Wifi Propagation

Abstract

Indoor Wi-Fi usage such as in homes and offices is an increasing trend in Singapore over the years. Past research has been done on individual variables such as penetration through varied wall thickness and only on one bandwidth (frequency) and are more focused on offices, this study aims to investigate indoor Wi-Fi propagation in typical campus hostel by incorporating variables: Open path attenuation, wall penetration attenuation for two commonly used bandwidths (2.4 and 5.0 GHz). This would give Wi-Fi users a general idea of the ideal bandwidth to use for their indoor layout.

Open path and wall attenuation coefficients were determined by two separate experiments and a model was formulated for each bandwidth, P2.4GHz=-39.6-17.6logd-98.7dw for 2.4 GHz and P5.0GHz=-55.9-19.7logd-83.0dw for 5.0 GHz. Estimation of signal strength by use of the models were compared to experimental measurement of a real hostel environment, the mean difference of the estimation and experimental measurement is 0.15 dBm and 0.56 dBm for 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz respectively. The estimation by the model formulated was compared to that using two common Wi-Fi propagation models, the ITU indoor propagation model and the log-distance path loss model and was found to be more accurate than both of the models.

It was observed that 2.4 GHz is much more resistant to attenuation through indoor elements and 5.0 GHz is deemed impractical in a typical hostel when the router is placed two rooms away from the receiver.

1. Introduction

There is an increasing trend in subscription of Wireless LAN or Wi-Fi over the years [1]. The usage of Wi-Fi are normally indoors and their deployment can be found in campuses, offices and residential homes. The application of Wi-fi allows for easy access to the Internet as well as linking computers and laptops together. In the home, Wi-fi provides connectivity between computers, phones, and security systems. In addition, these networks allow smart home...