What happens if there is a lot of electrical interference or thousands of people are using WLANS at the same time in a small area like a University Campus?
In the U.K. there are 13 channels to use. The 802.11 standard has a number of built-in mechanisms to ensure “graceful degradation” of services in the event of (co-channel) congestion on the same channel. At the physical layer the wireless signals themselves are “spectrum spread” using a simply generated digital pseudo random code sequence. This and the “capture effect” eliminantes the total wipe out effect of interference to and from other services even if (co-sited) in the same room/box. The practical result is that:- as USERS increase, CELLS shrink, but the network still functions UPSCALED with more, but smaller cells….
