Hey guys. Can somebody please tell me the range of wifi on arduino mkr1000.
thanks alot
Comparable to other WiFi devices. WiFi range is highly dependent on the local environment - interference from other nearby networks, and objects that block radio signals have a huge impact on it. It is not possible to give an accurate range figure for any WiFi device.
im working on a project of smart street lightning putting led lights so i need a network of arduino mkr1000 which will i program. i studyed physics and that what you say is very questionable. part is correct part isnt. i need to know for outside purpose will my arduinos sdpeak with each other. i would put on every light arduino. the difference between lights is like 30 meters. what possible inerference could occur?
You're now providing a whole lot more information than you were before now - you're asking a rather different question.
Because they are outside, it sounds likely that you can have line of sight between the nodes; this makes a big difference, as objects between the WiFi device and the access point can have a huge impact on signal strength. This is one of the reasons for poor indoor wifi reception in some homes (old construction, from the days before cheesy modern construction materials, is notorious for blocking WiFi. Metallic appliances can also block it. My parents' home has this issue - there are dead spots where the refrigerator is between the user and the router). Of course, if you're putting them into streetlights, if you have a metal enclosure on the streetlight, that will degrade range if you don't have an antenna sticking out...
It can also make a difference whether there are other WiFi networks carrying heavy traffic in close proximity and operating on the same WiFi channel (unfortunately, most people are unaware of this phenomenon, and many WiFi adapters are not capable of being put into "promiscuous mode" which is necessary to analyze the traffic around you to determine which channels are least used). As a result of this interference, wifi connections in urban appartment buildings, particularly in areas with many tech savvy residents, often perform poorly due to interference from neighbors (when I lived in an appartment building, before I got priced out of it, I couldn't play online games in the eve. So it matters if your streetlights are in the city or in a rural area.
Does the MKR1000 support WiFi Direct or adhoc wifi networks? If not, you don't care about the distance between the nodes, you care about the distance between the nodes and the access points....
My point overall, is that determining the actual range achieved in practice with WiFi is complicated. The numbers provided by manufacturers are usually measured in favorable circumstances that are unlikely to be achieved in practice.
thanks
A typical WiFi range might be 100 meters, less if there is interference or obstructions. I test this with the ScanNetworks example to see how many of the nearby access points are detected and how strong they are. I find that the WiFiShield 101 does better than the MKR1000 but rotating or moving the Arduino around - even just a few feet - can change this.
I blame this on the antenna and its orientation and polarization. I suspect that an external antenna such as is available on one of the Adafruit Feather M0 boards will do more. I have not experimented with antennas of higher gain but it would not be surprising if a small yagi antenna at each end would boost the range to thousands of meters.