Impact of Channel Width on the Performance of Long-distance 802.11 Wireless Links

A wireless communication channel can be characterized by a center of frequency (Fc) and a channel width (Fw). Recent studies suggest that, in the presence of changing environmental conditions, adjusting the channel width of a communication channel might improve network variables like throughput and power consumption. This thesis focuses on the effect that variable channel widths may have on the performance of long distance IEEE 802.11 mesh networks, in particular on the Tegola network, a network deployed at the Scottish Highlands by researchers from the University of Edinburgh. One of the main contributions of this work is towards the understanding of how variable channel widths could be used to improve the performance of wireless long distance links affected by tidal effects.