From the course: Learning Wi-Fi

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Wi-Fi in the physical environment

Wi-Fi in the physical environment

From the course: Learning Wi-Fi

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Wi-Fi in the physical environment

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- [Narrator] The idea of Wi-Fi as a perfect bubble of wireless connectivity is appealing, But in the real world, there are many things that can affect a wireless network signal. When something reduces the efficiency and strength of the signal, the effective bandwidth is reduced. The range of the signal is affected and more transmission errors occur, meaning that both the access point and the client have to retransmit data more frequently, causing lag or slowness. Wi-Fi can suffer from electromagnetic interference generated by nearby devices. Microwave ovens, many cordless phones and other technology operate in the same 2.4 gigahertz band that Wi-Fi uses. And some devices also share the five gigahertz band. While these devices aren't using Wi-Fi, the fact that they put out energy in the same bands that Wi-Fi uses makes it harder for Wi-Fi devices to get a good signal. When there's interference, the signal to noise ratio…

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