Certified Wireless Network Administrator

Module 15 – Fundamentals of Site Surveys

Slide 1

Module Introduction

 WLAN site survey interview

 Documentation and reports
 Vertical market considerations

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Slide 2

WLAN Site Survey Interview

 Is a site survey even needed?

 The answer to that question is almost always a
resounding yes
 If an owner of a small retail owner shop desires a
wireless network, the site survey that is conducted
may be as simple as placing a small office, home
office (SOHO) Wi-Fi router in the middle of the shop,
turning the transmit power to a lower setting, and
making sure you have connectivity

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Slide 3

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 Even though 802.11 technologies have been

around since 1997, much misunderstanding and
misinformation about wireless networking still
exists
 Because many businesses and individuals are familiar
with Ethernet networks, a “just plug it in and turn it on”
mentality is prevalent

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Slide 4

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 The first question that should be:

 What is the purpose of the WLAN?
 If you have a complete understanding of the intended
use of a wireless network, the result will be a better-
designed WLAN
 Always ask about the business needs
 What applications will be used over the WLAN?
 This question could have both capacity and Quality of Service
(QoS) implications
 Who will be using the WLAN?
 Different types of users have different capacity and performance
needs

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Slide 5

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 Next step is to begin asking all the necessary

questions for planning the site survey and
designing the wireless network
 Although the final design of a WLAN is completed after
the site survey is conducted, some preliminary design
based on the capacity and coverage needs of the
customer is recommended
 You will need to sit down with a copy of the building’s
floor plan and ask the customer where they want RF
coverage

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Slide 6

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 User and Device Density

 Three important questions need to be asked:
1. How many users currently need wireless access and how
many Wi-Fi devices will they be using?
2. How many users and devices may need wireless access
in the future?
 These first two questions will help you to begin adequately
planning for a good ratio of devices per access point while
allowing for future growth
3. Most significant: Where are the users?
 Peak On/Off Use
 Be sure to ask what the peak times are—that is, when access to
the WLAN is heaviest

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Slide 7

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 Existing Transmitters
 Does not refer just to previously installed 802.11
networks
 Refers to interfering devices such as microwaves,
cordless headsets, cordless phones, wireless
machinery
 Portability vs. Mobility
 There are two types of mobility
1. Related to being portable
2. True mobility

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Slide 8

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 Existing Wireless Network

 Quite often the reason you are conducting a WLAN
site survey is that you have been called in as a
consultant to fix an existing deployment
 Professional site survey companies have reported
that as much as 40 percent of their business is
troubleshooting existing WLANs, which often requires
conducting a second site survey or discovering that
one was never conducted to begin with

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Slide 9

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 You have already learned that the usual purposes of

a WLAN are to provide client mobility and to provide
access via an AP into a preexisting wired network
infrastructure
 Part of the interview process includes asking the correct
questions so that the WLAN will integrate properly into the
existing wired architecture
 Roaming
 Is roaming required?
 In most cases, the answer will be yes, because mobility is a key
advantage of wireless networking
 Any devices that run connection-oriented applications will need
seamless roaming

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Slide 10

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 PoE
 How will the access points be powered?
 APs are often mounted in the ceiling
 Power over Ethernet (PoE)
 All data privacy and encryption needs should be
discussed
 All AAA requirements must be documented
 It should be determined whether the customer plans to
implement a Wireless Intrusion Detection or Prevention
System (WIDS or WIPS) for protection against rogue APs
and the many other types of wireless attacks

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Slide 11

WLAN Site Survey Interview (Cont.)

 Because of the widespread acceptance of Wi-Fi

in business environments, most companies offer
some sort of wireless guest access to the
Internet
 Guest users access the WLAN via the same access
points

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Slide 12

Documents and Reports

 Proper documentation about the facility and

network must be obtained
 Blueprints
 You need a floor plan layout in order to discuss coverage and
capacity needs with network administration personnel

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Slide 13

Documents and Reports (Cont.)

 Spectrum Analysis
 Be sure to identify potential sources of interference
 RF Coverage Analysis define RF cell boundaries
 Hardware Placement and Configuration recommend
AP placement, antenna orientation, channel reuse
pattern, power settings, and any other AP-specific
information such as installation techniques and cable
routing
 Capacity and Performance Analysis includes results
from application throughput testing, which is
sometimes an optional analysis report included with
the final survey report

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Slide 14

Documents and Reports (Cont.)

 Some of the CWNA exam is focused on outdoor

site surveys for establishing bridge links
 Calculations necessary for outdoor bridging surveys
are numerous, including:
 The Fresnel zone
 Earth bulge
 Free space path loss
 Link budget
 Fade margin

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Slide 15

Module Review

 WLAN site survey interview

 Documentation and reports
 Vertical market considerations

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Review Questions:
1. True or False: Even though 802.11 technologies have been around since 1997,
much misunderstanding and misinformation about wireless networking still exists.
A. True
B. False

2. True or False: When doing a WLAN site survey, existing transmitters refers to
previously installed 802.11 networks.
A. True
B. False

3. True or False: Because of the widespread acceptance of Wi-Fi in business

environments, most companies offer some sort of wireless guest access to the
Internet.
A. True
B. False

4. True or False: Hardware placement and configuration recommend AP

placement, antenna orientation, channel reuse pattern, power settings, and any
other AP-specific information such as installation techniques and cable routing.
A. True
B. False

5. True or False: Capacity and performance analysis includes results from

application throughput testing, which is sometimes an optional analysis report
included with the final survey report.
A. True
B. False
Answer Key:
1. A
True. Even though 802.11 technologies have been around since 1997, much
misunderstanding and misinformation about wireless networking still exists.

2. B
False. When doing a WLAN site survey, existing transmitters refer to interfering
devices such as microwaves, cordless headsets, cordless phones, wireless
machinery.

3. A
True. Because of the widespread acceptance of Wi-Fi in business environments,
most companies offer some sort of wireless guest access to the Internet.

4. A
True. Hardware placement and configuration recommend AP placement,
antenna orientation, channel reuse pattern, power settings, and any other AP-
specific information such as installation techniques and cable routing.

5. A
True. Capacity and performance analysis includes results from application
throughput testing, which is sometimes an optional analysis report included with
the final survey report.