Wi-Fi Performance Measurements in the Crowded Office Environment: a Case Study

Wi-Fi link throughput performance in the crowded (obstructed) office environment is investigated. Using a pair of wireless laptops we conducted several experiments involving Wi-Fi computer links, which were carried out at the AUT University within the School of Computer and Information Sciences office building. Line-of-sight blockage by office walls and corners is found to have the significant effect on the Wi-Fi link throughput while the transmitter/receiver orientation is found to have insignificant effect. Our findings show the feasibility of deploying wireless local area networks (WLANs) in a crowded office building.