WirelessInternetAccessoperatesintworadiospectrumsorchannels,2.4GHzand
5GHz.Thesearemorecommonlyknownasb/g(2.4GHz)anda(5GHz).
Bothofthesechannelsareunlicensedwhichmeansthatdevicemanufacturersand
providersdonotneedtoapplytothegovernmenttousethem.Italsomeansthat
theyarenotcontrolledorexclusivelikethechannelsusedinthemobiletelephone
industry.Oneofthereasonsthatthechannelsareunlicensedisthattheyare
subjecttointerferencefromnumeroussourcesthatareuncontrollablesuchus
microwaveovens,radiofrequencybroadcastsandsolarflaresasexamples.
Theb/g(2.4GHz)channelwasthefirstchannelusedbywirelessInternet
manufacturesandisstilltodayavailableinalmostallwirelessdevices.Thea(5
GHz)channelwascreatedtocombattheinterferencethatwasinherentontheb/g
channelandisnowcommonlyfoundinmostwirelessdevicessuchasIPadsbutnot
100%inlaptops.
Ontheb/g(2.4GHz)spectrumthereare3channelsavailable.Inthea(5GHz)
spectrumthereare20channelsavailable.Thewirelesstransmissionsarebroadcast
throughtheair;transmissionsfromnearbyaccesspointswillcollideandmix.By
usingspecificwirelesschannelsthesetransmissionsdonotinterferewitheach
otherhowevertoachievethis,thewirelessaccesspointsaredeployedinavery
specificmanner.Withoutthisspecificchannelplanningconfiguration,thewireless
broadcastswouldinterferewitheachotherandtheserviceisdegradedandcan
becomeunusable.
Wecarefullyplanourb/g(2.4GHz)deploymenttomaximizethe3channels
availablebutinapublicenvironmentwearechallengedwithwhatisbroughtinto
thefacilityandthenatureofthegroupingsofusers.Currentlymostsmartphones
comeequippedwiththeirownb/g(2.4GHz)hotspottransmitter.These
transmitterswillcauseinterferencewiththefacilitytransmittersononeofthe3
channelsavailable.Thereisnowaytocontrolwherethesetransmittersareorwhat
channeltheyareusing.Mostarepoorlyconfiguredandcauseinterferenceon
multiplechannels.Theclients,attendeesandexhibitorsoftheMTCCalsobringin
wirelessaccesspoints,torunthingslikeAVequipmentortabletsintheirbooths.
These“rogue”accesspointscontributetotheinterferenceonalargerscaleasthey
tendtobemuchhigherpoweredthanthesmartphonetransmitters.Theradio
wavesintheb/g(2.4GHz)spectrumarealsoeasilyabsorbedbythehumanbody.
Thisisthesciencebehindmicrowaveovens.Althoughtheyarenotharmfulalarge
groupofpeopleinasmallspacewillactasabarrierbetweentheaccesspointsand
theenduserdevices.Thesefactorsareeasilymanagedinahomeorsmalloffice
environmentbutcontributetoverypoorperformanceinaconventioncentre.The
enddevicemayhaveastrongconnectiontothenetworkbuttheinterferencecauses
poordatatransmissionthatresultsinwhatlookslikeslowinternet.
Thea(5GHz)spectrumislessaffectedbytheseconditions.Itisstillunlicensedbut
isusedmoreexclusivelyforwirelessdata.
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Thereare9channels(24includingtheDFSchannels)sothelikelyhoodof
anotherdevicetransmittingonthesamechannelclosebyissignificantly
lower.Currentlysmartphonesdonotuse5GHztransmittersbecausethe
powerconsumptionistoohigh.
Theradiowavespassthroughpeopleandarenotabsorbed
Thedataratesaresignificantlyhigher
Currentlymost“rogue”accesspointsdonotuse5GHztransmittersbecause
theyaremoreexpensive.
Thesefactorsleadtomorereliabilityofwirelessinternetusingthea(5GHz)
channel.InanefforttodeliverthebestpossibleservicetheMTCCrecommendsthat
allendusersofourwirelessserviceuseadeviceequippedwitha(5GHz)wireless.
WhiletheMTCCdoesprovideserviceonthe2.4GHzradiobanditisnotsupported
andclientsmustuseitasan“asis”portionoftheserviceduetotheirequipment.