How to Perform WiFi Site Surveys

WiFi Site Surveys to the Rescue

At this point, you probably understand why WiFi surveys are necessary. There are simply too many factors that can negatively affect the performance of your WiFi network and make it impossible for you to browse the web, watch online videos, or send an email.

Unless you don’t mind wasting hours and hours of your life trying different router placements and settings, you’re much better off performing a WiFi site survey.

What Is a Site Survey

A site survey is a detailed analysis of a specific coverage area. This analysis is typically performed to optimize the placement or configuration of an existing WiFi router, aid the deployment of a new WiFi network, or troubleshoot performance-limiting issues.

Typically, WiFi site surveys are conducted using a WiFi site survey software application that collects various WiFi signal metrics and analyzes them. Before a survey, an area map is imported into the software application, which then overlays the gathered data on top of it. During the survey, the user moves around the surveyed area and collects WiFi signal metrics. Once finished, the WiFi site survey software application analyzes the results and presents them to the user.

The information typically shown by WiFi site survey software applications includes the estimated signal strength and channel usage for each wireless network, sources of interference, areas of weak signal strength, and more. These and other results provide valuable answers to the question, "How to get the best WiFi coverage?".

Since the entire process is largely automated, even users who have very limited prior experience with WiFi networks and wireless site surveys shouldn’t run into any problems. Of course, not all WiFi site survey software applications are equally easy to use — or equally capable — which is why it’s important to select one that combines ease of use with impressive capabilities, and NetSpot fits this description perfectly.

How to Do a Wireless Site Survey

Wireless site surveying can be broken down into a series of steps whose shared goal is to optimally design and deploy a wireless network. Let's take a look at the main steps you should always consider when learning how to do a wireless site survey, also referred to as an RF site survey:

• Initial planning: At the start of each wireless site survey, it's a good idea to consider what exactly it is that you want to achieve. Do you want to install a new router in your home? Do you want to cover a large office space with a mesh network? Or perhaps you just want to improve your WiFi performance? Knowing your goals will help you plan your survey accordingly and accomplish your objectives quickly and painlessly.
• Site inspection: Once you've determined the purpose of the wireless site survey, it's time to inspect the site. If you don't have one already, you should create a map of the area to be surveyed. Make sure to highlight all walls and other obstacles, as well as sources of RF interference, such as large electronic appliances.
• Data collection: With all preparatory steps done, it's time to use WiFi site survey for Mac, WiFi Site survey for Windows, or WiFi site survey for Android software to collect the necessary data about the wireless network environment, including the number of existing WiFi networks within reach, their signal strength, the amount of interference caused by them, and so on. Your WiFi site survey software of choice should help you collect data from different parts of the surveyed area until you've covered it all.
• Data analysis: Now is the time for the fun part: visualizing the collected data by overlaying it on the map of the surveyed area. The best WiFi site survey tools support many different visualizations, making it easy to see everything from places with high signal interferences to signal weak zones.
• Deployment and optimization: After the wireless site survey has been completed, it's time to put the insights revealed by it to good use by deploying a new network or optimizing an existing one.