Performance and Cost Evaluation of IEEE 802.11g and 802.3i Protocols for Network Connectivity at a University Campus Using OPNET Simulation

Wireless and Wired computer networks are excessively used all over the world. The most commonly used network protocol for wired and wireless networks are IEEE 802.3i and 802.11g respectively. IEEE 802.11g provides maximum data rate of 54Mbits/s within a bandwidth of 20MHz. Ethernet IEEE 802.3i protocol can provide data rate of 10 Mbits/s over 10 BASE-T twisted pair technology. The number of users of Wi-Fi technology has increased exponentially since the last decade. The question that arises is which local area network's performance is better under full load condition? In this paper, using OPNET IT Guru simulation tool the performance of IEEE 802.11g wireless local area network and IEEE 802.3i Ethernet network for a new campus building at Bahria University Islamabad campus has been analyzed. The newly constructed campus consists of two floors and accommodates around 300 users including students and faculty. Network on both floors have same model and applications for traffic generation. The performance has been analyzed in terms of traffic (bytes/sec), queuing delay (sec) and throughput (bytes/sec). The above mentioned protocols are also evaluated on the basis of cost incurred for purchase of equipment, installation and maintenance for the campus. The simulation results and cost analysis shows that the performance of network protocol IEEE 802.3i is more efficient and reliable but the implementation is complex and expensive, whereas IEEE 802.11g protocol is easy to install and provides mobility but with low grade QoS (Quality of Service).