Carrying out a full site survey for WiFi installation is vital for getting the best performance and most reliable wireless coverage. The WiFi Specialist offers a full range of services across WiFi surveys, to help you get the best out of your wireless signal, whether it’s a home WiFi installation or a business WiFi connection.
WiFi site surveys – sometimes also called wireless site surveys – are used to help plan and design a wireless network. The survey helps make sure your wireless network set up can provide the required wireless coverage, data rate, capacity, WiFi coverage quality and roaming capability. The survey will likely include an investigation using a spectrum analyser in order to measure the strength of wireless coverage in a particular area.
Put simply, a WiFi survey is a test to make sure you get correct signal strength, signal level and data rate from your WiFi network. Without a wireless survey, you can’t be sure your connection will guarantee the best WiFi coverage.
Typically, there are three types of site surveys for WiFi.
A passive survey looks at existing sources like access points to test for WiFi signal strength and to understand the Radio Frequency levels at the site. Passive surveys don’t connect to the network and are only used for ‘listening’ to the WiFi connection. A passive survey is most often used for projects where existing WiFi networks are being upgraded, or when installing extra access point Locations.
With an active survey, the device used by our surveying team is actually connected to the WiFi network to collect measurements and readings based on the connection and signal strength – such as throughput packet loss or data rate. When installing a new network connection, it’s usually advised to take both an active survey and a passive one to get a full picture.
Predictive WiFi surveys don’t use any field measurements. Software planning Radio Frequency tools predict the access point coverage, using a floor plan. A predictive survey is particularly useful for new buildings or blueprints, and are often crucial for project planning and budgeting.
Find out which type of WiFi survey you need. Give The WiFi Specialist team a call
Before setting up any new wireless connections with a network installation, it’s so important to make sure the design is configured correctly. At The WiFi Specialist our team can offer a completely custom WiFi site survey for your network to make sure your coverage is always at its best. We work with the industry-leading Ekahau platform and can provide intuitive Ekahau site survey recommendations.
With a WiFi survey and floor plan, your WiFi Specialist Engineer will be able to pinpoint the right place for equipment and access point locations. One of the methods we use is a WiFi heatmap, which can be overlayed with the floor plan to estimate the wireless coverage. We can guarantee the best connection and provide your business with the best WiFi coverage.
By planning in advance, WiFi heatmaps can help save budget in the long term. By identifying potential problem areas and places where your signal will need a boost, the floor plan and heatmap combination can proactively identify the areas our team need to focus on.
Planning out where your access point locations will be can help you stay on top of potential cyber security threats, in real time. Plan locations and wireless connectivity to create a robust security plan for your business, with the help of The WiFi Specialist.
Interested in booking a specialist WiFi survey?
How to do a WiFi survey
There are lots of factors you need to consider before undertaking a full WiFi site survey. These can include things like assessing the existing infrastructure, calculating system coverage requirements, verifying access point locations, and identifying the coverage area.
Naturally, this can be quite a complex process, which is why it’s a good idea to enlist the help of The WiFi Specialist’s team of WiFi Engineers to make sure you get the right data and can set up the bet coverage.
How long does it take for a WiFi survey?
While it can vary project to project, we can provide a rough estimate for how long certain WiFi surveys can take. For example, a typical office building spread over two floors (and with around 6-8 areas) will usually take approximately 4 hours to survey. Distribution centres, factories or bigger buildings such as hotels with multiple rooms can take longer – usually a full day for a normal survey.
Our team will be able to give you a more detailed quote based on your requirements and location – get in touch to find out more.
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