Factors That Affect Network Performance

Factors That Affect Network Performance

1. Connection Types

   • Wi-Fi
     • Positives
       • Wireless, meaning all devices can connect freely within range of the switch
       • Devices can be setup anywhere in a household, as Wi-Fi extenders can expand the range wirelessly
     • Negatives
       • Far slower than ethernet, with optimal bandwidth being 54Mb
       • Bandwidth is shared between all users, meaning connectivity and services may be lackluster after a certain threshold
       • Can be easily accessed if password-less.
   • Ethernet
     • Positives
       • Depending on wire type, can have a bandwidth of 1gb to 40tb per second
       • Ethernet is connected by its own channel, meaning it won't affect any Wi-Fi Channels.
     • Negatives
       • Limited to desktop devices
       • Can be difficult to connect a wire depending on house layout

2. Network Classifications

   • LANs
     • LANs are Local Area Networks, being confined to singular households or buildings
     • LANs can be networks such as household Wi-Fi, with the switch being the central node in the star topology
   • WANs
     • WANs are Wide Area Networks and can span from multiple buildings to the world itself
     • The most common example of a WAN would be the internet, hosting itself as a large international WAN

3. Bandwidth

   • Mediums and their Bandwidth Speeds
     • Fiber Optic = 40+ Tb per second
     • Twisted Copper = 1Gb per second
     • Business Wi-Fi = 1Gb per second
     • Household Wi-Fi = 54Mb per second
   • Bandwidth is the allocated amount of data that can be shared across a network

4. Channels

   • Channels are individual bands that are used to send and receive data on wireless networks
   • Sometimes devices can cross channels, which can cause interference in a network

5. Devices

   • Device Count
     • The amount of devices using a LAN can greatly affect the performance of the network, as the bandwidth is halved between each new device
     • Fixes can be made by using wired connections as much as possible
   • Processes
     • Downloading, uploading or receiving high amounts of data can affect a network, as it will need more bandwidth to process the amount of data
     • This can be fixed slightly by streaming lower quality films/ shows and updating applications when the network is mostly free

6. Latency

   • Latency is a measure of how long it takes for data to travel to a device across a network

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