WiFi site survey

With the help of Chris from Uni IT we have done a WiFi site survey, the survey software measures the strength of the wireless signals and plots them on a map.

This post show site results of the WiFi site survey, please find the color key in the screen shot picture. You can click on any image to see the hi-res original. A WiFi link from a barn in the next field comes in from the right of the map and is received at the HQ. This signal is then broadcast by the HQ AP out into the dig site. The HQ AP is the only one you can use on site, the barn link is just to join the ADSL in the barn to the HQ.

The software and key

This image shows a screenshot of the survey software. The lines show where Chris walked, the route was determined by features within the trench (you have to try and avoid things like wells!). The key o the colors is in the bottom right hand corner, the colors represent the link speed attainable.

The HQ AP only

1.

2.
These first two images show the coverage from the HQ AP. This is the AP we use to get Internet access on site. The first picture (1) shows what we measured, the second image (2) shows this data extrapolated by the software to fill in the gaps. Due to the nature of the site we had to use this feature because it is very tricky to walk around the trench. The main thing to note here is that the wireless from the HQ appears to be attenuated by the metal scaffolding at the edge of the trench.

The barn link

3.
This image (3) shows the wireless link between the barn and the HQ. As you can clearly see this signal is much stronger than the HQ AP. The only difference between the hardware used by the HQ AP and the barn link is the type of aerial. We really want a bigger aerial for the HQ AP.

Combined wireless traffic

4.
This final image (4) shows the combined wireless traffic over the dig site. As you can see things are quite busy, how ever the barn and HQ are transmitting on different frequencies so they do not interfere with each other.