibility of equipment then the increased data rates are not going to be realised until the all intended clients have been upgraded.