Residents of densely packed areas, such as those living in tower blocks, frequently suffer from inconsistent Wi-Fi performance, which the researchers blame on too many networks being located in a small area.
"Most people think it's a mystery," said Aleksandar Kuzmanovic, a professor with the university. "They get upset at their routers. But what's really happening is that your neighbour is watching Netflix."
When network data is sent at the same time from different networks, it can ‘bump’ into each other. This results in data packets failing to reach their destinations causing unexpectedly slow Internet speeds.
Kuzmanovic and his team of PHD students have created a solution called Wi-FM that allows wireless routers to use the FM spectrum to determine the ‘quietest’ areas that will cause the least signal interruption.
The technology also identifies the usage patterns of other networks...