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  • How is it that a computer receiving packets through wifi doesn't get those wifi packets distorted often?
  • Wouldn't things like other radio waves interfere with the signal often?
  • How does my computers NIC deal with that?

The knowledge I have regarding how wifi works is that interpretation of the data is done through looking at the amplitude in the waves and the frequency and sin etc.

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closed as too broad by Marcus Müller, Kevin Reid AG6YO♦ Jan 29 '17 at 15:36

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

  • $\begingroup$ There is massive error correction in the network stack. Given enough interference/congestion, wifi fails like anything else. $\endgroup$ – user400344 Jan 28 '17 at 23:21
  • $\begingroup$ I went ahead and removed the radioactivity from your question, since you kind of contradicted the question yourself in your edit. If you want to ask about radioactivity and radio waves, you should do that in a separate question. Please make sure that that question is on-topic on the site you're asking – so for this site, it must be about radio technology in general or ham technology especially, and Wifi cards are neither. $\endgroup$ – Marcus Müller Jan 29 '17 at 10:27
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How is it that a computer receiving packets through wifi doesn't get those wifi packets distorted often?

It does.

Wouldn't things like other radio waves interfere with the signal often?

They do.

How does my computers NIC deal with that?

Error correction, equalizing, flexible synchronization, re-requesting lost packets on different layers.

Like what if the website data being sent from my router had the signal distorted through like radioactivity if I happened to be in Chernobyl...

What?! Radioactivity falls into different categories, but none of them interfere with RF signals. If you put your router on top of something that emits a lot of ionizing radiation, then the computer chips inside will malfunction. But that has nothing to do with RF.

The knowledge I have regarding how wifi works is that interpretation of the data is done through looking at the amplitude in the waves and the frequency and sin etc.

You don't seem to posess a lot of that knowledge, to be completely honest.

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  • $\begingroup$ But the way a home pc recieves data from a router is through something intepreting the waves and their properties, right? $\endgroup$ – Harman Nieves Jan 29 '17 at 1:34
  • $\begingroup$ Hi Harman, yes, that is true, a receiver interprets the properties of an electromagnetic wave. I don't think I can full answer all your questions properly here – it'd basically require me to write a small book – for which I'm sorry. I think an intro to digital receivers would be cool for you; my problem is that I can recommend a lot of textbooks in that area, which were written for electrical engineers. The problem with that is that they just require you to have read a book on signal theory – which would be cool for you, too. And those require some advanced math. $\endgroup$ – Marcus Müller Jan 29 '17 at 9:51
  • $\begingroup$ But that, in the end, would be like one third of a current EE bachelor's degree (if done right), so hm, might be a tiny bit over the top. $\endgroup$ – Marcus Müller Jan 29 '17 at 9:52

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