Measuring Throughput and Coverage of Wireless LANs

Whether you want to evaluate the performance of 802.11 wireless LANs (WLANs) in an informal way or through precise benchmarking procedures, the first step is to understand the factors involved. The ease of setting up and using WLANs makes it easy to overlook many crucial factors and their resulting performance variations. These performance variations can be extreme, however, and they make all the difference in the cost, security, and viability of a wireless network.

This white paper describes the factors that affect a WLAN's throughput and coverage, then provides a detailed methodology for those who want to benchmark throughput and coverage in a disciplined way.