802.11 Site Survey products

[Acmeproduct]

I have a customer that wants a site survey. The cost of a Airmagnet or similar product is to high for the first time try out job. The customer may add up to 20 more jobs if the first one is good. I need to rent/lease/borrow a package like airmagnet site survey pro or Ekahau. I have contacted both companies and they say NO.
Anybody got any ideas???

Help......

[spiderbite]

Ok first - you sound like you have no idea what you are doing..are you sure you wanna do this?

Second - Let's assume you do know what you're doing..I want you to answer a few questions-

what is the survey for - The answer will not be "the customer" (haha). Is this for internet access, voice, other?

how many users and what kind of bandwidth does the customer expect / require per user in a given location?

What kind of facility is this? What kind of construction is it made from?

what kind of devices do you intend to use in the wireless environment once you get it going...


Get back to us we'll go from there.....You do not necessarily need Airmagnet etc...to perform a survey...which is where I'm going with this, which is why I think you're getting in over your head, since I assume you are getting paid for this.


you might be better off walking away from this one ...we'll see.

[M/Q]

I pretty much agree. I would hate to have to remember how many site surveys I have completed, and I still can not afford AirMagnet on my own. I really do not like to see tools be the main emphasis of a survey. That is especially true during the first few surveys you perform. If you are too reliant on that application, you will not get a feel for what is really happening.

In reality Spider might have a good idea as the best way to learn how to do a survey is to follow someone around and soak everything in that you can. Then you have a great idea as to what is required.

I actually just use a number of portable AP's along with my notebook. Believe it or not the two applications I use mainly are NetStumbler and WirelessMon Pro. I use WirelessMon Pro because it allows you to import a map or building layout and you can superimpose signal strength on that image file, which is great for the clients as well as myself. That application is dirt cheap for everything it does.

http://www.passmark.com/products/wirelessmonitor.htm

[golfnut]

Cisco's site survey utility is an excellent free tool. You'll need a Cisco laptop card to use it but it has everything you need to do a site survey including a nice audible beep that changes pitch as the signal, noise level, or SNR changes.

Airmagnet is very nice as well but as M/Q and Spider mentioned, you really need to understand how to do a site survey before you can appreciate a tool like Airmagnet.

If the survey is done properly, the installation is plug and play with no surprises.

Greg

[spiderbite]

And that is precisely where I was going with that...

Golf nut is right. I have yet to use a more reliable tool than the old Cisco survey tool. For data surveys it rocks...voice I'm not so sure..


I always try to use the device that will be implemented and thats what I was hoping dude would tell us....

[jcatalaa]

Hi there,

I believe "Acmeproduct" question is very appropriate. When performing a site survey, a product like Ekahau is very important. As you can professionalize the site survey with reports (regardless of the required criteria for the survey).

The report generated by Ekahau or similar tools are eye candy for the customer. How are you going to charge for it, otherwise? How are you going to proove that your AP positioninig has full coverage? This tools help the business model. The customers ends up with a professional report. Even within the company the IT staff can justify the investment.

On the other hand Ekahau costs a little less than $3,000. So, that is an issue when you can charge only $1500 for the first survey. It would be good if you did not have to bite the bullet. If these tools could be rented out for a month, it would be a perfect solution for everyone.

Not only that. If i were to make a site survey at my company, why would I invest $3000 for a one-time deal?

Another advantage of a Site Survey software is that you can ask for the image from the customer and using the software you can provide a rough estimate of may APs will be needed. Of course, you may want to ask a few questions like the material of the walls and so on.

M/Q thanks for the suggestion. I will look into WirelessMon Pro.
Also, I am afraid of usin a Cisco solution. I am not sure for how long Cisco will continue making cards.

So, again, I believe this is an appropriate business question. How do you get started in a professional way without investing $3000?


Best Regards,

Jean-Marc

[golfnut]

Maybe it's just me but I have never had a client ask for a copy of the site survey or even ask what products we use to deploy the network. From a customers perspective, they want a solution that works and they trust that we'll make the right decision. The site survey is only a part of the overall process.

M/Q said it best "If you are too reliant on that application, you will not get a feel for what is really happening".

You can easily get started with WirelessMon or the Cisco application and the best investment you'll ever make is time spent understanding your customers needs.

Greg