We use Ekahau software. Wireless Valley is better product, (It thinks in 3 dimensions, where Ekahau is two dimensional)
You load a floorplan onto the software. You scale it. (Measure a wall, and tell the software how long the wall is) First, you Simulate the layout. You draw all the walls on the floorplan, giving then RF values. (usually I stick with concrete, drywall, and elevator shaft) Then you place "virtual" AP's on the floorplan, and try to figure a good placement. When you have a good simulation you: Test the design You place an AP, (with Cisco (and most auto RF type AP's) they recommend 50% power, so the AP can boost it's signal to fill in gaps if necessary.) You walk around, clicking on the floorplan, making data points on the map. You "Freeze" the AP in the software. (That's the term they used, essential it munges the MAC of the AP so you can simulate many AP's with a single one) Move the AP to the next placement point. Repeat until the whole floor is covered. Based on the graphs, you make some intelligent guesses, and adjust the AP placement. Repeat the whole Survey until you get it right. It is time consuming, but buying the software, and doing it yourself is usually cheaper than a consultant. I know the Cisco Software on the WCS controller software (not the controller itself) can do this simulation as well. We've have never used it in this capacity, since we have the Ekahau software, and we know it works very well. (We had the Ekahau software a year before the Cisco Product) Mike King From: Christian Hroux [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:58 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Site survey Wifi deployment software and methodology queries Hello! We are planning a campus wide Wifi deployment. I am looking for tool and advice on how to do site survey. We are looking at Cisco airspace solution with controller. The test deployment 20 AP was done with consultant and the actual site survey was to install and move around one mobile AP and check the reception with a laptop to determine the final AP spot. This process was repeated until the floor was covered. Not a very scientific approach and quite costly. >From my reading there are 2 types of site survey: -Spectrum analyser to evaluate noise in your environment. -Simulation software tool where you load your (autocad) floor plan and the software will help to define the location of your access-points. -Another survey is to install all access-points and walk the floor and take sample reading with a laptop and software and analyse the result. -Once you have your Wifi network Cisco seem to have some functionality where AP can listen to each other and adjusted their power and maybe recommend to move some AP around. (WLSE walkabout feature old aeronet solution) but at this point you need to have your network install before using this tool. I was looking at air magnet software to those 2 functions any comments? What was your experience with those softwares? Any other that I should look at? In only few lines, how do you proceed with your WIFI site survey and what tool do you use? Thanks Christian Héroux University of Quebec Montréal, Canada ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
