Observation on the variation of Wi-Fi performance on different devices

Abstract

Wireless Fidelity or commonly known as Wi-Fi is one of the wireless local area network (WLAN) technology which enables electronic devices to connect to network using radio waves. The current issue that has lead to this project is the difference in Wi-Fi performance, even though the method of handling is the same. This project has produced a Wi-Fi coverage heatmap by using Ekahau Mobile Survey to visualize the Wi-Fi signal coverage for UniMAP Pauh Library, 1st floor. The second part of this project has noted the signal strength for selected devices, throughout all the set conditions. The third and most important part will be the analysis on throughput performance for different devices such as laptop, tablet and smartphone, in different conditions at the target area. The throughput test is done with Tamosoft Throughput Test for laptops and Ookla’s Speedtest for tablets and smartphone. Based on the results, tablets are the best device in terms of the highest average throughput. Meanwhile, in terms of data consistency, smartphone is the most consistent device for Wi-Fi connectivity. After combining the results, it can be said that the best device for Wi-Fi connectivity depends on what the user wants to prioritize, which is either the high throughput or the consistency of the device.