Hello everyone!
Today, I want to talk to you about whether we should transmit all WiFi access points at full power.
Yes, it's true that if we do this we can provide maximum WiFi coverage and the user can intuitively see a good signal.
But is this the right choice?
Is it necessary if we start at minimum power and increase power until we cover the necessary areas?
How Do I Configure the WiFi Transmission Power on a Huawei ONT?
Take the HG8245H as an example. After logging in to the device, we can click the WLAN tab, and choose 2.4G Advanced Network Settings from the navigation tree on the left. In the right pane, configure the advanced parameters of the 2.4G Wi-Fi network and we can find the TX power parameter as shown in the following figure.
Indeed, as the description in the picture above says, if we set the TX power to 100%, we can get the maximum wifi coverage, typically 100mW on 2.4GHz.
Now, let me share with you why I'm proposing that the Wi-Fi transmission power should be reduced.
5 Reasons to Reduce WiFi Transmission Power
Wi-Fi is sharing, not competition.
Today, with WiFi access in most homes, it doesn't matter if your access point is stronger than your neighbor's. If your AP can receive other APs, it will share the broadcast time with them. All APs on the same channel will provide equal spectrum access to other APs.
Full power does not mean that coverage can be increased.
Yes, maybe that's in conflict with what I mentioned above. But what I would say is that WiFi access points are basically mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, and these devices have very limited batteries to minimize power consumption, their radios are usually 15mW (12dBm) max. The access point is 100mW (20dBm) at 2.4 GHz and 200mW (23dBm) at 5GHz. However, the WiFi connection is always two-way. If the AP cannot receive the client, the client does not receive the AP. Have you ever seen the wifi signal look good, but your phone or tablet just won't connect? That's what I'm trying to say.
Interference
Even if neighboring devices are on different channels (frequency), strong signals can interfere with them. At high signal levels, the entire device acts as an antenna, and induction creates excess signals in the circuit. That's why you need to keep access points at least 10' (3m) away, or place thick concrete walls between them, preferably both.
Even with enough distance, the access points still interfere with each other. WiFi channels are not absolute. When the transmission is on one channel, the signal also flows to adjacent channels, albeit weakly. At high transmit power, this weak signal is strong enough to cause interference.
Performance
Access points used to be expensive and they were far apart. But now, price is no longer an issue, and the WiFi performance is the key. By adding more access points, there will be fewer clients per AP, so the bandwidth per client will increase.
Keep in mind that wires are always more effective than radio waves. Transfer data from the radio to the wire as quickly as possible. That's why increasing the number of low-power access points is key to a high-performance WiFi network.
Longer service life
Lower transmit power equals lower energy consumption equals less heat. Operation at lower temperatures extends the life of the equipment. While access points are inexpensive, they tend to break down at the most inconvenient times and places. However, you won't notice the energy savings on your electricity bill.
I don't know if you agree with me. If you have any suggestions or objections, please discuss and communicate with us in the comments section.
Thanks for reading!
