Rumours and good practices in community networks wireless links

Abstract

Abstract. In wireless community networks, backbone point-to-point links concentrate most of the traffic. Thus, these links are crucial for the overall performance of the network. Network managers have to constantly test and maintain these links to optimise their performance, but their decisions are often based upon rumours or a purely theoretical knowledge of the technologies being used. These sources of information can be very biased and can lead to incorrect decisions in such complex systems. In this work we provide the guidelines to help in wireless links optimization by covering the most common mistakes or questions, and by addressing the critical factors one by one using a real scenario. In our experiments we analyse critical characteristics such as the interference among links, the relation between channel bandwidth and throughput, the impact of output power, and the effect of antenna proximity. We are well aware that the efficiency of wireless networks is very variable and dynamic, therefore this work provides useful hints on how to better deploy an efficient wireless community network.