WiFi Site Survey Software

What is a WiFi Site Survey?

A WiFi site survey is a comprehensive assessment of wireless network performance and coverage, typically performed using specialized wireless survey tools.

The goal of a typical WiFi site survey is to determine the number of access points needed to provide the desired coverage and capacity, as well as their optimal placement. Since WiFi networks are susceptible to interference from other WiFi networks, electrical devices, and objects that absorb radio frequency bands for use in wireless communications, WiFi site surveys also aim to identify and mitigate their potential sources.

What Does a Wi-Fi Site Survey Show?

Completing a Wi-Fi site survey with the right wireless site survey tool provides tangible and actionable insights that can be vital for your network's performance and security.

Wi-Fi Heatmaps

Specifically, a Wi-Fi site survey provides a wealth of detailed information on all surveyed wireless networks, visually represented through interactive heatmaps. These color-coded maps make it easy to understand real-life WiFi data across every point of your space.

Beyond just offering a visual treat, heatmaps carry different types of data visualizations. This depth of detail helps you troubleshoot and manage any Wi-Fi setup by analyzing every access point. Whether you're a casual user or a true wireless networking maven, this level of detail can be incredibly beneficial.

• In the case of passive surveys, you'll see data regarding signal-to-noise ratio, signal level, quantity of access points, noise level, signal-to-interference ratio, frequency band coverage, and PHY mode coverage. This extensive data set helps to understand the overall signal quality and network configuration.
• For active surveys, your results will include throughput testing with Iperf 3 or custom speed test servers, upload and download speed, wireless transmit rate, and Iperf upload, download, and jitter. These factors give you an understanding of the real-world performance of your network under various conditions.

In essence, a Wi-Fi site survey becomes a comprehensive dashboard of your wireless network, paving the way for informed decisions, targeted troubleshooting, and superior network performance.

Optimization and Troubleshooting

The best wireless survey tools go beyond just presenting data by also helping you optimize and troubleshoot your network. Examples of how they do this include:

• Dead zone detection: By visualizing signal strength across the entire coverage area, site survey tools for wireless networks help identify areas with weak or no signal.
• Channel recommendation: Through analysis of the radio frequency environment, WiFi survey tools can suggest optimal channel assignments to minimize interference and maximize performance.
• Network speed testing: Wireless network survey tools can measure your download and upload speed to help you determine if your ISP is providing you with the service you're paying for.
• Proactive WiFi planning: The best WiFi survey software tools make it possible to proactively plan WiFi network deployments by simulating various access point configurations and predicting coverage patterns before physical installation.

These and other optimization and troubleshooting capabilities make wireless site survey tools indispensable for both initial network setup and ongoing maintenance.

Ekahau Product Suite includes several powerful enterprise-grade tools for designing, analyzing, optimizing, and troubleshooting all 2.4/5/6 GHz Wi-Fi networks. The one you should know about if you’re interested in WiFi site surveys is Ekahau AI Pro, an advanced WiFi site survey software that supports all Wi-Fi standards, including Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax in 6GHz), and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac.

With a database of over 4,000 Wi-Fi access points and antennas from all vendors, Ekahau AI Pro is an all-in-one solution for IT professionals leading business-critical Wi-Fi design and deployment projects.

Ekahau AI Pro boasts AI-assisted predictive wireless network design capabilities, network upgrade simulations, and custom reports detailing the performance health of your network. It supports multiple buildings and thousands of access points per project, so it’s more than capable of meeting the needs of even the most demanding enterprise users.

Of course, A WiFi heatmapper of this caliber and price point is definitely an overkill for smaller organizations whose networks don’t span multiple buildings. There’s also the fact that Ekahau AI Pro requires the Ekahau Sidekick 2 device to collect data — a regular WiFi adapter isn’t enough.

This WiFi site survey software tool boasts the ability to analyze 802.11ax networks, as well as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac networks. The tool is available in two versions, and both versions cost over $1,000. The more expensive version of TomoGraph Site Survey adds support of access point simulation and predictive modeling of signal propagation.

Included in TomoGraph Site Survey is a powerful spectrum analyzer capable of detecting and identifying non-Wi-Fi sources of RF signals, such as wireless video cameras, microwave ovens, or cordless phones. This feature is intended to work with Wi-Spy, which is a compact 2.4 and 5 GHz spectrum analyzer that connects to the USB port.

How to Select Suitable WiFi Site Survey Tools?

Your choice of wireless site survey software should depend on the type of site survey you want to perform:

• Passive survey: During a passive survey, there’s no need to establish a connection with an access point because the goal is to gather information about all access points in the area, including their names, wireless channels, signal strength, and so on. A passive survey is great for identifying rogue access points and obtaining a high-level view of the surveyed area in terms of WiFi activity.
• Active survey: To perform an active survey, it’s necessary to establish a connection with the surveyed access point. An active survey measures round-trip time, throughput rates, packet loss, and retransmissions, among other things. This type of site survey is used to troubleshoot a single WiFi network.
• Predictive survey: A predictive survey dives into the realm of simulations. It involves creating a hypothetical model of a wireless network, taking into account interactions with physical barriers like walls or larger objects. This type of survey is done pre-deployment, providing a predictive analysis of how the network will perform and highlighting potential weak spots and interference areas. Because predictive surveys can be conducted without any field measurements, they offer an efficient and cost-effective method to plan your wireless network.

Good to know: Passive and active surveys require a compatible off-the-shelf WiFi adapter, but no additional hardware is required. Predictive surveys can be performed even on a computer that doesn’t connect to WiFi.

In most real-world situations, it's not enough to simply perform one type of survey. The nuanced and multi-faceted nature of wireless networks necessitates the use of a combination of passive, active, and predictive wireless network surveys, each serving a unique and complementary purpose.

To effectively conduct these three types of WiFi site surveys, you need a wireless site survey tool that's versatile and comprehensive. Your tool should not only support all Wi-Fi standards, including the latest WiFi 6, but also be compatible with both Windows and Mac computers to provide flexibility in your operations.

Furthermore, Wi-Fi survey tools must be user-friendly, having an intuitive design that streamlines the survey process and makes it accessible to a variety of users, from seasoned IT professionals to novice network administrators. The easier the tool is to use, the more likely you are to perform regular site surveys, leading to more accurate and up-to-date network data, thereby ensuring optimal network performance and resilience.

Conclusion

With our increasing reliance on WiFi networks, both in personal and professional settings, a comprehensive site survey provides invaluable insights into access point placement, interference issues, and overall network performance. The right wireless site survey software tool makes it much easier to perform different kinds of WiFi site surveys, and NetSpot stands out as the best choice for most users thanks to its versatility, user-friendliness, and comprehensive features.