Abstract

Tolly Group testing, conducted in late 2003 and early 2004, shows that a non-standard WLAN performance-enhancement technology offered by Atheros Communications, Inc. effectively robs precious bandwidth from standards-based access points (APs)/broadband routers.

The presence of Atheros Super G technology (as tested in a Netgear WGT624) severely degrades the performance of adjacent networks based upon Wi-Fi 802.11g standards. The effects can be observed even when the networks are separated by distances of up to 150’.

When a standards-based Belkin AP/router (based on Broadcom technology) operated 30’ away from a Netgear AP implementing Atheros Super G, system throughput dropped over 90% from 23 Mbps to just 1.3 Mbps.