Interference Analysis of IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks: A Case Study of Namibia University of Science and Technology

Radio frequency interference in wireless networks affects data packets which are transmitted over WiFi networks and the data packets are lost due to poor signal strength during transmission. This study presents Access Point s' (APs') performance and analyse co-channel, adjacent channel interference of IEEE 802.11 operating at 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz frequency bands at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. The study is to determine the level of signal interference experienced in both frequency and its impact on the NUST's wireless network. Networking management tools including Cisco Prime infrastructure and Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) were used to monitor the wireless network over a period of two months and generate the required reports. The results obtained during the course of the research has confirmed that there is an excessive amount of interference mainly due to incorrect placement of access points, poor wireless channel allocation to Access points, and IEEE802.11 wireless networks operating on 2.4 Ghz frequency band suffer the most when large number of devices that operates on the same frequency bands.