The Book of Wireless, Second Edition

Performing a Site Survey

Understanding general networking principles is fine, but you're installing a wireless network in a real location with real walls and real furniture (and most likely, real sources of real interference). Radio waves pass through some materials and bounce off others, so the general estimates of a radio's range and signal strength in an ideal environment are less important than the actual performance in the place you want to use it. You should therefore conduct a site survey that tells you how your own radios will operate in your own space.

The first step in a site survey is to identify the area that you want your network to cover. In most cases, that will be the entire area of your office, home, or campus, but there are other ...