> Another tool I am happy with is the Airmagnet Surveyor Pro. > This tool does a good job of identifying any poor coverage > areas after the installation is complete.
My conclusion has been that site surveying, as a concept, is more accurate and useful in this situation -- or, in any case, in determining placement of a single AP -- than in trying to determine placement of multiple APs in proximity. It is *in theory* possible to place radio sources and measure received signal strengths at various locations, and from that compute a mapping of existing barriers and sources of interference. To do so in sufficient quantity and accuracy to be useful can be a monumental task, and constraining the computed ideal placements to actual practicable locations is a hard problem. One can get a "good enough" result, with a lot less effort, by having someone with experience suggest an initial set of practicable locations, and using the tools to locate coverage holes and verify best placement of a few additional APs to eliminate them. This is especially true if your management solution offers tuning of power levels based on each APs report of the received signal strength from its neighbors. (Those neighbors weren't present during the planning phase, and so measurements taken then are unlikely to reflect actual coverage by the deployed system.) David Gillett > -----Original Message----- > From: Greene, Chip [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:55 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] WIRELESS-LAN "wireless site survey tools" > > Tom, > > I have been extremely happy with the Airmagnet (Cognio - now > owned by Cisco) Spectrum Analyzer. It does a good job of > identifying any devices in the area, as well as provide a > good graphical interface and view of the spectrum being > surveyed. My only complaint with the product is the refresh > rate, but nothing can compare to a true RF Spectrum Analyzer. > Another tool I am happy with is the Airmagnet Surveyor Pro. > This tool does a good job of identifying any poor coverage > areas after the installation is complete. Of course the > accuracy of this tool depends on the procedure used to > collect the data and the number of datapoints you decide to > take. Hope this helps. > > Chip Greene > Senior Network Specialist > University of Richmond > > > ________________________________ > > From: Tom Blosser [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wed 2/6/2008 10:34 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] WIRELESS-LAN "wireless site survey tools" > > > > Hello, > > We are in the process of installing wireless throughout our > administration buildings on campus and wanted some input from > the community on what "site survey tools" that have been > satisfactory used by others in gaining the "right info" for > setting up and maintaining your wireless networks. Please > include any negative experiences too. > > -- > Tom Blosser > Earlham College > 801 National Road West > Richmond, IN 47374 > Ph. 765 983 1396 > Fax. 765 983 1253 > > ********** > 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/. > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
