Devices Interfere With WiFi

Farpoint Group found that common wireless devices and equipment frequently caused interference to wireless-LAN traffic. For example, microwave ovens caused throughput reductions of 62%, Bluetooth headsets caused approximately 20% reduction in throughput and some household devices such as cordless phones caused a 100% reduction in throughput.

For voice, Farpoint Group found that most interfering devices, such as microwave ovens and cordless phones, caused enough impairment that voice quality was severely impacted.

For video, Farpoint Group found that most types of interfering devices could cause pixelation and/or an unwatchable picture.

Quotes attributable to Craig Mathias, Farpoint Group

"As wireless LANs become the default connectivity for essentially all users in enterprise environments (and in the home as well), the interference issue will become more acute."

"Lower throughput almost always impacts user productivity. It behooves any enterprise-class installation to have the tools necessary to recognize, characterize and remedy radio-frequency interference."

Quote attributable to Mike Brown, IT Administrator, Arizona State University

"When WiFi interference occurs, it can manifest itself in strange ways. Interference sources often are turned on briefly, and move between locations. If you don't have the right tools, it's quite difficult to diagnose, and convince the users whose wireless gadgets are causing the interference."

Farpoint Group