Most companies operating today require a dependable wireless connection at all times. The global net revenue of the internet service industry had an uptick of 450 billion dollars in 2020. It’s expecting to reach a total of 600 Billion by 2027.

To ensure your company’s internet services are up to standard, you’ll need to perform a wireless site survey. This guide will give all you need to know about why your company should conduct a wireless site survey.

Internet Connection

Many companies question the range of their access points or wireless router broadcasts. Many companies have full expectations to fulfill strong wifi connections. So, the lack of access points and low bandwidth can be frustrating and unprofessional to customers and employees alike.

Can you determine the bandwidth and LAN connectivity within a given location? The answer is dependent upon many factors. Some of these factors can help determine wireless points you control against what is out of your control.

Best Wireless Site Survey

The Wireless site survey entails a few processes covering the inspection of a site or facility. This is so teams can understand how to build an infrastructure.

This covers any areas on a location that can store access points. It can also detect radio frequencies that may disrupt your WLAN connectivity. This survey consists of three different processes: predictive site surveys, active site surveys, and passive site surveys.

Active site surveys retrieve information in real-time about how devices work on the network. This occurs after the installation of the AP’s. The passive site survey runs analytics on WLAN metrics. This can detect RF interference, test the strength of the signal, and access signal-to-noise ratios.

Once you implant these devices, the team can record the rate of uploading/downloading data and ping times.

This can test the overall performance of the AP’s. Citizens in the Denver area can research site survey estimates on this page. This can give you an idea of the wireless site survey cost.

Predictive site surveys are one of the most extensive and important processes. Professional IT teams oversee these surveys to determine the correct amount of AP’s in a given location. This can allow for maximum connectivity in the facility.

IT Teams, through a process known as “armchair surveys”, can remotely execute these tasks. This involves scanning the area and charting the areas that provide the most connectivity.

Wireless Site Survey Tools

There are parts of wireless that you can control versus portions that you can’t control. Certain factors you can control include wireless transmit output power, number of APs, placement, and signal strength.

The environmental factor is not in your complete control. The type of construction materials or types of frequency interferences may disrupt certain connection possibilities.

When designing a layout for your AP placements, there are important things to keep in mind. Access Points are omnidirectional, therefore you can place them facing any point.

Their omnidirectional patterns will still allow access in a 360-degree bubble. The center of the placement is the access point.

This can allow users to place their access points anywhere in the field. This can include mounting on the ceiling, on walls, and inside hidden locations underneath tables, etc.

When planning out AP placements, you want the signals to overlap. These well-placed AP’s can allow devices to transfer from AP to AP without disruption to the connection. In these overlap zones, you’ll want to contain a minimum of 60 to 65dB to provide effortless transfers.

Finalizing Access Points

Once your layout includes the AP locations, you’ll want to get on-site and verify connectivity. Before finalizing installation, you’ll want to verify any lapse in coverage.

One important note is the fact that the team does not need an internet connection to perform this. In fact, they do not even need to mount Access Points in the area.

With the use of an ethernet cable, Acess Points can broadcast their default SSID. You can use many different programs to gather data on the range of your connection.

Moving or adding AP’s can increase the effectiveness. You can finalize the install by mounting the access point in the test location.

Benefits of Predictive Site Survey

A WiFi site survey can save money in the long run when dealing with a company’s budget. This can prevent you from oversupplying the area with access points.

Fewer access points mean the company will spend less on activating multiple switch ports. With this in mind, there will be less power to spend on the switches in the switch closet. Less power will also provide fewer cooling elements required to cool down the switch closet.

If you set up your AP’s in an effective manner it will also prevent you from dealing with an overwhelming demand for connection. Developments in IT Technology such as BLE (BlueTooth Low Energy) Tech require strength in connection.

Companies working with the Internet of Things and iOS require this connection to deal with data transfers. Companies using heat maps and contact tracing were able to reduce the COVID spread. These companies were able to make connections with businesses around the world to help control the interactions among the populace.

Wireless Site Survey

Site Surveys help bring a better workflow to companies around the world. They can also reduce the financial impact on a company’s budget. Especially when confronting connectivity and power issues.

A wireless site survey can provide important data to prepare for wireless connection installation. This can include AP placement, power consideration, and all the necessary cables you need to complete the job.

Follow our business blog for more information on how to conduct a wireless site survey to help implement a WLAN connection!