New ways of benchmarking WLAN systems

This article presents the tests done in benchmarking WLAN systems. Benchmarking wireless products in any form is notoriously difficult, especially in comparative tests. The primary culprit is the behavior of the radio channel itself. This is the element of the physical universe that carries the radio signal from Point A to Point B. The first step taken to minimize variability was to monitor the radio environment. Because there is no test for interoperability of multiple-input multiple-output-based products, it was important to examine interoperability in the light of vendor claims of draft 802.11n or draft-n compliance. Absent a Wi-Fi Alliance interoperability test (or one of equivalent nature), expectations for interoperability were fairly low, and the testing was not disappointing. There was a significant problem with the connectivity of several product combinations, all related to security settings. While absolute throughput and capacity are not very important in most residential applications, range is far more often an issue.