WiFi Site Survey Android: What It Is and How to Perform It?

Benefits of Performing WiFi Site Surveys on Android

Conducting a WiFi site survey with an Android device comes with its own set of advantages, making it an increasingly popular choice for both casual users and network administrators. Here are some of the key benefits:

• Portability: Android devices are generally small and lightweight, making it convenient to carry them around the space you are surveying. This enables easy, on-the-go analysis without the burden of lugging around larger equipment.
• Long battery life: Most modern Android smartphones and tablets offer impressive battery longevity. This means you can perform extensive surveys without the constant need to recharge the device, making the process more efficient.
• Cost-effective: You likely already own an Android device, eliminating the need to invest in specialized hardware for basic WiFi surveying tasks. Coupled with often free or inexpensive site survey apps, this makes Android a budget-friendly choice.
• User-friendly interface: Android WiFi site survey apps are typically designed with user experience in mind, offering intuitive interfaces that make it easy for even tech novices to collect and interpret data.

If you’ve never performed a wireless site survey before, then you're probably wondering what your next step should be. Well, the answer is simple: you need to select the right WiFi site survey app for Android.

How to Perform an Android WiFi Site Survey with NetSpot

The Android version of NetSpot is widely regarded for its ease of use, so learning how to perform a WiFi site survey with its help won’t take you much time at all.

To get started, you first need to download the app from the Google Play Store. NetSpot for Android is both free to download and use without any limitations. Once installed on your device, you can go ahead and launch the app.

The first screen you’ll see after launching NetSpot for Android will present you with the following three options:

• Inspector: Lets you collect detailed information on surrounding WiFi networks and analyze them in real-time.

• Survey: Allows you to perform an in-depth analysis and troubleshooting of WiFi networks with color-coded visual heatmaps.

• Internet Speed Test: Makes it easy to find out exactly how fast your internet connection is.

If this is your first time performing a WiFi site survey, then we recommend you start with the Inspector option so that you can quickly and easily discover heaps of useful information about WiFi activity in your area. NetSpot will list all WiFi networks that are within range and tell you how each network is called, how strong its signal is, and which band and channel it’s broadcasting on, among other things.

From there, it’s a good idea to select the Survey option and create a detailed WiFi site survey to better understand how your own WiFi network performs and what you can do to make it perform even better. NetSpot will ask you to create a new WiFi site survey project and pick a map of the surveyed area. You will then be asked to place a marker in your current location and start scanning.

Your goal is to collect enough data so that the entire map is covered. This data can then be either used to create Wi-Fi heatmaps on your Android device or exported to build heatmaps in NetSpot PRO or Enterprise on your desktop computer.

Three types of Wi-Fi heatmaps can be generated directly in NetSpot for Android; this option is available through in-app purchase.

Thanks to their visual nature, WiFi heatmaps make it easy to spot signal weak zones, discover sources of signal interference, and more. The insights they provide can guide you when making adjustments to improve the performance of your WiFi network.

Finally, you can use NetSpot’s Internet Speed Test feature to verify that the adjustments you’ve made have actually delivered the desired results and made your WiFi network perform better.