Homework 2

Due: 3/31/2014

In this homework, we will learn how to survey the state of wireless network in an area.

Often we make comments such as "wireless connection is bad here." We will learn how to systematically assess such statements. To do that, we need to know how to survey the state of wireless network and Internet access in an area. We will start with UH main campus. We want to answer this question: what is the state of wireless Internet access at UH campus?"

Here are things to keep in mind when we do this homework:

1. What primary metrics should we use to describe the "quality" of wireless Internet access? Are there secondary metrics that might still be useful for us (the networking experts) to diagnose the network?
2. What gives us the confidence that a survey from the past is a predictor of future wireless Internet performance?
3. Where do you sample and how do you interpolate over the missing areas?
4. Any answer you may come up with will come up with tradeoffs. You should explain the tradeoffs you decided to make. What are the consequences of those tradeoffs in the answer you come up with?

Some tools you may find useful for this assignment: Wireshark, WiSpy, and many apps for smartphone/laptops for wireless network diagnostics.

Submission: Please submit a map of UH campus with colors indicating the quality of wireless Internet access in those areas. Your map should also include interpolation. Please also provide no more than two pages of writeup with answers to the questions above.