RF (Radio Frequency) Site Survey

Step 1

Obtain Supporting Documentation

Before you launch your RF site survey tool of choice, you should obtain as much supporting documentation about the surveyed area as possible. If nothing else, make sure to get a map or diagram of the area. When surveying a larger facility, your best bet is the official construction blueprint. It’s also useful to have some information about the materials used during the construction and about other sources of radio requency emissions in the area.

Step 2

Inspect the Surveyed Area

The role of documentation in an RF site survey is to provide supporting information and help you complete the RF site survey process and optimize the wireless network to achieve the best performance and coverage possible.

However, documentation alone doesn’t tell the full story. A simply physical inspection can quickly reveal obstacles to wireless signals that blueprints rarely show, such as large metal appliances. Without being familiar with the presence of various obstacles to wireless signals, it would be very difficult to accurately interpret the results of the RF site survey and take suitable corrective actions.

Step 3

Evaluate the Existing Network Infrastructure

Does the area you want to cover with a strong wireless signal have an existing Ethernet or optical network? How many wireless routers are currently present? Does each router broadcast a different wireless network or is the area covered with a mesh network? These are just some of the questions you should be asking in regard to the existing network infrastructure to know exactly what will need to be done later on.

Step 4

Identify Usage Patterns

Unless we’re talking about a very small area, such as a family house, apartment building, or a single office, the chances are that you won’t need to cover every single square inch with a strong wireless signal. To lower your equipment costs and accelerate the RF site survey process, you should identify usage patterns and key coverage areas.

Do you need coverage in bathrooms, break rooms, and parking garages? What about elevators? By answering these important questions upfront, you will know exactly how to interpret the results of your RF site survey and provide adequate signal coverage without wasting time, money, and energy on goals that are unlikely to make any practical impact.

Step 5

Conduct the RF Site Survey

Now it’s time to conduct the RF site survey using an RF site survey tool like NetSpot (more about NetSpot in the next section of this article). Your RF site survey tool should guide you through the entire process and tell you exactly which areas you need to survey. When conducting the RF site survey, take your time and don’t rush things. Keep your measurements as consistent as possible by following the same steps for each individual measurement.

Step 6

Interpret the Results and Make Changes

With the right RF site survey tool, you won’t have to do much to interpret the results of your survey because the tool will automatically highlight all areas of signal weakness and help you discover problems such as cross-channel interference. All you need to do is make changes to the wireless network to improve its performance, such as replacing the existing wireless router with a more powerful one or using a signal booster to extend the signal.

Step 7

Ongoing Monitoring

After you make changes to improve the performance of the surveyed wireless network, you should continue monitoring it on an ongoing basis. You may discover that the performance of the network fluctuates over time, which would warrant an additional RF site survey to be performed. Make sure to document everything so you can always go back and compare current results with past results.