Mice over mesh: HTTP measurements over a WiFi-based wireless mesh network

Wireless mesh networks are emerging as a promising access network architecture. In this work, we report on an extensive measurement campaign performed over an experimental WiFi-based mesh network, deployed in an office building environment. The measurements are focused on the performance of HTTP traffic. Results demonstrate the existence of an unfairness issue, whereby longer sessions achieve better performance than shorter ones. This is known to be potentially harmful in terms of mean session delay and user-perceived quality of service. Potential countermeasures are presented and discussed.