While there are countless books on wireless networks, few actually quantify the key performance-limiting factors of wireless local area networks (WLANs) and describe various methods for improving WLAN performance. Fulfilling these needs, **Improving the Performance of Wireless LANs: A Practical Guide** provides both theoretical background and empirical results for the optimum planning and deployment of high performance WLAN systems in different residential and commercial buildings. Useful to students, faculties, researchers, engineers, and network developers, this must-have book not only explains the fundamentals of WLAN systems, including WLAN features and standards, but also: * Supplies strategic guidelines for WLAN system design, modeling, and performance evaluation * Includes radio propagation and site measurements as well as simulations for various network design scenarios * Discusses environmental effects on WLAN performance, protocol redesign for routing and MAC, and traffic distribution * Contains numerous illustrations and examples, plus chapter summaries, review questions, reading lists, mini-projects, an extensive glossary, and a list of acronyms * Examines emerging and future network technologies, such as next generation Wi-Fi (802.11ac), very high throughput Wi-Fi (802.11ad), wireless mesh networking (802.11s), emergency QoS (802.11u), and vehicle-to-vehicle communications (802.11p) * * * Improving the Performance of Wireless LANs: A Practical Guide makes the teaching, learning, and researching of advanced wireless network design and performance a more active process by using practical tools and exercises to add life to this highly technical subject.