A customer is experiencing slower client data throughput than the data rate setting. Which two wireless characteristics are the primary contributing factors? (Choose two.)

Question

Options

• ABroadcast and multicast are sent at the lowest associated data rate.
• B802.11 acknowledges all packets, which halves throughput on the channel.
• CClients that are farther from the access point connect at a slower data rate.
• DLower data rates decrease overall throughput.
• EAll clients on a given access point share the bandwidth of the channel.
• FOverlapping channels cause co-channel interference.

• A
  11% (4)
• B
  80% (28)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  6% (2)

Explanation

Two fundamental 802.11 behaviors explain why actual throughput is always well below the advertised data rate. First, 802.11 requires an explicit ACK for every unicast data frame. This means the channel carries both the data frame and the ACK before the next frame can be sent, roughly halving usable throughput at the application layer. Second, 802.11 uses CSMA/CA - only one device may transmit at a time per channel. All clients associated to the same AP share that single channel's bandwidth, so adding more active clients proportionally divides available throughput. These two effects together are the primary reason measured throughput is significantly lower than the configured data rate.

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