Interference effects on wireless link availability

Interference effects on a 2.4 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) link with regard to using or manipulating personal media, including video, music, and online gaming, have been minimally addressed by prior research. Many consumer and business applications recommend a minimum bandwidth that must be adhered to for performance expectations to be in-line with specified capabilities. Users should be able to judge if link availability will be impacted when using wirelessly enabled mobile devices. The research performed identified sources of interference and their affect on a 2.4 GHz 802.11b WLAN network link. The test environment mirrored a wireless hotspot with additional users present. It was found that each interference source had a varying degradation effect on wireless link availability.