The author kinda bungles his analogy/explanation of collision avoidance and detection. Wireless networks don't use CSMA/CD. They use CSMA/CA. There's a huge difference, and it's one big reason why wireless throughput won't ever come close to PHY speed. Wired ethernet uses CSMA/CD and it's one of the reasons it won the LAN networking wars of the 80's and 90's.
A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
141–150 of 242 posts
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#142I build public Wi-Fi networks, you've probably used one of them. AMA if you have Wi-Fi questions. To say it "sucks" is a bit harsh. It's delivering multiple hundreds of Mbps to you via an unlicensed contention-based medium. The air interface is like sending packets over a noisy Ethernet hub; it's impressive it works as well as it does. That said, this article's a good primer on some of the protocol's fundamental chal…
Is there a good suite of tools to actually measure the quality of a wifi connection and/or surface, even help diagnose, problems?
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#143adjusts Meraki APs to auto power, 40mhz channel width on 5ghz I was dismayed at how terrible range was in my new, Silicon Valley-sized house (~1100sqft). Even with a Meraki AP at the front wall, it would work line of sight about 30 feet and start having issues as soon as I stepped behind a wall. Having a couple APs has mostly solved my issues, but even so, it feels like overkill for such a tiny house. But the neighbo…
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#144This article should be read by everyone working in open space offices across the world expecting to get decent speed and reliability out of Wi-Fi with more than a dozen people in a single room. An open space office (or any office) for a company that depends on the Internet for any of its work without Gigabit Ethernet cables sticking out of every workstation is pretty damn foolish.
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why? TVs aren't very portable, carrying content over a wire makes much more sense.
I have a partner who hates wires. Wifi is a very normal thing for TV's, Games consoles, Chromecasts... etc;
(a smart girl knows that it is a bad idea to urge nerds to make a choice between her and his PC).
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#146Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#147I build public Wi-Fi networks, you've probably used one of them. AMA if you have Wi-Fi questions. To say it "sucks" is a bit harsh. It's delivering multiple hundreds of Mbps to you via an unlicensed contention-based medium. The air interface is like sending packets over a noisy Ethernet hub; it's impressive it works as well as it does. That said, this article's a good primer on some of the protocol's fundamental chal…
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#148Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#149I build public Wi-Fi networks, you've probably used one of them. AMA if you have Wi-Fi questions. To say it "sucks" is a bit harsh. It's delivering multiple hundreds of Mbps to you via an unlicensed contention-based medium. The air interface is like sending packets over a noisy Ethernet hub; it's impressive it works as well as it does. That said, this article's a good primer on some of the protocol's fundamental chal…
Any idea why we do not have public, encrypted wifi? Seems like it should be easy / trivial to fix, and protects people from passive listeners.
Re: A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
I splurged on one of the expensive tri-band routers and honestly now the wireless is good enough that I don't care.
I used to live about 1/4 mile away from any other houses, and I never got why people always complained about wifi. In my experience it always worked well, was fairly fullproof, and had fast enough speeds that it was never an issue. 2 years ago I moved into a condo that has 25 wifi APs within range of me right now. Now I get it. Getting one of the high-end tri-band routers as you said did help, but it's still a diffic…