Indoor Propagation Measurements for Performance Evaluation of IEEE 802.11g

Using indoor propagation measurements, the throughput performance of an IEEE 802.11g wireless local area network (WLAN) under different received signal strength (RSS) values is investigated. By using a pair of wireless laptops and an access point (AP) we conducted several experiments involving IEEE 802.11g computer links, which were carried out in an obstructed office block at the AUT University within the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences office building. Results obtained show that the link throughput of an IEEE 802.11g is not always increasing with RSS in an obstructed office building.

I. Introduction

There has been a significant growth in the deployment of IEEE 802.11-based WLANs (also called Wi-Fi) in recent years. In particular, the number of WLAN hotspots is growing significantly year by year. Among the variants of IEEE 802.11 WLANs, the IEEE 802.11 g is one of the most popular technologies in use today worldwide. This popularity results from the simplicity in operation, low-cost, high-speed, and user mobility offered by the technology.