ANALYSIS i) Measuring Throughput

IEEE802.11n (2.4GHz) Throughput Measurement in CISCO Room

1400

1350

1300 Throughput (Kbps) 1250

1200

1150 0 2 4 6 8

Figure 1: Distance over Throughput

X axis Distance (m) 0 2 4 6 8

Y axis Throughput (Kbps) 1332 1335.2 1347 1350.8 1263.8

ii)

Measuring Signal Strength

IEEE802.11n (2.4GHz) Signal Strength Measurement in CISCO Room

60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 0 2 4 6 8 Signal Strength (dBm)

Figure 2: Distance over Signal Strength

X axis Distance (m) 0 2 4 6 8

Y axis Signal Strength (dBm) 13 43 38 48 52

We have measured the throughput in Cisco room using the Jperf application. As a result, the graph of throughput from 4 different points of location is shown above at Figure 1. For information, the distance that we took to perform the measurement is at 2meter interval from the access point. Throughput is basically the amount of data transferred from one place to another or processed in a specified amount of time. In this lab, the data throughput is measured to investigate the amount of data received using IEEE 802.11n 2.4GHz network mode. Based on the graph shown above, the data throughput received is increasing as we went further from the access point. As expected, at 8m point, the data throughput received is steeply dropping. This happened because the signal has been interrupted or distorted by the radiation and reception pattern by a few factors of surrounding objects such as the students passing by in the class, user cell phones set, and also the computers next to the access point. The data throughput is slowly increasing from 0meter to 6meter distance, because the device might have been placed at the location where the signal is strongly received. Next, while we obtained the reading of the throughput, we also measured the signal strength using the same method like we used to obtain the reading of the throughput. The signal strength is obtained using an application called the inSSIDer. Based on the graph (Figure 2), the closer we get to the access point, the stronger the signal of the wireless network. Not to be forgotten, as the negative number gets lower, the stronger the signal gets. So, as we travel over the distance, the signal strength is decreasing like we expected. At 4meter point, the signal is suddenly increasing because the access point uses the omni directional antenna. From what I've learned, the omni directional antenna broadcasts at 360 around the coverage area. Omni directional antenna is described as doughnut shaped which the signal is emitted highly in horizontal direction and falling to zero if it is emitted above or below the antenna. At the 4meter point, we might have placed the device at the proper horizontal direction of the antenna which causes the signal radiated equally well and therefore creates a better signal strength. I figure at this point, there are no such equipments or walls that could interfere the signal spread.

Apart from that, in CISCO Room, the signal strength is decreasing by distance because of the walls that might be the barrier to make the signals weaker. While we were doing the measurement, the class is filled with students passing by the class which might have interfere the signal spread as well as the signal strength. All in all, it has proven that some factors have affected the performance of the signal strength and the outcome of the throughput in so many ways. Some objects may absorb or reflect the signal strength and degrade or might have block the signal.