Rogue devices: Unauthorized access points or devices can intrude on the network, potentially posing security risks such as data breaches or unauthorized usage.Inconsistent performance: Without ongoing monitoring, sporadic issues like speed drops or connection failures may go unnoticed until they escalate into bigger problems.

Signal obstructions: New physical barriers, such as walls, furniture, or even plants, can disrupt signal paths, creating areas of weak or nonexistent coverage.

Increased interference: New electronic devices or even nearby WiFi networks can lead to frequency interference, reducing your network's performance.

The Importance of Regular WiFi Site Surveysīy overlooking the value of conducting periodic WiFi site surveys, you risk inviting an array of problems that could seriously impair your network's functionality and even safety, such as: They can also considerably shorten the deployment time by eliminating, or at least greatly reducing, the need to optimize access point position and configuration.įor the best results, it’s recommended to combine all three types of RF site surveys, which is easy to do if you use the right software. When done correctly, they can save a lot of money that would otherwise be wasted on unnecessary access points. Predictive surveys are performed prior to deployment. In fact, it’s a good idea to perform them on a regular basis because the wireless environment, especially in densely populated areas, can change very quickly, with new networks not always being properly configured and causing unnecessary interference as a result.Īctive surveys are typically performed right after deployment or when there are issues to troubleshoot, such as when connection attempts are timing out or when you’re struggling to achieve the speeds advertised by your internet service provider. Passive site surveys of wireless networks can be performed at any time. You just need a reasonably powerful computer and WiFi site survey app with support for predictive modeling. To perform a predictive survey, you don’t actually need to collect any data on site.

Predictive surveys: What is a predictive survey? It’s a simulation done on a computer to mimic the distribution of wireless signals in a virtual version of a real physical environment.

Active wireless network site surveys can give you the most accurate information about a specific network. Once you’re connected, you can analyze its actual throughput rates, round-trip time, packet loss, and several other metrics while it’s in operation.

Active surveys: To perform an active WiFi site survey, you must be connected to a specific WiFi network, which is typically possible only if you know the right password.

Passive surveys can analyze AP coverage areas, signal levels, signal-to-noise ratios, and more. Instead, you’re just passively listening to WiFi signals that are bouncing around. The reason why they’re called passive is that you don’t actually need to be actively connected to any specific network.

Passive surveys: Despite the name, passive WiFi surveys actually provide a heap of useful information because they analyze all available WiFi networks in the surveyed location.

There are three main types of wireless site surveys you should know about:

WiFi heatmaps are superior to graphs, charts, and tables because they locate data in physical space in an easy-to-read manner. WiFi site survey software presents the information it collects in the form of WiFi heatmaps, which are helpful visualization that overlay color-coded data on top of a map of the surveyed area. Once you’re equipped with this information, you can much better decide where you should place your router, which channel you should use, and how to plan your WiFi in general.

Signal level and signal-to-noise ratio.WiFi channel utilization and interference.The number of WiFi networks present in the surveyed area.Typically, a WiFi site survey report will tell you the following information: The purpose of WiFi surveying is to support informed decision-making during the network’s deployment and its configuration. You can think of a WiFi site survey as an in-depth analysis of an area where a WiFi network is supposed to be deployed.

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