WiFi Survey for dummies

[Messy]

Hello,

Just started my first network admin job and need advise!  One thing I immediately notice here is that people often complain about WiFi coverage/speed/performance etc and it's difficult to pin down whats what.

The main office is also currently going through a major renovation so in about 2 months the whole layout will be dramatically different.

I can see that once the renovation has been done, as we look at doing all the AP's and stuff it would be a good idea to do a WiFi survey. The problem is I've never done one.

I've found a cisco guide 

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/5500-series-wireless-controllers/116057-site-survey-guidelines-wlan-00.html

But I was wondering if anyone had any advise in regards to decent analyser software (I'm currently looking at Netspot, visiwave and solarwinds but open to anything).
It needs to be a good professional grade but not too difficult to learn as I'm totally new at this.

I will mainly be using it on one large factory and office site but I will prob end up using it at lots of other sites as well - over huge areas with all kinds of industrial noise and blocking materials.

Also, is a RF spectrum analyser necessary? If so does that effect which software I buy?
Any other survey tips you might have or good self-learn guides would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Arshad Safrulla]

I would suggest that you invest on Ekahu design training along with Ekahu Side Kick 02. Ekahu is the current market leader for Wi-Fi survey, so once you are comfortable operating Ekahu side kick I would suggest you read CWNA. Once you read CWNA I would suggest you invest in vendor specific coursed such as Cisco CCNA and CCNP Enterprise wireless. 

Then you can explore other Ekahu trainings like Troubleshooting and Advanced. Still if you want to learn then invest time on other CWNP certifications, I will strongly suggest you climb to the top of the ladder to achieve CWNE. There are only very few CWNEs in the world. (Around 500)

Wi-Fi Career Certifications (cwnp.com)

If you still have the energy to learn, then consider CCIE-Wireless. I feel CCIE is still recognized throughout the world, but personally I feel CWNE is better as it is vendor neutral. 

Other Wi-Fi tools you might need in your work so you can understand your network better.

• Wireshark
• WinFi/WiFi Explorer Pro 3 
• NetAlly Etherscope NXG
• Air Magnet
• WLAN Pi
• WiFi Pineapple

Also it is must that you know your way around DNS/DHCP and AAA.

[Dustin Anderson]

I definitely second Ekahau and the sidekicks. Not a heavy learning curve, but you do need to have as accurate of maps as possible. but if they are redesigning, they may have CAD maps and you can import into Ekahau. It may sound spendy, but if it's a large business, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of issues.

[Messy]

Just looked at Ekahau's training course - it looks great but does lean heavily on training you on their software/hardware. The cost as you say isn't really a big deal but the IT manager will want to know why we should go with this lot over say...SolarWinds who also seem to have a similar product and we already use some of their stuff.

[Dustin Anderson]

Reach out to get a demo license, you can use Ekahau with an internal adapter. Slower scanning, but can see the difference. We demo'd Ekahau and NetScout and Ekahau was a lot better at predictive designs. I haven't used Solarwinds so have no say there.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@Messy wrote:
The problem is I've never done one.

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First, talk to your Cisco AM/SE for wireless.  Ask them for a list of reputable companies (or individuals) who can do wireless site surveys and designs.  

Get one of them and shadow them.  Ask them as many question(s) as you can (because you paid for them). 

Shadow, ask questions, LEARN.  

[Messy]

Thanks for the replies!  I didn't know Ekahau did a trial - ill def give that a go along with some others.