An available and fast Internet wherever you go is literally a basic need of a modern city dweller. All the public places try to provide it because quality wireless Internet connection is among the most important factors for people to be attracted to certain places.
However, maintaining a decent Wi-Fi signal in big cities crowded with people, buildings, and various smart devices isn’t easy. Let’s see what influences the quality of the Wi-Fi signal in big cities and what problems providers have to face.
What Is More Likely to Slow Down a Public Wi-Fi Spot
Don’t get angry if the Wi-Fi in a certain location is slow - it may not be the fault of providers or managers. There may be certain objective causes for it to function like this. Mostly the quality of public (and not only public, by the way) wireless Internet connection suffers from the following factors.
Multiple Wi-Fi devices (access points, wireless cams, etc.) working within one coverage zone
Wireless Internet devices are exposed to even small interferences created by other devices operating in the same frequency range. Devices that operate within the cover zone with the same frequency bring the signal down.
Bluetooth devices in the coverage area of one Wi-Fi device
Bluetooth devices such as wireless keyboards and computer mice can influence the operation of the access point and other Wi-Fi devices.
Long distances between Wi-Fi devices
Don’t forget that wireless Wi-Fi devices have limited coverage. Indoors, the range of a wireless access point may be limited to several tens of meters - depending on the configuration of the rooms, the presence of walls and their number, as well as other possible obstacles.
Physical obstacles
Various physical objects (walls, ceilings, furniture, metal doors, etc.) located between Wi-Fi devices can partially or significantly reflect or absorb the radio signals, which leads to a partial or complete loss of signal.
In big cities packed with multi-storeyed buildings, those buildings are actually the main obstacles to the radio signals. The presence of walls made of concrete with reinforcements, sheet metal, plaster on the walls, steel frames of storefront windows, etc. affects the quality of the radio signal and can bring down the signal of Wi-Fi devices significantly.
Indoors, mirrors and tinted windows can also cause radio interference. Even the human body attenuates the signal by about 3 dB.
Some household appliances in the coverage area of the Wi-Fi device
These household appliances can cause a deterioration in the quality of Wi-Fi communication:
Microwave ovens - these devices can bring the Wi-Fi signal level down because they usually operate in a similar frequency
Baby Monitors - they operate in the same range and give pickups, resulting in a deteriorating Wi-Fi connection quality.
CRT monitors, electric motors, wireless speakers, cordless phones, and other wireless devices.
External sources of electrical voltage, such as power lines and power substations, can also become the sources of interference.
Other potential sources of interference
In addition to those mentioned above, other factors can also potentially influence the signal of wireless Wi-Fi networks. For example:
2.4 or 5 GHz wireless speakers
Sources of electrical voltage (for example, electrical wiring)
Poorly shielded cables, as well as coaxial ones and connectors used with some types of satellites;
Some external monitors and LCD screens operating at 2.4 GHz;
Wireless cameras
Of course, there are ways to reduce the influence of obstacles mentioned above with proper location and setting of the Wi-Fi routers. However, the overcrowded network and the action of multiple devices are the factors no one can reduce or overcome. The technologies keep developing and there are hopes at least to come a bit closer to the solution of this big city problem.
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