[Hidden-tech] Advice sought: Can passive WiFi use by a crowd's phones drain bandwidth...?

[Levi Ramsey]

It's not implausible.  Most smart devices will consume some level of
bandwidth and there's only so much to go around.

Additionally, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the typical "consumer" WiFi
router has issues that crop up after a certain number of devices are
connected.  At some point, it may make sense to use a WiFi router designed
for a public-use environment.  I purchased an Aruba AP22 (employee
discount, though I see that it's now retailing similarly to what I paid)
before I was laid off from HPE last year and it's worked well for me
(though not in a public environment).

On Mon, Dec 6, 2021 at 11:39 AM Duane Dale via Hidden-discuss <
hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:

> Holiday greetings, Hidden Tech.
>
> My church has been offering live streaming of its Sunday services via its
> YouTube channel.
> Hiccups in the video (and audio) stream are common. (And those hiccups
> show up when streaming the recorded version after-the-fact.)
>
> An iPhone in the sanctuary is doing the "capture" and is connected by WiFi
> to a cable modem/router in an adjoining room (outside the stone walls of
> the church).
>
> Some people place blame on those stone walls, but my speedcheck in an
> otherwise-empty sanctuary shows a pretty consistent ~25 Mbps up and down.
>
> As a possible solution, a WiFi extender in the sanctuary, wired with CAT6
> to the modem/router, has been tried with apparent success for small
> mid-week services, and we may start using it for the Sunday services.
>
>
> *But here's my question: *Can passive WiFi use by a crowd's phones drain
> bandwidth and/or slow transmission speeds?
> Imagine a Sunday service with 100+ people in the space.
> Imagine that a majority have smartphones in their pockets, and some % of
> those are on, with WiFi enabled,
> and some % of *those* have used the WiFi modem/router in question and
> have stored its password.
> Let's say 25 such phones, though it might possibly be 50.
>
> Assume that no one is making intentional use of WiFi (streaming the
> service, watching movies, checking emails...) other than the "official"
> streaming iPhone,
> but some (most?) of those with WiFi enabled might have connected
> "automatically" to the modem/router in question and are doing passive
> tasks, unattended.
>
> With 25-50 such phones, could that raid bandwidth enough to cause hiccups
> in a live video upload?
> (Or if not with 25-50 phones, what about 250-500 such phones in a larger
> hall? Or some even-larger number?)
>
> If that could be a problem, are there solutions other than the obvious one
> -- asking everyone to power off, or use airplane mode, etc.??
> Or some sort of temporary lock-out of all but the preferred device?
>
> Thanks for any insights and advice.
> Duane Dale
>
>
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-- 
Levi Ramsey
leviable at gmail.com
levi.ramsey at alum.cs.umass.edu
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