I would think the metal parts of roof might be reflecting signals all around the building, which would cause interference between devices. (there is a limited number of WiFi channels), it might work better with a plastic roof, or one with RF absorbers.
Multiple paths to the same device is one of the ways MIMO allows for faster WiFi. If the WiFi setup has been tweaked for the environment, this doesn’t need to be a problem.
Google suggesting using phones as hotspots makes the interference suggestion more unlikely, I think. I suspect they just haven’t done a good job at setting up their access points, which can be a challenge for large buildings (but shouldn’t be a problem for a company like Google with their own in-house WiFi engineers).
Then again, this being Google, the team that designed the WiFi setup was probably shut down a month after they finished installing hardware and before they could make the software usable.
Also, hundreds of mobile hotspots will impact the performance of all nearby wireless networks.
I wonder if Google actually has WiFi engineers. It’s not something you need to set up everyday. Still they have the money to hire a company that specialises in WiFi.
I would think the metal parts of roof might be reflecting signals all around the building, which would cause interference between devices. (there is a limited number of WiFi channels), it might work better with a plastic roof, or one with RF absorbers.
Multiple paths to the same device is one of the ways MIMO allows for faster WiFi. If the WiFi setup has been tweaked for the environment, this doesn’t need to be a problem.
Google suggesting using phones as hotspots makes the interference suggestion more unlikely, I think. I suspect they just haven’t done a good job at setting up their access points, which can be a challenge for large buildings (but shouldn’t be a problem for a company like Google with their own in-house WiFi engineers).
Then again, this being Google, the team that designed the WiFi setup was probably shut down a month after they finished installing hardware and before they could make the software usable.
Also, hundreds of mobile hotspots will impact the performance of all nearby wireless networks.
I wonder if Google actually has WiFi engineers. It’s not something you need to set up everyday. Still they have the money to hire a company that specialises in WiFi.