Before you start a wireless site survey, define your objectives and expectations for the wireless network. What are the applications, devices, and users that will use the network? How much bandwidth, throughput, and latency do they need? What are the security and compliance standards that you have to follow? How will you monitor and troubleshoot the network? These questions will help you determine the scope, scale, and complexity of your wireless site survey.
A wireless site survey requires some tools to measure and analyze the wireless signals, interference, and coverage in your site. Use a laptop or a mobile device with a wireless adapter and a software tool that can scan, map, and report the wireless data. Some examples of these tools are Ekahau, AirMagnet, NetSpot, or Wi-Fi Analyzer. A floor plan or a map of your site, a compass, a tape measure, and some markers can be used mark the locations of the access points and the test points.
“A passive survey is a type of wireless site survey that involves listening to the existing wireless signals in your site without transmitting any data. ”
This can identify the sources of interference, the signal strength and quality, the channel utilization, and the noise level in your site. To perform a passive survey, walk around your site with your tool and collect the wireless data at different points. You can use the floor plan or the map to mark the points and the signal values. Use the tool to generate a heat map or a coverage map that shows the wireless signal distribution in your site.