Performance Evaluation of Routing Protocols for Flying Ad Hoc Networks Under Practical Conditions

FANETs, which are networks made up of interconnected unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV s), are demonstrating considerable potential in areas such as disaster response, environmental monitoring, and tactical operations. Nodes in FANETs are mobile, there is frequent topology change, and they move in three dimensions. They are therefore different from traditional Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs). A real-world evaluation of OLSR, BATMAN-ADV, and Bebel performance under IEEE 802.11 at 2.4 and 5 GHz is presented in this paper. It emphasises real-world testing rather than simulation-based studies in order to understand better how these protocols perform in dynamic UAV networks. Analysis of metrics such as packet loss and throughput across distances and frequencies is performed. At 5GHz, OLSR delivers stable performance, whereas at 2.4GHz, Bebel excels at maintaining throughput over longer distances. There are limitations under both settings of BATMAN-ADV. A practical FANET deployment can benefit from these findings when selecting and optimising routing strategies.