Unfair Access Problem in Wi-Fi Hot Spots

Internet access via Wi-Fi hot spots representing infrastructure Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) controlled by the IEEE 802.11 protocol [1] is very popular over the world. In the paper, we develop an analytical model to estimate Wi-Fi hot spot throughput, focussing on the problem of unfair access. The problem is caused by the signal capture and propagation loss phenomena, owing to which mobile terminals located near the Access Point (AP) can succeed in transmitting their packets in spite of possible collisions with terminals near hot spot borders. Consequently, the further a terminal is from the AP, the less portion of the network throughput it can use. The method developed in our paper allows finding optimal values of the protocol parameters to provide equal access opportunities for all terminals of the hot spot.