Given n Stations Choose a Value for p
at end of transmission, expect number of stations to attempt transmission is n*p
if n*p > 1, will always be a collision (on average)
- but probability of stations sending after collision is also n*p!
- collisions continue, throughput drops to 0
therefore must choose n*p < 1 for expected peak loads of n.
as p gets smaller
- stations wait longer for transmission, but collisions reduced