How are wifi sight surveys done?

[nowlan]

Just curious if anyone here can shed light.
I think in the past you would walk around with a laptop and use netstumbler and record signal strength on a floor plan etc.

Now a days, you have wifi controllers that will control access points power, so they dont clobber each other. I understand the 3 usable channels, and overlapping hexagonal type pattern.

But wondering if anyone would use a spec.analyser etc, to see interference from devices, such as microwave oven.
 (my $50 target special knocks out wifi when running). Not why im asking, but just using as a suggestion.

[Rerouter]

I cannot say how they are done other than walking around, but at a guess they are less required these days, mimo wireless has led to beam steering, which means you can get a lot furthur away and still be able to connect.

I would caution that rf propegation through 3d space is hard, almost every case i have seen had the measuring setup changing the results when rotated. The gradients still exist, but at certain locations reflections catch up, signals that where delayed by different densities in concrete interfere, etc

Using a spectrum anaylyser however would help find all the competing noise sources much easier.

[eeviking]

Ekahau HeatMapper etc.:
https://www.ekahau.com
They also have a spectrum analyser.

[Kalvin]

In addition to the Ekahau HeatMapper, Ekahau has also Ekahau Sidekick spectrum and network analyzer for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wifi bands. The device can provide 20 frequency sweeps per second on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wifi bands simultaneously with >70 dB dynamic range, which can be very useful when hunting down any intermittent interference sources.

https://www.ekahau.com/products/sidekick/overview/
https://www.ekahau.com/products/ekahau-site-survey/overview/

Unfortunately I haven't used the device so I have no further detailed info or experience to share.

[SL4P]

An 'oldie but a goodie' for simple walk-around SITE surveys is INSSIDER running on a laptop.