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Ask Slashdot: Why Does Wireless Gear Degrade Over Time?
acer123 writes "Lately I have replaced several home wireless routers because the signal strength has been found to be degraded. These devices, when new (2+ years ago) would cover an entire house. Over the years, the strength seems to decrease to a point where it might only cover one or two rooms. Of the three that I have replaced for friends, I have not found a common brand, age, etc. It just seems that after time, the signal strength decreases. I know that routers are cheap and easy to replace but I'm curious what actually causes this. I would have assumed that the components would either work or not work; we would either have a full signal or have no signal. I am not an electrical engineer and I can't find the answer online so I'm reaching out to you. Can someone explain how a transmitter can slowly go bad?"
It isn't that the wireless router / base station is degrading. The signal quality is degrading because there is more noise from other Wi-Fi access points and devices in the area. There is a finite amount of spectrum available and when you have lots of home base stations in the same area/neighborhood the interfere with each other leading to lower range for each of them. It is similar to talking in a noisy room. In an large, empty room you can hear some one from across the room, in a noisy room with many people talking you may only be able to hear someone a few feet away.
When I installed my first Wi-Fi base station in 1998 in my parents house I could walk down the block and get reception a few houses down. Today there are dozens of base stations and potentially hundreds of devices on the street. I struggle to get consistent reception within the house despite improvements in antenna design and b/g/n routers.