XBee-WiFi conflicts: are they real?

[Ran Talbott]

I'm thinking about experimenting with Xbee to network some embedded gadgets, but I already have one WiFi network in the house, and am thinking about adding a second (the idea is to stream audio to some old iPaqs, which only support 802.11b, so I can have music throughout the house without slowing down the 802.11g "computer data" network. Plus I could add increased security, like encryption that might strain the iPaqs' CPU power, to the 11g network).

I've seen some comments claiming that the theoretical risks of having Xbee and WiFi competing for spectrum can cause some real problems, but it's not clear how much weight I should give them.

Do you folks actually using Xbee (especially those in urban areas, where there are lots of WiFi nodes nearby) see a lot of problems? Or is the risk overblown?

Thanks,

Ran

[eil]

It really depends heavily on the exact location you'll be using it in, what kind of distance you need, and how much interference is nearby. I've seen one poorly-designed cordless phone wreck wifi for an entire building, but I've also seen buildings running 10 different nearby access points with no problems on any.

Chances are pretty good that as long as your existing wifi is stable with decent speed then adding an XBee on top of that won't be a huge deal.

[adafruit]

i havent had any problems. if you wanted to be 'smart' you would make sure that the channels were different by checking the xbee datasheet

[33Warlord]

From Digi's website (http://www.digi.com/technology/rf-artic ... munity.jsp):

Interference Immunity

Digi's unique XII™ Interference Immunity technology is a proprietary hardware and software feature set that allows product designers using Digi products to create wireless systems that are immune to most RF interferers (cell phones, pagers, other wireless systems, etc.).

When operating within the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands, cell phones, pagers and other wireless systems can dramatically interfere with wireless links.

Digi's XII™ technology can block 60 dB of interference. Interference just 1 MHz away can be 1 million times stronger than the Digi signal and only degrade the receiver sensitivity by 3 dB. This interfering device would have to output more than 100,000 Watts to significantly affect the transmission of Digi products.

Digi products utilize frequency hopping spread spectrum communication that, by design, delivers additional protection against interference.

Digi has also written a whitepaper on mixing various wireless technologies together. It can be found here: http://www.digi.com/hottag.jsp?ht=/pdf/ ... reless.pdf