What is worse than having consistent wifi problems when you have a lot of deadlines to meet and work to complete? If your wireless network is not performing well, install a new one or check your access points. A wifi site survey will be essential to either get a new wifi network or access points reinstalled. 

A wifi site survey is practical to optimize the coverage of your network throughout the area. It reports the number of access points needed and the location they should be installed to enhance network performance. Hence your wifi configuration has a significant impact on the network coverage. To have a consistent connection, here is how a wifi site survey can address all the potential issues and give you better performance.

What is a Wifi Site Survey?

A wifi site survey optimizes your network coverage and performance. It is also known as an RF (Radiofrequency) or wireless site survey. It is done before the installation of the network as it involves planning and designing a wireless network that meets your coverage requirements, network capacity, roaming capabilities [1], and quality of performance. 

The technical professionals visit your site to assess installation points considering channel interference, digital dead zones, and any obstacles to service. Some site surveys go into further detail and give you network cabling and rack installation information. This clarifies the installation process comprehensively to the cabling team directing it to install the access points precisely. 

There are three types of site surveys; passive site surveys, active site surveys, and predictive site surveys. You can conduct any of these site surveys according to the site requirements. Conducting these from time to time increases your efficiency and productivity. Hence adding them to your network strategy impacts your growth, especially when you are at the expansion stage of your business. In practice, randomly placing your access points will hinder your employee and customers’ demand for a fast and reliable network. This slows down your business and growth. Hence, a site survey saves a lot of money and downtime in the long run. 

Why Do You Need a Wifi Site Survey?

A well-performing wifi connection is essential for any business. Mainly when all internal and external aspects of business rely heavily on it. If connection issues are frequent, they interrupt the employees’ daily tasks, impacting interaction with the customers, putting a negative impression on the visitors, and causing a loss of business.  

A wifi site survey is reasonably necessary when installing a network in a large area. You will want the right equipment and method to detect signal interference, dead zones, and any problems. With a smaller area, you can run a site survey independently. However, a less intensive site survey can also be conducted. A wifi site survey provides you the complete detail of the area and installation method of the access points. Detecting radio sources from neighboring networks and stations, pointing out all the interferences on the site. The site analysis aims to meet your needs and requirements for installing a network and give the technicians a plan of action to install it within the constraints.

The Importance of Wifi Site Survey

A wifi site survey is quite essential and effective than you can imagine. It saves you money in the long run. You detect how many access points you need in your area and the strategic points for installation so you do not over-deploy them. This strategic deployment doesn’t save you the cost of an access point, but savings are compounded in fewer switches and electric use. Moreover, a wifi site survey will help you to meet your growing demands. You can easily update your wireless infrastructure with the rapidly changing technological landscape. So you can incorporate new developments like Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology [2] essential for iOS, Android, and IoT devices. 

To understand a site survey better, you can think of them as audits for your network. The technical experts visit your site and test all the access for their optimal performance. The problems in the access points are identified, such as insufficient or overlapping coverage, inadequate spacing, and any other issues. The current bandwidth is also tested to see if it is according to the need of the site to handle all the traffic. In the end, the site survey gives you a report detailing existing network security, pointing out the weak areas in the network, and recommending ways to improve access points encryption [3].

Key Benefits of a Wifi Site Survey 

Installing a wireless network according to your business needs is essential as it saves you resources and increases productivity. The right number of access points gives you a clear and strong signal throughout the area. Installing fewer access points leads to slow and lagging movements. More access points lead to the wastage of resources and unnecessary maintenance.  

• Minimizing Costs

An improper job of installing access points can increase your costs directly and indirectly. This means having dead spots and lousy signal areas. This has a significant impact on the employees, customers, and visitors. This impact causes you to lose productivity and business indirectly. Similarly, underestimating and overestimating access points cost you directly from a slow and lagging network to a waste of resources.

• Identifying Issues in the Network

There can be several reasons why your network needs to be fixed at its best. The primary objective of a site survey is to determine these issues that negatively impact your network. This means the survey analyses the network usage, interferences, and physical obstructions. The goal is to provide a solution for each of these problems for a smoothly running network connection. This makes regular wifi site surveys very important to keep up with the network problems before they get out of hand.

• Increasing Productivity

As a site survey saves you money, it increases productivity and profitability. It gives your workforce consistent network signals to effectively collaborate with teams and complete their daily tasks on time. They are available when a customer needs them or to communicate with the vendors timely. This way, your employees stay efficient in working towards their goals.

• Meeting Your Business Needs

When planning an installation of a network, the securing required by your business is kept in mind. This allows the technical experts to build a secure network from cyber attacks to protect your data and resources, as wifi networks control devices and software to protect internal data and resources. With the optimal placement of Access points, the security of the devices is also enhanced, protecting them from unauthorized access. With a wifi site survey, you can focus on growing your business with a secure network.

• Ensuring Adequate Bandwidth

Your network is built on the amount of usability it has. So if you have a lot of traffic, you require sufficient bandwidth to meet those needs. A wifi site survey effectively provides you with the details of user coverage, device capacity, data rates for different bandwidth applications, roaming, and the services you need. Based on this, you can alter and add to your network requirements. You can carry out critical business functions, communications, and collaboration with a proper bandwidth. 

FAQs

1. What is the benefit of a wifi site survey?

A wifi site survey will provide optimal positioning of access points to give you consistent and robust coverage throughout the area. It reveals the points of signal interferences, dead zones, and weak signals. Using this information, the technical experts install an efficient network providing quality service. 

1. Is it necessary to have regular site surveys?

If you want to avoid network problems from accumulating, then regular site surveys are necessary. These are like network audits that help enhance your performance and efficiency. With regular site surveys, the access points are texted to check if they perform at their maximum capacity. If not, then they are reinstalled at better locations.

1. How does a wifi site survey keep a network secured?

 A wifi site survey ensures the network is appropriately set up to be secure from cyber-attacks and unauthorized users. When installing a network, it deploys multiple security solutions to protect the system from cyber attacks and malware. 

1. What is the main object of a wifi site survey?

 The main objective of a wifi site survey is to note the number of access points needed and the best placement points available for them. The goal is to optimize the network coverage to provide solid and consistent signals throughout the site. To achieve this, all the inferences and obstacles are considered. According to the need and complexity of the place, the required type of survey is conducted to meet the network needs. 

References:

[1]https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2971/roaming

[2]https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/Bluetooth-Low-Energy-Bluetooth-LE

[3]https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00009475