cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
654
Views
0
Helpful
8
Replies

Wireless coverage

Vinny
Level 1
Level 1

Hello,

First of all, sorry for my English.

So I know wireless like most of people but I never deployed it in office. In fact I already did it but it a was very basic setup with some APs placed whre people needed access but that's it. Now we need to cover the whole floor and I want some advices from you.

The floor is 510 feets by 180 feets. Mostly open space. So I want to be sure I place enough APs to cover it all. I'm using Cisco wism2 module with 2600 APs. We have 25 APs in stock right now. We don't have Prime Infrastructure (or any other software).

I'm looking for a tool (free would be good) where I can upload my floor plans and dimensions. Any good software that you know ? Do these softwares can connect to your wireless system to know the coverage of APs ?

So basically, I'm looking for a tool that can help me position and installed the correct number of APs and if I could monitor the signal and coverage once installed that would be good.

Thanks !

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

You can try to use evaluation version of WCS/Prime.

HTH

Rasika

View solution in original post

8 Replies 8

vlad.mihailov
Level 1
Level 1

I don't know such tools that are free for use. Usually those things cost money and a lot.

But having such small floor you can use free tools to map it manually.

:-)))) My answer is really confusing - no free tools but you can do it with free tools. I am sooo sorry.

What I meant to say was that all tools that generate Heat Maps are normally not free and if there is a tool that is free I am not aware of it.

But you could likely get by using something like Kismet or programs similar to NetStumbler to look for signal strength around the AP and take measurements at different spots, manually plot them to a floor map then simple "visualize" how that coverage would be cross-mapped in to a Heat Map. It is not a method commonly used today but used to be the weapon of choice of many in the past.

Leo Laohoo
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Get a proper wireless site survey done by someone who knows. 

Vinny
Level 1
Level 1

they won't pay for that because this wifi setup is less than critical. It's just for internet access on phones and devices like that.

And at the same time, I want to learn this. I'll look for answers elsewhere than.

thanks anyway.

You can try to use evaluation version of WCS/Prime.

HTH

Rasika

You can't learn wireless site survey without watching someone doing it correctly.

If your employer is unwilling to fund this then there's no guarantee our recommendation is correct because we do not know what the environmental factors are. Another thing is this: If we get this wrong, who'll get the blame?

Sent from Cisco Technical Support Nintendo App

Vinny
Level 1
Level 1

but my orginal question was simply to know if there is good free/open source softwares for that. I was not asking anyone to commit on how many AP should I installed.

I should have ask my question directly without the little introduction.

Thanks anyway.

but my orginal question was simply to know if there is good free/open source softwares for that. I was not asking anyone to commit on how many AP should I installed.

Wireless site survey softwares are all paid.  If you get a demo then there are some features that will be disabled. 

The simplest method of doing a site survey is for you to download a free wireless software called inSSIDer (Windows) or Kismet (Apple MAC).  These software are not site survey softwares.  These two software takes wireless signal readings.  Measures your signal stregth, noise, channels, etc. 

Position your AP to where you want them to be and walk around with a laptop and with either one of the two softwares I've mentioned.  Look at your wireless reading.  Make sure you take measurements with 802.11a protocol.  Do not use 802.11b/g.   Good signal is up to -65 dBi.  Average signal is -75 dBi.  Bad signal is anywhere higher than -76 dBi.

Getting Started

Find answers to your questions by entering keywords or phrases in the Search bar above. New here? Use these resources to familiarize yourself with the community: