Non Wi-Fi Devices Interference Testing in a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Home

Operating in probably the most crowded radio frequency bandwidth, the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi is still common in the majority of living environments. Besides having to face problems regarding co-channel and adjacent channel influence, Wi-Fi often coexists with other radio technologies operating in this bandwidth which makes it ideal for interference testing.

In this article authors propose the use of freely available mobile applications to measure Wi-Fi signal spreading within a residential home as well as to quantify Wi-Fi performance in the presence of some commonly available interferers. A complete analysis of spectrum use is also provided by using a spectrum analyzer. We have found that Wi-Fi throughput degradation due to Bluetooth technology operated in the immediate vicinity of a mobile client is on average 26,5 % and decreases with distance from the Wi-Fi client. The presence of an active video baby monitor leads to a 7,5 % throughput degradation, but its functionality in heavy Wi-Fi traffic environment is however limited. The use of spectrograms in interference analysis is essential for a better understanding of the measured results.