Analysis of User Activity in Wireless Local Area Network of Petrozavodsk State University

Wireless networks are widely used for Internet access in public places, trading centers and educational institutions. The study of users' activity in these places can help solve problems of marketing, security, location, and monitoring of public transport. The article describes an experiment to measure the activity of users in wireless networks of Petrozavodsk State University because some educational and administrative processes are slowed because of a strict speed limit for all users. The authors developed a method to determine users' activity without the access to the service equipment and personal data, as well as a software complex to implement this method. Then they collected and analyzed data on the hours of the highest and lowliest activity, class schedule effect, and the dynamics of users' returns to the network. The information obtained was used to determine the allowed constraints of the Internet access speed for network users. A number of equations take into account the typical behavior of wireless network users, their activity and the capacity of external network channels. Computed rates for speed limits significantly exceed the established indicators in the network of Petrozavodsk University during hours of average and minimum network load. The results obtained can be used in corporate networks to dynamically calculate the permissible speed limit and to improve the quality of user service.