Thursday, March 10, 2011

Study Shows WiFi Speeds Suffer

In the U.K. (where data is king and data analysis is parliament) some chap decided to do a study of the connection speed lost when connecting over WiFi vs plugging one's laptop directly to the router. But, although this article doesn't name its research source, the study entailed over 14,000 homes. And, not only in the U.K., but that 14,000 included homes throughout Europe and in the U.S.

What they found, however, should not shock anybody. The average home internet user sacrifices 30% of their speed for the freedom of wireless connectivity.

As a fixed wireless broadband provider, WiFi isn't exactly synonymous with our industry, but the implications could overlap. So, we have a few thoughts to share.

First of all, duh. One of the interesting perspectives not explored in the study is that people can connect to the internet at speeds of 35 Mbps (50 Mbps, less 30% = 35 Mbps) while they sit on their patio watching the sun set. It could be said that they sacrifice ONLY 30% speed.
Second of all, the test was conducted in homes. This brings up an important point. Most consumers use bottom-dollar antennae technology available to the public. The quality of signal and wireless router affect speeds. Secondly, these wireless routers are likely (due to the consumer's lack of sophistication in all things techie) using default channels. Assuming that all your neighbors do the same, speed can suffer. Accel uses proprietary and heavily dialed-in antennae technology. The way we get our signal is the most important thing.
It is doubtful that an engineer provisioned the antennae and tested speeds throughout the home. In fact, at our house, the router sits under the couch. We not only sacrifice speed for convenience, we sacrifice it for aesthetics, too. When the router is hidden like this, speed will suffer. In business, however, routers are business-critical and antennas can be placed and tested by a provisioning process.

All in all, the report seems to be much of what you get from most such studies: stuff we already knew and expected. If anything, it is a testament to the quality of wireless routers available to the consumer market today. With expert installation and higher quality equipment, businesses can expect even higher performance, making us all the more confident that wireless remains the way of the future.

Labels: Broadband Speed, Fixed Wireless Broadband, Wifi