If you are building medium and large Wi-Fi networks, where the smallest number of access points is a few tens, and on large objects it can be hundreds and thousands, you need tools for planning such an impressive network. The work of Wi-Fi throughout the life cycle of the network will depend on the results of planning / design, and this, for our country, is sometimes about 10 years.
If you make a mistake and lay down fewer access points, then the increased load on the network after 3 years will make people nervous, because the environment will no longer be transparent to them, voice calls will begin to gurgle, video will crumble, and data will go much slower. You will not be remembered with a kind word.
If you make a mistake (or play it safe) and lay down more access points, then the customer will greatly overpay and you may get problems right away, from excessive interference (CCI and ACI) created by your own points, because on commissioning the engineer decided to entrust the network setup to automation (RRM ) and did not check with a radio survey how this automation worked. Will you hand over the network at all in this case?
As in all aspects of our lives, in Wi-Fi networks, you need to strive for the golden mean. There should be exactly enough access points to ensure the solution of the task set in the TOR (after all, you were not too lazy to write a solid TOR?). At the same time, a good engineer has a vision that allows you to objectively assess the prospects for the life of the network and lay an adequate margin of safety.
In this article, I will share my experience in building Wi-Fi networks and talk in detail about the #1 tool that has long helped me solve the most difficult tasks. This tool Ekahau Pro 10 formerly known as Ekahau Site Survey Pro. If you are interested in the topic of Wi-Fi and in general, welcome to the cat!
The article will be useful both for integrator engineers who build Wi-Fi networks, as well as for engineers involved in maintaining wireless networks or IT directorswho order the construction of a network, of which Wi-Fi is a part. The times when you could just “estimate” the number of points per square meter or quickly throw in a “project” of a Wi-Fi network in a vendor scheduler, in my opinion, are long gone, although the echoes of that era are still heard.
How can I better imagine software that helps me make good Wi-Fi? Just describe its benefits? Sounds like dumb marketing. Subjectively compare it with others? It's already more interesting. Tell about your life path so that the reader understands why I spend 20 hours a month on Ekahau Pro? Hope you enjoy the story!
This picture is from my RescueTime last month, March 2019. I don't think I need to comment. When work is underway with Wi-Fi, and especially with the NDP, something like this happens.
Part of my history in the context of Wi-Fi, which will allow you to smoothly come to the topic
If you want to read about Ekahau Pro right away, scroll to the next page.
Back in 2007, I was a young network engineer, who only a year ago graduated from the Radio Department of the UPI with a degree in Communication with mobile objects. I was lucky enough to get a job in the production department of a fairly large integrator called Microtest. There were 3 radio engineers in the department with me, one of whom was more engaged in Tetra, the other was an adult uncle, than just not involved. Projects with Wi-Fi were sent to me at my request.
One of the first such projects was Wi-Fi in the Tyumen technopark. Behind at that time was only CCNA and a couple of read Design Guides on the topic, one of which talked about the need for a Site Survey. I told the RP that it would be nice to make this same survey, and he took it, and agreed, because he still had to go to Tyumen. After googling a bit on how to do it, this server, I took a couple of Cisco 1131AG points and an existing PC Card Wi-Fi adapter from the same company, because the Aironet Site Survey Utility made it possible to display the signal level at the reception well. I did not know then that there are programs that allow you to take measurements and draw coverage maps yourself.
The technique was simple. They hung a point where it could be adequately hung later, and I took measurements of the signal level. I marked the values on the drawing with a pencil. After these measurements, the following figure appeared:
Whether it is possible so to do or make inspections now? In principle, yes, but the accuracy of the result will be poor, and the time spent will be too long.
Having gained the experience of the first radio survey, I thought, maybe there is a software that does this? After a conversation with a colleague, it turned out that the department has a boxed version of the AirMagnet Laptop Analyzer. I installed it right away. The tool turned out to be cool, but for a different task. But Google suggested that there is a product called AirMagnet Survey. After looking at the price of this software, I sighed and went to the boss. The boss forwarded my request to his Moscow boss, and alas, they didn’t buy the software. What should an engineer do if the boss does not buy software? You know.
The first combat use of this program was in 2008, when I designed Wi-Fi for the UMMC-Health medical center. The task was simple - to provide coverage. No one thought about some serious load on the network, which could arise in a few years, including me. We hung a Cisco 1242 test point in the intended location, and I took measurements. It was more convenient to analyze the results with the program. Here's what happened then:
It was decided that 3 access points per floor would be sufficient. About the fact that it would be nice to add at least one more to the center of the building so that Wi-Fi phones do “softer” roaming, I didn’t know then, because I hadn’t even started CCNA Wireless yet. The main focus was on the CCNP course, that year I passed the 642-901 BSCI exam and I was more interested in routing protocols than 802.11.
Time passed, I did 1-2 Wi-Fi projects a year, the rest of the time was engaged in wired networks. I did the design or calculation of the number of access points either in AirMagnet or in Cisco WCS / Planning mode (this thing has long been known as Prime). Sometimes used VisualRF Plan from Aruba. Some serious Wi-Fi checks were not in vogue then. From time to time, more to satisfy my curiosity, I did radio surveys with AirMagnet. Once a year, I reminded the authorities that it would be nice to buy software, but I received the standard answer “there will be a big project, we will put the purchase of software into it”. When such a project came, Moscow again gave the answer, “oh, we can’t buy,” to which I said “oh, I can’t design, sorry,” and the software was bought.
In 2014, I successfully passed CCNA Wireless and, even in the process of preparation, I began to understand that “I know that I know almost nothing.” A year later, in 2015, I faced an interesting challenge. It was necessary to provide Wi-Fi coverage of a fairly large street area. About 500 thousand square meters. Moreover, it was necessary to place points in some places at a height of about 10-15m, and tilt the antennas down, by 20-30 degrees. Here AirMagnet said, alas, such a function is not provided! It would seem trite, you need to tilt the antenna down! Well, the radiation pattern of the Extreme WS-AO-DX10055 antenna was known, in I got enough to make a decision about the height and angle of the antennas.
As a result, such a picture appeared as 26 points with an operating power of 19 dBm to cover the territory at 5 GHz.
In parallel with this project, I was a GUI for building a Wi-Fi network of a local medical university (USMU), and the project itself was done by a subcontractor engineer. Imagine my surprise when he (thank you, Alexey!) showed me the Ekahau Site Survey! This happened literally shortly after I did the calculations by hand!
I saw a pattern that was very different from the AirMagnet I was used to.
Now, I see some kind of scary red crab in this picture, and I don't use red in my visualizations. But these lines between decibels won me over!
The engineer showed me how to change the visualization parameters to make it clearer.
With trepidation, I asked the urgent question to me, but can I tilt the antenna? Yes, easy, he replied.
The database of the latest version of the software did not contain the antenna I needed, apparently it was a very new product. Noticing that the base of the antennas is in xml format, and the file structure is very clear, I made such an Extreme Networks WS-AO-DX10055 5GHz 6dBi.xml file using the radiation pattern. The file helped me instead of this picture
Get this one, more descriptive, in which I can move the borders and set the distance between the lines in dB. The most important thing was that I could change the tilt of the antenna.
But this tool still knows how to measure! On the same day I fell in love with Ekahau.
By the way, in the new 10th version, chart data is stored in json, which is also editable.
Around the same time, the integrator, where I worked for almost 9 years, died. Not that it was sudden, for about a year there was a process of dying. At the end of the summer, the process was completed, I received a work book, 2 salaries and invaluable life experience. By that time, I already managed to understand that Wi-Fi is what I want to delve into. An area that really interests me. There was a reserve of funds for about six months, a pregnant wife and an apartment in the property, for which he paid all the debts a year ago. A good start!
Having met with people I know, I received several job offers in integrators, but I was not promised to deal mainly with Wi-Fi anywhere. At this time, and it was finally decided to engage in independently. At first I just wanted to open an individual entrepreneur, but it turned out to be an LLC, which I called GETMAXIMUM. This is a separate story, immediately its continuation, about Wi-Fi.
The main idea was what needs to be done in a human way
Even being a leading engineer, I could not influence the timing, decision-making on the choice of equipment, methods of work. I could only express my opinion, but did they listen to it? At that time, I had experience in designing, building Wi-Fi networks, as well as auditing “someone and somehow” networks built. There was a great desire to apply this experience in practice.
The first task appeared in October 2015. It was a large building where someone designed more than 200 access points, laid down a couple of WISMs, PI, ISE, CMX, and it all needed to be well configured.
In this project Ekahau Site Survey unleashed its potential and hours of radio surveys made it possible to see that even on the latest software, the RRM automation sets the channels in a very strange way, in some places they had to be corrected. It's the same with powers. In some places, the installers did not bother and put the dots stupidly according to the drawing, not taking into account that the metal structures greatly interfered with the propagation of the radio signal. It is excusable for installers, but for an engineer to allow such situations is not.
It was the project that confirmed the idea that the design of a Wi-Fi network that has more than 100 access points, or even fewer, but the conditions are not standard, needs to be treated with great attention. After completing the project in 2016, I bought a CWNA textbook and began to study it in order to systematize and refresh the accumulated knowledge. Even before that, my former colleague, from whom I learned a lot (this is Roman Podoinitsyn, the first CWNE in Russia [#92]) advised me course, as the most understandable and practical. Since 2016, I have been recommending this course to anyone and everyone. It really is the most practical of all available and there are affordable textbooks on it.
Next came the task of designing a Wi-Fi network for a clinic under construction, where many systems, including telephony, were tied to Wi-Fi. When I made a model of this network, I was surprised myself. In the existing clinic, in 2008, I myself laid 3 access points per floor, then they added one more. Right there, in 2016, it turned out 50. On the floor. Yes, the floor is bigger, but it's 50 points! It was about excellent coverage at the level of -65dBm at 5GHz in all rooms without crossing channels and the “2nd strongest” level of -70dBm. The walls are brick, which is rather good, because for dense networks, walls are our friends. The problem was that these walls did not yet exist, there were only blueprints. Fortunately, I knew what kind of attenuation a half-brick plastered wall gives, and Ekahau allowed me to flexibly change this parameter.
I felt all the delights Ekahau 8.0. He understood dwg! Layers with walls were immediately converted into walls on the model! Hours of stupid wall painting gone! I put a small margin in case the plaster is more serious. Showed this model to the customer. He was shocked: “Max, in 2008 there were 3 points per floor, now 50!? I trust you, tasks change, but how do I explain to management?” I knew that there would be such a question, so I discussed my project in advance with a familiar engineer at Cisco (they have been using Ekahau for a long time) and he approved it. Where stable voice communication is needed for a large number of users, the number of points cannot be small. At 2.4GHz, we could put less, but the capacity of such a network would not be enough for anything. I showed the Ekahau model to the customer at a general meeting, explained everything in detail and then sent a clear modeling report. This convinced everyone. We agreed to conduct a clarifying measurement when the frame of the building will be built and partitions will be erected at least on one floor. So they did. The calculations were confirmed.
Subsequently, the exact model laptop at Ekahau has helped me many times to convince customers that they need just the right number of access points for their specific needs.
The reader may ask, how accurate are the Wi-Fi network models generated by Ekahau? If your approach is engineering, the models are accurate. This approach can also be called “Smart Wi-Fi”. The experience of modeling, designing and subsequent implementation of various Wi-Fi networks has shown the accuracy of the models. Whether it's a network of a university, a large office building or factory floors, the time spent on planning leads to excellent results.
The story begins to flow smoothly towards Ekahau Pro
Life hack for a correct understanding of the walls: save the dwg in 2013 format (not 2018) and, if there is something in layer 0, remove it to another layer.
In 2017 version 8.7 introduced an amazing copy & paste feature for all elements. Since Wi-Fi is sometimes built on old objects, where it is tight with drawings in AutoCAD, you have to manually draw the walls. If there are no drawings, a photo of the evacuation plan is taken. In life, this happened 1 time, at the Russian Post in Ekb. Usually there are some drawings, and they have typical elements. For example, columns. You draw one column with a neat square (you can also draw a circle if you wish, but a square is always enough) and copy it according to the drawing. This saves time. It is important that the drawings given to you are true. It's best to check this, but usually the local admin is in the know.
About Sidekick
In September 2017, the Sidekick was announced, the first all-in-one universal measuring device, and in 2018 it began to appear in all serious engineers.
Twitter was (and continues to be) full of rave reviews from the tough guys who switched to it. That's when I started thinking about buying one, but the price was outrageous for a small company like mine, and I already had a set of adapters and a couple of Wi-Spy DBx's that seemed to work well. Gradually, the decision was made. You can compare datasheets from Sidekick and Wi-Spy DBx. In short, then difference in speed and detail. Sidekick scans both 2.4GHz + 5GHz bands in 50ms, the old DBx makes a pass through 5GHz channels in 3470ms, and bypasses 2.4GHz in 507ms. Do you understand the difference? Now you can see and record the spectrum in real time during a radio survey! The second important factor is the resolution bandwidth. For Sidekick it's 39kHz, which is allows you to see even 802.11ax subcarriers (78,125kHz). DBx defaults to 464.286 kHz.
Here is the spectrum with Sidekick
Here is the spectrum of the same signal with Wi-Spy DBx
Is there a difference? How do you like OFDM?
You can see more details here, I shot a small
The best thing is to watch it for yourself! A good example is this video where different non-wifi devices include.
Why is such detail needed?
To accurately identify and classify sources of interference and place them on a map.
To better understand how data is transmitted.
To accurately determine the channel load.
So what happens. In one box:
- A pair of calibrated Wi-Fi adapters in passive mode for listening to both bands, which also understand 802.11ax.
- One fast and accurate dual band spectrum analyzer.
- SSD 120Gb, the functionality of which has not yet been fully disclosed. You can store esx projects.
- The processor for processing data from the spectrum analyzer, so as not to load the percent of the laptop in the survey mode (in the realtime mode of viewing the spectrum, the percent loads well).
- 70Wh battery for 8 hours battery life of all of the above.
Here is a photo of the Sidekick next to the Cisco 1702 and Aruba 205 for size comparison.
Sidekick is now with many powerful Wi-Fi engineers and the measurement results can be objectively compared and discussed. There are not many in Russia yet, I know 4 people who have them, including me. 2 pieces from them in Cisco. I think, just as Fluke devices once became the de facto standard for testing wired networks, so Sidekick will become one in Wi-Fi networks.
What else to add?
He does not eat the battery of the laptop, he has his own. Thanks to this, we can walk longer without recharging. Relevant if you have a Surface. Ekahau Pro 10 announced support for the iPad. That is now you can install Ekahau on iPad (iOS 12 minimum) and dance! Or when the daughter grows up, it will be possible to entrust her with a radio examination.
Yes, the software for the iPad is simplified, but for the survey it is quite enough. The data will be collected the same that you would have collected by passing with a laptop.
Oh yes, now you can also collect pcap!
All the fun (iPad software, Capture, Cloud, Educational videos, XNUMX year support (and Ekahau updates) for those who already have Ekahau and Sidekick costs about the same amount that you spend on flying from Yekaterinburg to Moscow for a day. In the Russian Federation, this should cost commensurate money, because since December 2018 . If earlier in the Russian Federation Ekahau could be bought for a wild price, now the price will be commensurate with the rest of the world. I hope so. The set is called Ekahau Connect.
Are there any downsides?
When I bought a Surface Pro last year, I was hoping that the weight of my backpack would be reduced by 1kg, compared to the combat friend ThinkPad X230. Sidekick weighs 1kg. It's compact but heavy!
You will no longer look like a ghost hunter and the guards at the facilities will now approach you more often with the question, what are you doing here? In my experience, security does not really like to approach a guy who has 5 antennas sticking out of his laptop, but he should.
But the employees of the accounting department of the surveyed object will no longer be afraid of your jokes on the topic “I am measuring the radiation background, what do you have here ... Oooo!” so it can be written as a plus.
Well, the third, tangible minus for me, Sidekick, it shows the utilization of the spectrum in a different way. It takes some getting used to. Perhaps the data that you collected earlier on DBx is not entirely up to date.
And one more plus that I remembered. At the control at the airport, the security service sometimes asks to see the contents of the backpack. And I’m happy to start showing, these are spectrum analyzers, this is a signal generator for testing Wi-Fi networks, this is a set of antennas for these devices ... When I flew last time, a woman stood behind me, whose eyes were rounding more and more, as how I got the contents of the backpack!
- Where are you flying to? she asked
— To Yekaterinburg. I answered.
- Phew, thank God, I'm in another city!
With Sidekick and Surface or iPad you will no longer scare women!
Are there cheaper products? What are the alternatives? I'll tell you at the end.
Now about Ekahau Pro
The history of Ekahau Site Survey began in 2002, and in 2003 ESS 1 was published.
I found this picture . There is also a photo of a young engineer , with the name of which this software is very strongly associated. It is curious that initially the software was not planned to be used for Wi-Fi, but it soon became clear that this product is very useful in the Wi-Fi topic.
It was also fun to read the 2004 article about Ekahau Site Survey 2.0 on which carefully stores old articles.
For 16 years of development, there were 10 releases, the development of 5 of which is described in . Pasting this into Word, I got 61 pages of text. How many lines of code were written, probably no one knows. In the presentation of Ekahau Pro 10, it was said about 200 lines of new code in 000k.
Ekahau differ from the rest in attentiveness.
The Ekahau team is open to communication with the engineering community. Moreover, they are one of those who unite this community. Thanks in part to some great webinars, here's They invite experienced engineers and they share their experience live. Most interesting, you can ask your questions! For example, on the topic of Wi-Fi in warehouses and production will be April 25.
The easiest way to interact with them is through twitter. The engineer writes something like this: Come on @ekahau @EkahauSupport! This behavior has been in ESS forever now. Please fix it. #ESSrequest and gives a description of the problem, and immediately receives feedback. In each new release, significant wishes are taken into account and the software becomes more and more convenient for engineers!
On April 9, 2019, a few hours before Ekahau Pro 10 was introduced, an update became available to lucky owners of version 9.2 with support.
Those who have not dared to upgrade yet, you can do it safely, because just in case, the “old” 9.2.6 will remain an independent working program. After a week of testing, I did not see the point of staying at 9.2. 10 works great!
I will describe the features from the Change Log for the new Ekahau Pro 10, which I noted myself:
Complete map view overhaul: Working with maps is now 486% more fun + Visualization legend 2.0 + Complete visualization engine overhaul: Faster and better heatmaps!
Now everything is written in JavaFX and works very fast. Much faster than before. This is a must try. At the same time, it became more beautiful and, of course, what I love Ekahau for a long time has been preserved - visibility. All cards can be flexibly configured. For example, I usually put 3dB between colors and two cutoffs 10dB down and 20dB up from the calculated signal level.
802.11ax support—for both surveys and planning
The database contains 11ax points of all major vendors. In Survey, adapters understand the corresponding information element in 11ax beacons. I think that projects with 11ax will start this year and Ekahau will help to make them as competently as possible. On the topic The guys from Ekahau did a webinar in February. Whom this question worries I advise you to look.
Interference detection & Interferers visualization
This is the merit of Sidekick. Now, after the survey, the new “Interferers” map will show the places where the devices that interfere with your Wi-Fi are located! I have run a couple of small test servers so far and have not found any.
Previously, you had to arrange a “fox hunt” by screwing Yagi or a patch to your DBx in order to understand where the fox is hiding that kills your channel 60 with a signal from the “pseudo-radar” that you see in the log from the controller and via Cisco Spectrum Expert in the form of two narrow bands:
Now, a regular pass through the object is enough, and there is a great chance that the source of interference will be shown directly on the map! By the way, on the spectrogram above, the source of the problem was the dead “Combined Volumetric Security Detector” Sokol-2. If your point suddenly informed you about the radar Radar detected: cf=5292 bw=4 evt='DFS Radar Detection Chan = 60 although the nearest airport is several tens of kilometers away, that is a reason to walk around the object with a spectrum analyzer, and Sidekick will be of great help here.
Ekahau Cloud and Sidekick File Storage
For reliability, as well as for working with large projects, a cloud has appeared that can be shared by a team. Previously, I either used my cloud on Synology, or just regularly made backups to a USB flash drive, because in the event of a disk failure on a laptop, a week's work on examining a large object can go to waste. Make a backup. Now the possibilities are even greater. Ekahau Cloud, in my opinion, for really large distributed tasks.
If suddenly someone from the IT team of Auchan reads this post of mine, here's an idea for a successful upgrade of your Wi-Fi network, which was not built for you in the best way: buy an Ekahau Pro, hire a team of engineers with the same Ekahau Pro and the same Sidekick, make a pilot detailed survey, analyze it in detail by the team, and only then move on! You will need 1 competent radio engineer in the state, who will not read reports “according to GOST”, but watch and analyze more esx files. Then there will be success and get Wi-Fi, which everyone will be proud of. And if anyone will make you a survey on AirMagnet, and put it in your wonderful guest report, oh, what will happen.
New multi note system
Previously, I inserted photos of access points into an esx project and wrote small comments, more for myself, for the future. Now you can take notes anywhere on the map and discuss controversial issues while working as a team on one project! I hope you will soon be able to appreciate the delights of such work. Example: there is a controversial place, we take a photo - insert it into esx - send it to the cloud, consult with colleagues. I will rejoice when they add support for 360 photos, because I myself have been shooting objects on Xiaomi Mi Sphere for more than a year, this is sometimes much clearer than just a flat photo.
Possibility to set the noise level.
Signal/noise has always been a controversial visualization for my understanding.
Any Wi-Fi adapters can only indirectly determine the level of background noise. Only a spectrum analyzer will show the real level. If you walked around the object with a spectrum analyzer during the preliminary survey, you know the real level of background noise. It remains to insert this level into the Noise Floor fields and get an accurate SNR map! This was not enough for me!
What is noise, what is a signal and what is Energy, I advise you to remember by reading a small about this theme.
The following amenities appeared in 9.1 and 9.2 versions, but in 10 it is in all its glory.
I will describe them further.
Visualization in terms of a specific adapter
The guys from Tamosoft brag about the fact that their Tamograph can conduct Survey from many types of client devices and there is a healthy link in this. We do not build Wi-Fi networks in order to work in them from a reference adapter. Thousands of different real devices work in networks! In my opinion, it is better to have an excellent reference measurement adapter that quickly scans all channels and the ability to effectively “normalize” the results obtained by it to a real device. Ekahau Pro has a super handy “View as” feature that allows you to set an offset or a difference in the device profile that you set yourself.
If the real device is a Win or MacOS laptop, I run Ekahau on it and compare the reception levels in the near field, midfield and far field, on several channels. Then I take some average value and make a device profile. If this is a TSD on android and there is no built-in utility that shows RSSI, then a free utility is installed that shows it. Out of all of them, I like Aruba Utilities. It remains only to press Ctrl on the legend and select the device to see how it, for example, the Panasonic FZ-G1, sees the network.
If there are many devices in the fleet, or BYOD is active, then the engineer's task is to understand which device has the least sensitivity and make visualizations regarding this device. Sometimes wishes to make radio coverage at the level of -65dBm are broken by real devices with a difference of 14-15dB relative to the measuring adapter. In this case, either we edit the technical specifications and set -70 or -75 there, or we specify that -67 for such and such devices, and for Casio IT-G400 -71dBm.
If you need some kind of “average device”, then make an offset of -10dB relative to the measuring adapter, more often this is close to the truth.
Visualization from a different height
For those who build Wi-Fi at industrial facilities, it is important that the coverage is not only on the ground, for people, but also at height, for devices on cranes or loaders. I have experience in building factory and port Wi-Fi. With the advent of the “Visualization Height” option, it has become very convenient to set the height from where we look. A material handler or crane at 20m with an AP in client mode hears the network differently than a person with a Honeywell downstairs when the APs are at 20m and serve both levels. See how someone hears is now very convenient! Do not forget to return the height back to the main level later.
Chart by any parameters
Clicking on the chart button gives you a great percentage spread that quickly helps you assess the situation, and if you need a before-after comparison, this is a great tool.
BLE coating
Useful functionality, given that many points have built-in BLE radios and this also needs to be designed somehow. Here, for example, is the picture that we filled Aruba-515 with dots. This fantastically beautiful point contains a Bluetooth 5 radio, which can be used, for example, for tracking devices, because the Wi-Fi location itself is not accurate and very inert, and also requires strict adherence to a number of conditions. In Ekahau, we can adequately design the coverage so that 3 beacons are heard at each point, for example.
By the way, now that you have placed one access point on the map, set the power, height, and start covering the entire area with Wi-Fi using copy-paste, the point number, for example 5-19, automatically switches to the next one, to 5-20. Previously, it was necessary to rule by hand.
I could go on describing the various useful features of Ekahau Pro for a long time, but it looks like the article is already long enough, I'll stop there. I'll just list what I have and what I really used:
- Import/Export from Cisco Prime so that PI shows fairer maps.
- Merge or merging several projects into one, when a large building is examined by several engineers.
- Very flexible customizable display of what is shown on the map. How to explain it easier ... You can remove / show walls, point names, channel numbers, areas, notes, Bluetooth beacons ... in general, leave only what is really needed in the picture and it will be very visual!
- Statistics on how many kilometers you have walked. Inspiring.
- Reports. There are many ready-made templates, and in theory you can make very interesting reports in two clicks. But, maybe out of habit, maybe because I like to write something unique for each object and show the situation from different angles, I don’t use auto-reports. The plans include a team of engineers to file a good template in Russian, for basic parameters, which will not be ashamed to share with colleagues.
Now I will briefly talk about other programs.
To better understand whether you need , or for your purposes it is cheaper to buy something else, I will list all the programs and talk about each of the ones that I know and / or have tried. This where I worked for more than 5 years, until 2015. I tested extensively last year to see if there are worthy competitors to Ekahau. as a cheap product for Survey (but it doesn't model) and , a very niche yet cool product for stadium design. That, in fact, is all. There are a couple of other products, but they are of no interest. I do not pretend to be absolute in my knowledge, if I missed a valuable tool, write about it in the comments, I will try it and add it to this article. And, of course, there is paper and a compass for those who are used to working the old fashioned way. It should be noted that in rare cases this is the most adequate tool.
Wikipedia has a lot of these softwares and the data in it are not relevant, although the order of prices can be viewed. Now, for Pro versions, prices are higher for everyone.
There you are up-to-date information to show your superiors as an argument in buying the right software for the job:
AirMagnet
Once upon a time, large dinosaurs lived on earth, but they died out long ago, because conditions have changed. Some engineers have a dinosaur skeleton (AirMagnet) in the museum and they even use it to take measurements, because the authorities firmly believe that it is still relevant, their dear dinosaur. To everyone's surprise, dinosaur skeletons are still being sold, and at a very high price, because by inertia, some people apparently buy them. For what? I do not understand. The other day I asked my colleagues, who else is using AirMagnet, maybe something has changed in the latest software releases? Almost nothing. Colleagues, Wi-Fi has changed a lot in 10 years. If the software hasn't changed in 10 years, it's dead. My personal opinion: you can keep working on dinosaurs, but if you want to build Wi-Fi like a human, you need Ekahau Pro.
Tamograph
It allows both simulation and measurement, and also supports a couple of Wi-Spy DBx like old Ekahau releases, but, in my opinion, it is not so convenient to use. There are many different cars in the world. If you used to drive a simple one, and then you drove (or even traveled for a month) in a decent car, then most likely you won’t want to go back. Of course, it’s best to drive around the forests on a field or UAZ, but in most cases, another car is needed to work in the city.
The most critical thing that was not in Tamograph at the end of 2018 is Channel Overlap or, as it is now called, Channel Interference. Channel crossing. Roughly speaking, this is the number of APs on one frequency channel that are audible at a certain level (usually this is the Signal Detect level or + 5 dB from the noise level). If you have 2 points on a channel, you know that the network capacity is halved in the area where they intersect. If 3, three, and even a little worse. I met places where there were 14 points on the channel at 2.4GHz, and even about 20.
When I design and make measurements of a real network, this parameter for me is in 2nd place after Signal Strength! And here he is not. Alas. I want them to make such a visualization.
Ekahau locates points more correctly. If you came to audit a large network that you did not build, but points behind the ceiling, then it is very important for you that the software shows the most accurate locations. The Tamograph does not have such a flexibly customizable color palette, with dividing lines. Although it is much better than AirMagnet. In my test survey, where I first walked through a large workshop with Ekahau, and then with Tamorgaph, on the same adapters, I noticed a noticeable difference in the signal level readings. Why is not clear.
My personal opinion: if you occasionally use Wi-Fi and you have a limited budget, then you can go to Tamorgaph, but not as comfortable and not as fast. By the way, if you take a complete set, with a couple of old DBx, then there will not be such a big difference in the price of Ekahau Pro + Sidekick. And I think you understood the difference between Sidekick and DBx by reading this article first.
Of the advantages of the Tamograph, it simulates reflections. How exactly, I don't know. In my opinion, complex objects always require a preliminary radio survey, including an active one, in order to see these reflections as well. This is not modeled adequately.
iBwave
It's a fundamentally different simulation product in the first place. They work with 3D models. They are futuristic and the price of their products is the highest on the market. I advise you to watch the video in which Kelly talks about AR technology. You can and gasp, twisting their model. In my opinion, when BIM models go to the masses for the design of all-on-one-3D-model, then the hour of iBwave will come, if Ekahau does not rush in this direction, and they are very smart guys. So, if you need to run stadiums, consider iBwave. On Ekahau and others, in principle, you can also do this, but you need skill. I don't know any engineer in Russia who has iBwave.
Yes, their Viewer is what all other programs need! For it would be much more convenient to transfer to customers who do not have software, along with the report, the original file for analysis.
NetSpot and similar.
In the free version, NetSpot only shows the current situation on the air, like many other programs. By the way, if I am asked to recommend a free program for this task, then from Lizards, this is what you need for Windows. For Mac here from which foreign engineers are delighted, but it is already a bit paid. Netspot, which makes Survey, is already 149 bucks. However, he does not model, you understand? My personal opinion: if you are making Wi-Fi for apartments or small cottages, then NetSpot is your tool, otherwise it will not work.
Brief conclusion
If you are serious about designing and building medium and large Wi-Fi networks, there is nothing better than Ekahau Pro for this right now.. This is my personal engineering opinion after 12 years of experience in this field. If an integrator thinks to develop in this direction, his engineers should have Ekahau Pro. If the integrator does not have a CWNA level engineer, it is probably better for him not to take on Wi-Fi networks, even with Ekahau.
Success requires tools and knowledge of how to use them.
Training
Ekahau runs excellent courses on the program (ECSE), where in a few days a cool engineer teaches the basics of wireless and conducts many laboratory tasks using Ekahau and Sidekick. There were no such courses in Russia before. My friend colleague flew to Europe. Now the theme begins in Russia. In my opinion, before any such training, you need to buy and read it on your own. If your knowledge allows you to ask reasonable questions, then I will always be happy to answer them, you can write to info on the site uralwifi.ru. If you want to see Ekahau Pro and Sidekick with your own eyes, then in Yekaterinburg it is very easy to do this, you need to arrange a meeting with me in the center in advance. Sometimes I am in Moscow, sometimes in other cities, as projects are all over Russia. A couple of times a year I give an author's course based on CWNA with a large number of labs at Ekahau in Yekaterinburg. Maybe there will be a course in one Moscow training center this year, it is not yet clear.
Cool! Who should bring money?
Official distributor , as I wrote above. If you are an integrator, you buy from Marvel. If you are not an integrator, then buy from a familiar integrator. Which of them is selling now, I do not know, ask. They will also tell you the price. I also thought about whether to start selling Ekahau, because I myself am delighted with it. So, if you don’t know who to buy from, you can ask me by letter (or in any other way, because it’s easy to find me, Google will tell you according to the words “Maxim Hetman Wi-Fi”).
And if you need to make excellent Wi-Fi, there are no engineers of your own, or they are busy, what should I do?
Contact. We have 3 engineers on this topic and the necessary set of software and hardware. Sidekick so far 1. I hope there will be more. We cooperate with integrators and automators to solve difficult tasks on the Wi-Fi topic, because this is our forte. When everyone is busy with their own business - the result
Conclusion
To cook deliciously, a chef needs three components: knowledge and talent; products of excellent quality; good set of tools. Success in engineering also requires good tools, which, wisely, can be used to build good Wi-Fi on any serious vendor. I hope the article clarified one important aspect of building Wi-Fi in a human way.
Only registered users can participate in the survey. , you are welcome.
I am involved in serious Wi-Fi projects and
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I have been using Ekahau for a long time, they are cool
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we still have living dinosaurs, AirMagnet
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I miss Tamograph
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i am a futurist, i use iBwave
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I am a supporter of the classical approach, ruler, compasses and FSPL formulas
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inspired to buy Ekahau Pro
2 users voted. There are no abstentions.
Source: habr.com