🗺️Site Surveys
Learn how to perform site surveys with Hamina Onsite.
What is a Site Survey?
In the context of Wi-Fi design, deployment, and troubleshooting, a "site survey" is the act of going on site and taking measurements of a wireless network, usually with some kind of mapping or heatmapping element. With Hamina products, site surveys are conducted in Hamina Onsite (the app for iPhone, iPad, or macOS), and the Oscium Nomad (the measurement device).
Site surveys are sometimes erroneously called "active site surveys", perhaps because they involve walking a site which brings the word "active" to mind. In actuality, there are two types of site survey: passive and active. A passive site survey uses special Wi-Fi adapters (such as those found in the Oscium Nomad) to passively listen for wireless networks, which counterintuitively delivers the richest survey results. An active site survey connects a standard Wi-Fi adapter to the network, and uses the adapter to actively pass data such as ping results and throughput test. Currently, Hamina Onsite supports passive site surveys, since they are by far the most important type of site survey.
Hang on. If a "passive site survey" involves going on site and taking measurements, then what do you call the design stuff that we do in Hamina Network Planner? Since it doesn't involve going on site and taking measurements, we refer to the designs as simulations (since we are simulating the network) or a predictive model (since our design is based on a prediction inside a model).
When to Survey
Most wireless network engineers conduct site surveys when:
They want to troubleshoot a network, such as one where they suspect inadequate coverage or excessive co-channel contention.
To evaluate the current state of a network and consider re-designing or replacing it.
To validate the deployment of a newly-deployed wireless network.
What to Survey
When performing a site survey it's best to:
Survey the scope of the project. If an area is within the project scope, survey it. If not, you can safely skip it.
Survey the sides of obstacles, such as walls. For example, surveying around the edges of rooms will help show where the walls cause signal strength to drop, and will help Hamina show how coverage changes from room to room.
A survey from both sides of a wall, showing a sharp coverage drop. We could have preferred to survey closer to the wall, but there was furniture in the way. Cross back and forth through open areas. Hamina uses a default guess range of 2.4 meters, or about 8 feet to either side of the survey path. We recommend keeping your surveys within about 2 meters or about 6 feet. Hamina Onsite can also display a heatmap live while you survey, giving you instant feedback about whether your survey paths are close enough or not.
Wearing the Oscium Sidekick
The Oscium Sidekick can be worn either on your side, like a messenger back, or it can be worn across your chest. Which method you use completely depends on your preference.
Our guy Jerry (who is a Certified Wireless Network Expert) likes to attach the stap to 2 and 8'clock, passing the carry stap over his left shoulder and under his right arm. He says it's super comfortable like this!
Our other CWNE guy Joel admits that he is a bit less stylish than Jerry, and attaches the strap to 2 and 10 o'clock to wear the Oscium Nomad like a messenger bag. Someday, he hopes to be as cool as Jerry.
Conducting a Site Survey
To start a survey, tap the Record survey button at the bottom of the app.
There are three methods of site survey in Hamina Onsite. To select between them, tap the the Point survey indicator, which will invoke the Select survey type drawer.
Mix and match! Within the same project or surveying session, feel free to use whichever method makes sense in the moment.
Point Survey
This type of site survey gathers data points one at a time while the user stands still. The advantage of this type is that you don't need to move continuously, which is great for crowded spaces and small rooms. The disadvantage is that you only get a data point when you tell Hamina Onsite to gather the data point, and you must stand still while the datapoint is gathered.
To conduct a Point Survey:
Find a location on a map where you would like to take a measurement. Note: You may need to look for landmarks or floorplan features such as windows, doorways, or room centers to precisely locate yourself.
Stand in the location.
Tap on the map, and wait for the circular progress indicator to complete and disappear, indicating that Hamina Onsite has finished capturing the datapoint. Tap the X button to cancel capturing the datapoint.
Move to the next location, and repeat.
How does a Point Survey work? When you tap on the map and see a progress indicator, the Oscium Nomad sweeps all active channels, streams the data to Hamina Onsite, and plots them to a single datapoint.
Line Survey
A line survey gathers as many datapoints as possible while the user walks along a straight, uninterrupted line. The advantage of a line survey is that during the line, it gathers as many datapoints as possible, which can create rich and detailed heatmaps. It's also easier than a continuous survey, which we will discuss below.
Line surveys are ideal for spaces where you can survey in straight, continuous lines. Some examples include warehouses, school hallways, large outdoor areas, grocery stores, or anywhere else that walking in straight lines is convenient.
To conduct a line survey:
Plan a straight line on the map where you would like to take a series of measurements. Note: Just like with the point survey, you may need to look for landmarks and floor features, the key difference that you'll want to identify both the beginning location and the end location of the line.
Tap on the map and immediately begin walking in a straight line at a consistent pace. If something goes wrong, tap the X button to cancel capturing the line survey.
As you walk, pan ahead on the map, and locate exactly where you intend to end the line.
At the moment when you reach the end of the line, tap the map again. You're now free to stop, relax, and plan your next move.
How does a line survey work? When you tap on the map and begin walking in a straight line, the Oscium Nomad sweeps all active channels, streaming the data to Hamina Onsite, which stores the datapoints in a temporary buffer. When you tap on the map at the end of the line, Hamina Onsite evenly distributes the datapoints along the line. This is why walking at a consistent pace is so important!
Continuous Survey
A continuous survey is essentially a string of line surveys. The advantage of continuous surveys is that you can survey very quickly, and it creates a very rich dataset! The downside is that it takes practice, coordination, and rapid wayfinding to accomplish.
To conduct a Continuous Survey:
Find a location on a map where you would like to begin taking measurements. Note: just like with the point survey, you may need to look for landmarks and floor features to locate the starting point for your survey.
Tap on the map and immediately begin walking in a straight line at a consistent pace.
Whenever you need to stop, start, or turn, tap on the map. Between turns, always walk at a consistent pace. If something goes wrong, like you accidentally tap on the wrong place, tap the Undo button to remove the last tap.
Press the Stop button when finished.
If you're surveying in a crowded place, it might help to have an assistant to walk ahead of you to clear paths, field questions from curious bystanders, and open doors.
How does a Continuous survey work?
When you tap on the map and begin walking in a straight line, the Oscium Nomad sweeps all active channels, streaming the data to Hamina Onsite, which stores the datapoints in a temporary buffer. When you tap on the map when you stop, start, or turn, Hamina Onsite evenly distributes the datapoints along the most recent segment of the continuous survey path. This is why walking at a consistent pace is so important!
Ok yeah I totally get it now. I walk somewhere, stop, tap on the map, and then start walking again? No! Tap when you start, stop, or turn. This means that when you turn, you should walk continuously and tap on the map when you change directions. If you're doing it correctly, your walking should look very robotic, which might be a useful skill for the eventual robotic uprising of the mid-90's. 🤖
Ok, got it. But I always need to walk at a consistent pace, right? Between taps, yes. Whenever you tap on the map, you do have the opportunity to change your pace. The key is to keep the pace consistent between taps. In fact, tapping on the map and slowing your walk to a crawl is a great way to free some brain space to plot your next move. 🧠
Navigating Obstacles
If you need to pause for an obstacle like a door, there's a process for that!
Walk up to the door, and as you stop walking, tap on the map.
As you stand still to get your keys out or whatever you need to do, Hamina Onsite will continue to gather datapoints.
When you get the door opened and are ready to move through it, tap on the same spot on the map again and resume walking.
While you stand in front of the door, Hamina Onsite will have gathered many, many datapoints, which are simply averaged on the map in that location. The measurement in front of the door (or place where you stopped to talk to someone) will be very, very accurate! Of course, this trick works for just about any obstacle, even if you just want to take a quick break to get your bearings, or explain to someone why you are walking around all over their office.
Last updated