Wi-Fi Surveys: Finding Out Before You Buy
Most Wi-Fi problems are placement problems, and most placement problems are solved by measuring rather than by buying a bigger unit. A survey is the cheap step people skip.
Request a quoteA stronger router is rarely the answer
The instinct when Wi-Fi is poor is to replace the hardware with something more powerful, and it is usually wrong. Signal is absorbed by brick, reflected by steel and stopped almost entirely by anything metal or wet, so a single access point in the middle of a building covers the middle of the building well and the edges badly however good it is. Two properly placed units nearly always beat one expensive one, and cost less.
A survey establishes what is actually happening rather than what somebody assumes. It measures signal and interference where people work, with the building in its normal state — racking loaded, machinery running, doors where they normally are — because an empty warehouse and a full one are different radio environments entirely. It also finds the neighbours: in a business park or a high street, half the interference is other people’s networks on the same channels.
What comes out of it is a plan rather than a quote: how many access points, where they go, how they are cabled, which channels they use and what the coverage will look like when it is done. Sometimes the answer is that the existing hardware is fine and needs moving. We would rather deliver that finding than sell equipment, because a survey that only ever recommends buying things is a sales visit with a meter in it.
What a survey actually measures
Coverage where people work
Measured at the desk, the aisle and the counter — not at the router, where it is always excellent.
Interference and neighbours
Other networks on the same channels. In a business park this is frequently the whole problem.
The building as it really is
Racking loaded, machinery running, doors shut. An empty warehouse is a different radio environment.
Roaming and handover
Whether a scanner moving down an aisle hands over cleanly or drops the session mid-scan.
Cabling routes
Access points have to be reached with a cable. Where that is hard changes the design, not just the price.
A plan, not a quote
How many units, where, on which channels, and what the result will be. Sometimes: move what you have.
Symptoms a survey usually explains
- Good signal in the middle of the building and none at the edges
- Scanners that drop a session halfway down an aisle
- Wi-Fi that works in the morning and degrades every afternoon
- A dead spot that appeared when the racking was moved
- Calls over Wi-Fi that break up while browsing seems fine
- A second router that was bought to fix it and did not
Wi-Fi Surveys: Finding Out Before You Buy — Common Questions
Why not just buy a more powerful access point?
Because signal is absorbed by brick, reflected by steel and stopped by anything metal or wet, so power does not solve geometry. A single unit in the centre covers the centre well and the edges badly however good it is. Two properly placed access points nearly always outperform one expensive one and usually cost less in total.
When should the survey be done?
With the building in its normal working state — racking loaded, machinery running, doors where they usually are. An empty warehouse and a full one are different radio environments, and a survey done during a fit-out will produce a design that stops working the day stock arrives. For a new building, it is worth surveying again once it is in use.
Will the survey just recommend buying more equipment?
Not if it is honest. A reasonable proportion of surveys find that the existing hardware is adequate and badly placed, and moving it is the whole fix. We would rather deliver that finding than an order, because a survey that only ever concludes you should buy things is a sales visit with a meter in it.
Do we need a survey for a small office?
Often not. A single open-plan floor of ordinary construction with one access point is usually predictable enough that a survey adds little. It earns its cost where the building is difficult — warehouses, multi-floor, thick walls, cold stores, yards — or where somebody has already tried to fix it once and failed.
What about interference from other businesses?
It is frequently the largest single factor and the one nobody accounts for. In a business park, a shared building or a high street, the same channels are in use by everybody nearby, and the practical fix is channel planning rather than more power. A survey is the only way to see that, because it is invisible from inside your own network.
Does this cover outdoor areas and yards?
Yes, and outdoor coverage is mostly a question of mounting height and line of sight rather than power. It also has to be planned against how the space is used — a yard full of vehicles and stock blocks signal that an empty one does not, so the survey needs to happen with the yard in a realistic state.
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- 4G and 5G Failover: A Backup That Takes Over By Itself
- Guest Wi-Fi for Business
Measure before you buy anything
It is the cheapest step in the whole exercise and the one most often skipped. Tell us the building and what stops working where, and we will tell you whether this needs a survey, a change of position, or nothing at all.