A Single-Link Propagation-Driven Performance Study of IEEE 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 in Complex Indoor Environments
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Authors
Sarkar, Nurul I
Mustafa, Rashid
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
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Publisher
MDPI AG
Abstract
IEEE 802.11be, commercially known as Wi-Fi 7, extends wireless local area network (WLAN) capability through wider channel bandwidths, higher-order modulation, and tri-band operation. However, realised indoor performance is still strongly affected by radio propagation conditions. This study presents a controlled empirical assessment of Wi-Fi 7 behaviour in a multi-storey university building by examining throughput and received signal strength (RSS) across the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands using a single-link measurement setup. Six experimental scenarios were used to examine distance variation, wall penetration, line-of-sight (LOS) obstruction, floor separation, antenna orientation, and microwave interference. The measured RSS values were compared with the free-space, two-ray ground reflection, and log-distance shadowing models using mean absolute error (MAE). Six experimental scenarios were designed to isolate dominant indoor impairments, including distance variation, wall penetration, line-of-sight obstruction, floor separation, antenna orientation, and microwave interference. Measured RSS values were evaluated against free-space, two-ray, and log-distance shadowing models using mean absolute error as the comparison metric. Results show that 2.4 GHz retains greater penetration at lesser capacity, while 6 GHz offers the maximum short-range throughput under clear line-of-sight conditionsbut rapidly deteriorates with structural attenuation. Performance in all bands is greatly diminished by multi-wall blockage and line-of-sight loss. A single propagation model cannot adequately capture the divergence introduced by increasing distance and indoor attenuation, while short-range line-of-sight conditions more closely resemble deterministic predictions in terms of measured RSS alignment. Overall, the results highlight the trade-off between Wi-Fi 7’s capacity and coverage, and provide helpful advice for choosing frequencies, positioning access points, and organizing indoor coverage. The research findings provide insights into the practical deployment of next-generation Wi-Fi in multi-story buildings and residential houses.Description
Keywords
0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 4009 Electronics, sensors and digital hardware, IEEE 802.11be, indoor radio propagation, received signal strength, throughput, path loss, empirical performance evaluation
Source
Electronics, ISSN: 2079-9292 (Online), MDPI AG, 15(11), 2324-2324. doi: 10.3390/electronics15112324
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© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.