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1. o A EED mt lo Edit V My meric 11n Dual Radio 1 5 7 nes 1i eHO Ee Ai D i BI Eat Floor 1 bb eas __ DIMy meric 11n Dual Radio 12 h Ti 8 01 fe Ps zn 3 0 E Floor 1 n I E V My eric 11n Dual Rado 15 amp FF ignment Point GB aiH I at re watt Je An J Fes CD FL Ee Floor 1 phe alc ___ IMy peric 11n Dual Rado 14 Ba z gt 2am gt U Eit a Wie 24m EA Uj Bait Floor 1 ei 7 My meric 11n Dual Radio 15 ani OO Be a ce J E My neric 11n Dual Radio 16 By 6 2 Creating the Network Plan Manually Using Simulated Access Points Before you can start working with simulated access points you need to define the environment which includes adding the necessary maps defining the scale and drawing walls How to draw 43 Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network walls is explained in more details in chapter Drawing and Editing Walls on page 38 After the environment has been defined you can start simulating your network to find out the optimal network configuration To start predicting the network performance place one or more simulated access points on the map 1 Select the Simulated Access Point Tool from the Planning Tab Choose the access point you want to simulate You can simulate either a pre defined AP or a customized AP with a particular antenna 3 Place the acce
2. 9 1 2 Requirements The Requirements tab of Live Network Status compares your network requirements with the current network measurements If the network requirements are met at the moment green color will be Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting 84 and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems shown for each measurement If your network requirements are not met right now red color will be shown for that requirement You need to choose the access points that are considered yours when using the Live Network Status for troubleshooting If you have not defined My APs for example when using Live Network Status on a blank Project without any surveys performed choose Identify My Access Points by SSID and select the SSID of your network If you are working on an existing project with My APs defined select Identify My Access Points by Access Point List If you do not choose either all of the APs will be considered to belong to your network which may lead to overly optimistic results Figure 9 2 Quick on spot troubleshooting without a map Live Network Status Signals Requirements 802 11n Details Ping Identify My Access Points by 5310 Access Point List Requirement Basic Connectivity Criteria a Signal strength at least I signal to noise ratio at least dB Data rate at least Mbps a Number of access points at least when signal strength 85 dBm E Ping round trip time at most
3. 5 Visualization specific options In this case for Signal Strength visualization 8 1 1 Visualization Mode The visualization heat maps are overlaid on the map using some amount of extrapolation because every inch of the facility can not be surveyed To adjust the amount of extrapolation click the Options button next to the visualization selection There are two Visualization Modes e Detailed The extrapolation is fixed The Detailed Mode provides low extrapolation and accurate results Does not allow adjusting the amount of extrapolation of data Use Detailed mode when in depth analysis is needed Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 62 and Performance e Smooth Adjustable amount of detail as the user can set the extrapolation in feet or meters Figure 8 3 Visualization modes and extrapolation slider Smooth Detailed Visualization Mode WA H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 E m 2 4 6 8 10 Figure 8 4 Detailed and Smooth visualization modes When designing large Projects with lots of walls and simulated access points you may want to get visualizations updated quickly to find out the optimal number of access points their locations and configurations as quickly as possible At this point the accuracy of the visualization may not be essential to find out the ball park locations and configurations of access points In situations like these you can increase the visualization speed by adjusting the slider above the Signal Pred
4. Figure 4 13 Manually combining Multi Radio APs Separate Selected Radios TAE j gt 4 My Cisco Game Room te tissid2 Unkno nt as poet Delete Selected Simulated Access Points Edit Selected Simulated Access Points g 00 1f 9e 8d 20 Place Selected Access Points Automatically Select as My Deselect from My O Note The Combine Radios selection will not be available unless you have exactly two radios selected Separating Falsely Joined Radios If there are cases where the radios are combined mistakenly you can separate them as follows 1 Select the access point that has been falsely joined 2 Select Actions gt Separate Selected Radios Figure 4 14 Manually separating falsely joined radios Office 1 11 APs 2 radios selected Edit Selected Simulated Access Points Delete Selected Simulated Access Points Place Selected Access Points Automatically Select as My Deselect from My e T 4 5 11 802 11n Characteristics 802 11n is the latest iteration of Wi Fi promising higher bandwidth up to 600Mbps range reliability and throughput than its predecessors 802 11a b g standards Some of the main technical charac teristics that enable these improvements in 802 11n are the number of Spatial Streams which is 25 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview related to MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output Extension Channel Gree
5. Select the Floor Alignment Point Tool in the Planning Tab Optionally name the floor alignment point such as Staircase West Place the floor alignment point on the map by left clicking Repeat steps 2 4 so that each map has at least 3 Floor Alignment Points akwON gt Figure 6 9 Two floors of a building with alignment points correctly placed in the same locations in both floors amp Wid T alignment Point 3 47 Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network The floors that are connected to each other need to share three reference points If you use reference points in different locations for different floors ensure that each floor is connected by a minimum of three reference points 6 3 3 Visualizing Floor to Floor Signal Coverage To visualize how access points are audible from one floor to another Ensure from the Building tab that your 3D propagation model has been correctly defined Clear the AP selections by clicking Actions gt Select None Select a floor that you want to see the signals radiating to Using the AP list select the access points that are of interest for example the access points on the floor above and floor below the floor you re currently looking at 5 Select Show Signal Strength for Selected Access Points If any of the APs on the floors below and above are audible to this floor you will see their coverage e O D gt Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 48 49 Chapter 7 Site Survey
6. To delete a simulated access point right click on the access point on the map and select delete Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 44 After placing the APs on the map the properties of the APs can be changed using the AP list Refer to the chapter User Interface Overview to read more about changing the properties of the access points that have already been placed 6 2 1 Optimizing Access Point Layout and Configuration There are several ways to find the optimal number placement and configuration for your APs Here s one recommended method 1 Set the maps scale walls and optionally building layout and floor alignment points 2 Select Network Health for My APs and select the appropriate Requirement 3 Start placing access points and configuring them Use the Network Health visualization to see if the network meets your requirements If it does not use the Network Issues visualization to see what the problem is If it is low signal strength or overlap add more access points or move the existing access points If the problem is low signal to noise ratio or low data rate the problem may be in the channel separation there is probably just too much channel interference Optimize the channel sep aration by adjusting the channels of the APs for 802 11b g channel separations such as 1 6 11 1 4 8 11 1 5 9 13 or 1 7 13 are typically recommended 4 Continue until you have found a satisfactory wireless network 6 3 Designin
7. see below for details PON 2 2 1 Wi Fi Network Adapter Driver Update The external Wi Fi adapter driver needs to be updated in order to collect signal measurements The Wi Fi adapter driver will be updated automatically during the installation Make sure you have a supported Wi Fi adapter inserted when installing the product Skip driver installation if you do not wish to conduct Surveys or do not have a supported external wireless network adapter available at the time of the installation Note If you did not have a supported adapter at the time of the installation or if you chose to install the driver later for some other reason you can install the WLAN adapter driver and the wireless connection utility later by selecting the Install Cardbus USB Wi Fi Adapter Driver from the program folder in the Start menu Chapter 2 Installation Note It is also highly recommended to update the integrated Wi Fi adapter s driver if used for either passive survey or active survey For Windows XP the driver installation will also install the Ekahau Wireless Utility for managing the wireless connectivity The Wireless Utility can be started from the Start menu For more information please use the help features in the Wireless Utility user interface You may also choose to only install the driver and skip the Wireless Utility installation if you want to continue using a third party wireless utility If you wish to stop using the prog
8. A 50 0 px 1 0 m Press Enter to set scale N Escape to revert 1 The door width is 1 meter 3 3 feet which in this map image corresponds to 50 pixels Tip To set the length unit between feet and meters go to File gt Preferences Note It is highly important to set the correct scale Otherwise some visualizations and simulations may not be shown correctly 5 2 1 Changing the Map Image In some cases the underlying map image used needs to be changed without losing all the infro mation about the surveys or about the predictive design To change the underlying map image go to Site gt Change Map Image 33 Chapter 5 Starting to work with Ekahau Site Survey Note The replacing map image needs to be of the same size and scale as the original map image 5 3 Defining Network Requirements Each Wi Fi installation is different Whether the network is used for e mails voice over Wi Fi or location tracking the application determines what is required from the network Ekahau Site Survey allows you to set the Coverage Performance as well as the Capacity requirements for the network With a single view you can see if those requirements are met 5 3 1 Coverage and Performance Requirements In Ekahau Site Survey you set the following Coverage and Performance criteria to be monitored Signal strength minimum signal strength for the strongest AP Signal to noise ratio minimum SNR given a minimum allowed data
9. AP MAC Address 7 After you have done the above steps go back to Monitor gt Maps to see all the access points in place NOTE Regarding to Step 6 if you do not know the base radio MAC it can be found in NCS WCS as follows 1 Go to Monitor gt Access Points 2 Select an AP 3 Base radio MAC is listed in the general properties 11 3 2 Applying the Site Survey Data to the Cisco Floor Maps Before the site survey data can be used in the Cisco Prime NCS WCS by different applications the survey data needs to be applied to the floor maps or to the RF Calibration Models to be precise 1 Go back to Monitor gt Maps From the top right hand side corner Select a command drop down menu select RF Calibration Models Repeat the steps 3 8 for all the maps in the building to activate the RF Calibration Models with the actual Site Survey data 3 Click on the floors Model Name whose RF Calibration Model you want to activate RF Calibration Models Monitor gt Maps gt RF Calibration Models Model Name Status Cubes And Walled Offices Calibrated Auto Created Drywall Office Only Calibrated Auto Created Outdoor Open Space Calibrated Auto Created Indoor High Ceiling Calibrated Auto Created E 3rd Floor Calibration In Progress 2nd Floor Calibration In Progress 4 On the top right hand side corner select Calibrate from the drop down menu and click Go to calibrate the floor with survey data 105 Chapter 11
10. Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration Administration Tools v Help v Calibration Model 3rd Floor Select a command v So Monitor gt Maps gt RF Calibration Models gt Calibration Model 3rd Floor Select a command Add Data Points i Properties Apply to Maps Properties Model Name SdP fe Rename Model Status Calibration In Progress Delete Model Calibrating On Floor Date of Last Calibration Total 802 11a n Data Points Total 802 11b g n Data Points 802 11a n Calibration Completed 802 11b g n Calibration System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 gt 3rd Floor Never it 1039 No 0 done No 524 done Completed Calibration Areas System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 gt 3rd Floor Inspect Location Quality Maps Applied To This model is currently not applied to any of the maps Once the calibration is complete its status will showCalibrated 5 On the top right hand side corner select Apply to Maps to apply the site survey calibration to the map figure Services Administration vy Tools Help v Calibration Model 3rd Floor Monitor gt Maps gt RF Calibration Models gt Calibration Model 3rd Floor Select a command v So Select a command Add Data Points Properties Calibrate Properties gt o Model Name 3d Flor i it l COC di RR RR Ree Ree eee eee e eee Rename Model Status Calibrated Delete Model
11. Floor height NOaRWN gt To define the building layout go to the Building tab in the left hand side lists 1 Assign a map image with the floor You will need to select the appropriate map image for each floor It is important to note that the lowest floor is on the bottom in the Building view A single map can only be assigned for one floor 2 Selecta floor material Select the floor material that best matches your environment 3 Set the floor height Measure the height of the floor from floor to ceiling and set it A status indicator at the top of the screen will assist you in defining the building layout Once the status indicator states OK you will be able to see the simulated AP signals penetrating the floors Use the Actions button to add buildings This allows making network plans for multiple buildings within a single project Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 46 6 3 2 Setting Floor Alignment Points Map images between floors may differ in terms of rotation and offset for example To align the floors for 3D prediction you will need to use Floor Alignment Points You will need to find three locations in the building that are identifiable at each floor Stairwells elevator shafts building corners and building pillars are good examples Typically they are in the same locations on each floor These will serve as your Floor Alignment Points To mark them Select the map you want to place the Floor Alignment Points to
12. Select requirement Click to adjust requirement Each network issue is represented by a color aakwnna 8 3 5 Number of APs The Number of APs visualization shows how many access points are audible in a given location The number of APs must be sufficient to ensure sufficient overlap in the network Overlap is needed for seamless roaming between access points as well as load balancing The following selections will affect the Number of APs e Minimum Signal Strength allows you to set a minimum signal strength for an AP that is to be included in the number of APs to be visualized For example if you set it to 90 the number of APs audible at stronger than 90dBm signal strength will be shown 71 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Adapter affects the Number of APs visualization as some adapters are more sensitive and can thus hear more APs in a given location than the others Figure 8 14 Number of APs visualization Floor 9 Survey Y RONDS No audible APs Lots of audible APs Only 2 audible APs Click to adjust the visualization value range colors etc 8 3 6 Signal Strength The Signal Strength visualization displays the signal strength of the selected set of access points in dBm By default the signal strength of the strongest access points per location will be displayed Signal Strength has the following options accessible via Visualization Options Viewed Signal allows you to disrega
13. System Campus G F Hillikatu 3 F ist Floor If you try import maps that do not have any access points deployed a warning will be given and you will end up back to the map import dialog Figure 11 2 Error message if there are no Access Points deployed on maps you are trying to import Choose floors to import i No deployed Access Points on 2nd Floor No deployed Access Points on 1st Floor The map import dialog will show which maps you have already imported to Ekahau Site Survey and which maps were unavailable Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS 100 Integration Figure 11 3 Map import status 9 Cibose floors to B E System Campus V Hilikatu 3 i 3rd Floor V 2nd Floor 7 1stFloor amp Hillikatu 5 ist Floor 3rd Floor 2nd Floor At this point you can exit the map import dialog and go back to Cisco NCS Add at least one Access Point on the map to be able to import the floor map to Ekahau Site Survey When you run the map import dialog again the dialog will display all the maps you have already imported Once you have imported all the maps you need you can start the site survey Note If the floor map scales are incorrect in Cisco NCS the visualizations in Ekahau Site Survey may be distorted 11 2 Exporting the Project to Cisco Prime NCS WCS File
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15. 4 5 1 Selecting Access Points There are several methods to select which access points to visualize edit or select as My APs APs can be selected one by one either from the map or from the AP list To select APs on the map simply click on the AP to be selected Click on the AP again to de select it The selected AP will be highlighted on the map and in the AP list To select APs on the AP List click on the handle on the left hand side of the AP list to select an AP an orange color will indicate that the AP has been selected Click on the handle again to de select You will also see the AP being highlighted on the map Simulated APs can be selected in the same way as measured APs However simulated multi radio APs can be selected one radio at a time Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 16 e To select radios on the map click on the rectangle on the right hand side of the AP The rectangle will become highlighted with orange when it is selected on e To select radios on the AP List click on the handle on the left hand side of the radio prop erties field Figure 4 4 Selecting one radio at a time Floor 1 Selecting Multiple Access Points at Once To select multiple access points at once you have two options e To select all the access points choose Actions gt Select All Please note that if a search is used this action will only select all the searched access points To deselect all access points select Actions
16. 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi cient Coverage and Performance On Site 7 6 Inspecting Surveys in More Detail In some cases if network is not behaving normally the signal behavior may need closer inspection During the survey the network adapter keeps constantly scanning the network for signal readings from the access points To see the individual signal measurements on the map select the Survey Inspector tool To view the individual measurements and analyze the survey data in more detail double click on the position of the survey route you want to inspect or right click on a Survey in the Surveys list and select Inspect A Survey Inspector window will open displaying the recorded signal readings in the point nearest to the clicked location as well as measured Round Trip Time Ping and the associated Access Point during the measurement An orange dot on the map will indicate which measurement point is currently analyzed The window will also show the recorded data over time for a given survey Use the Next and Pre vious buttons to move to the next and previous survey point along the survey path To analyze the measurement data for select access point s highlight the APs on the AP list in the dialog Figure 7 7 Survey Inspector allows you to analyze the signal behaviour in more detail Survey Inspector 2009 10 27 13 40 Device Ekahau NIC 300 802 1 1a b g n Network Adapter Packet Scheduler Miniport MAC SSID Security Tech
17. Awww ekahau com devices Laptop computer required for recording surveys a desktop computer is sufficient planning and analysis e Screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher 32 bit color quality recommended Note Ekahau recommends Windows 7 OS 64 bit with 4GB RAM for project larger than 300 000 square feet The following is required for simultaneous active and passive surveys Hybrid Surveys e Supported external Wi Fi adapter for traditional passive surveys e Integrated Wi Fi adapter for end to end connectivity testing e Network connection via the Integrated Wi Fi adapter using Windows Wi Fi management tool Disable the third party Wi Fi connectivity tool if enabled Please consider the following limitations that apply to the program e The software may become unstable if a single Project file contains more than 10 000 access point MAC addresses e The software supports map images with 10000 x 5000 pixels and smaller e The software may become unstable if more than 100 hours of survey data is recorded into a single Project Note USB Wi Fi adapters are not fully supported in Windows XP OS To take full advantage of Ekahau Site Survey in laptop with Windows XP OS Ekahau recommends using Ekahau NIC 300 Cardbus Wi Fi adapter 2 1 1 Supported Wi Fi Adapters Ekahau Site Survey supports most common 802 11 Wi Fi network adapters for conducting surveys regardless the card type A wireless network adapter is not required if
18. Chanalyzer user interface to see how Wi Fi compares to the other interferers 93 Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems PON gt m AV Transmitter 91 5 Al i T n a es MAb Mian Ad J a ly Maad aa i thes ta AV Transmitter on channel 1 An access point with ofi2 SSID on channel 1 An access point with testissid2 SSID on channel 6 An access point with testissid2 SSID on channel 11 Tip For more information on how to use the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer Chanalyzer Pro softwared please refer to the Chanalyzer Help guide Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems 94 95 Chapter 10 Reporting Exporting and Printing 10 Reporting Exporting and Printing With Ekahau Site Survey you can easily output the network information by either generating a comprehensive report or by exporting or printing the images one by one 10 1 Generating Reports Generating a report constructs a comprehensive report in RTF or PDF format To generate a report go to File gt Report From the dialog choose the visualizations you want to be reported and make the following selections Selection Description Folder The output location of the report File The file name of the report followed by the extension rtf or pdf Paper The paper type of the report Document Format Choose Adobe PDF or easily customiz
19. Click to see how changing the channel s would impact the network 8 Selected as My which means that this AP belongs to my network 9 Name defaults to brand 4 5 8 Adjusting the Properties of Simulated Access Points For simulated APs you can change the following parameters e AP Band Whether the AP is 802 11a 802 11b 802 119 or 802 11n Select from the 802 11 technology button e AP Channel The frequency channel the AP is operating at Select from the channel button e AP Radio Transmission Power The transmission power at which the AP radio is transmitting the signal Click on the Edit button and edit the text field to adjust e Antenna Type Directly impacts the coverage area of an AP Click on the Edit button and click on the drop down menu to select an antenna e Antenna Height The higher the antenna the weaker the signal strength will be below the AP To adjust the height click on the Edit button and edit the height text field e Antenna down tilt Some antennas are meant to be tilted down for optimal coverage To adjust the downtilt click on the Edit button and type in the downtilt in degrees to the textbox e Notes Add text information about the access point Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 22 To edit the properties of multiple APs at once select the simulated access points you would like to edit and click Actions gt Edit Selected Simulated Access Points Figure 4 10 Adjusting simulated access
20. Differences Between Professional and Standard c ceee 2 1 3 Technical SUPDOM eier i cen etape Seek a a a a ae cctadceouter abebe ens 2 1 4 Backward Compatibilty iesire inerente aai aTa aa in aaien 2 1 4 1 Compatibility with previous Ekahau Site Survey versions cceeee 2 1 4 2 License compatibility with previous Ekahau Site Survey versions 3 ZAMS tA ACh OA cies vcs czas A E dice cus sussdanceh dele A E A E E 5 2 1 System Requirements and Software Limitations ccc seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnaeees 5 2 1 1 Supported Wi Fi Adapters ccssseeseccseeceeeeeeaeeaaeeaaeeaaeeaeecaeeeaeeeaeeeeeeees 5 2 2 How 10 Install ESE cchen cubecsceaenegesthentdecies E vaadauesdaadents Seazevedeekes 6 2 2 1 Wi Fi Network Adapter Driver Update 0 c seccscceeeceeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeaeeees 6 2 2 2 Upgrading the Ekahau Site Survey License 0 0 0 0 eee eeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 7 3 Designing Deploying and Troubleshooting Wi Fi Networks 2 seseeeeeeeeees 9 3 1 Ekahau Site Survey and Other Wi Fi Tools 0 0 0 0 eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenaaae 10 4 User Interface OVerview ccccccccccceecee cece eeee cent rene eee eeeeeeeeeeneeeneeeeeeeeeseeeseeeseseeesseeeeeeeeeess 11 An Map VIGW seach aceecssek e eds e Aa hehe dawedinen a N 11 4 2 Planning and Survey Tabs sais cccceusetas sup cte te aeiacsexezaties ieee bes sha teadeeeteernyettetsedeates nyene 12 4 3 Visua
21. I Packet loss at most Conditions Network Load 5 Adapter Raw Measurements Connection Details Associated Access Point None Ping Host None Note To be able to compare Ping Round Trip Time and Packet Loss measurements the Ping tool must be started To do this go to the Ping tab and click the Start button Remember to make sure you have valid Network Host configured 9 1 3 802 11n Details The 802 11n includes several improvements that offer higher throughput range reliability and bandwidth than legacy 802 11 standards However sometimes these 802 11n settings may cause 85 Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems interference and or other problems with legacy 802 11 networks and devices The 802 11n Details view is very helpful to identify problems related to 802 11n The view displays the current signal measurements from 802 11n access points including their 802 11n characteristics With the 802 11n Details view it is possible to identify for example how many spatial streams different 802 11n access points are using and which channels are bonded thus consuming available channels from other access points and or possibly even causing inter ference The 802 11n Details view also displays whether SGI and Greenfield mode are used in the network For example you can check whether Greenfield mode is enabled in some of the 802 11n access points when a 802 11g cli
22. Network Status feature to quickly detect and solve basic Wi Fi issues such as finding defective and or missconfigured Wi Fi Access Points Conduct periodic site surveys to ensure flawless operation Design for additional coverage or performance using the network planning features by simply opening the surveyed project file and adding simulated access points on the surveyed data 3 1 Ekahau Site Survey and Other Wi Fi Tools Ekahau Site Survey is a comprehensive tool that assists during the entire life cycle of a Wi Fi network However there are other tools available that are complementary and worth considering also Wi Fi Management softwares are designed to assist in the set up monitoring and manage ment of the network While Wi Fi controllers assist you in setting up the network configurations and monitoring the network on a high level site survey tools can provide more detailed information not visible to the Wi Fi controller Some scenarios that ESS can solve are Broken APs unsuccessful configuration updates to the APs rogue APs beyond the reach of your Wi Fi APs and coverage holes not detected by your APs In addition Ekahau Site Survey provides state of the art tools for network planning and expansion whereas some controllers may provide basic tools for ballpark type network planning Spectrum Analyzers help understand the radio frequency in more detail Whereas Ekahau Site Survey provides a view to the audible Wi Fi signals a spe
23. Note Do not operate Ekahau Site Survey and drive or carelessly walk at the same time Stop using ESS and switch off the Wi Fi device when it is forbidden to use radio equipment or when it may cause interference or danger 1 1 Overview Deploying and maintaining wireless networks offers many challenges beyond those of traditional wired networks Because of the unpredictable and invisible nature of wireless visual professional tools are needed to achieve high performance In order to support the business requirements of the organization several important factors need to be considered e Wi Fi is invisible it is hard to make a clear picture of how far your network will reach and how it will work in different locations e Wireless is fluctuating and unpredictable Whereas wired networks can be said to operate in a predictable way over a long period of time wireless connections may work differently at any given time depending on the conditions e Wireless is ubiquitous Whereas a wired Ethernet only has a certain number of connection points wireless access points can host numerous simultaneous connections offering con nectivity over great distances e Capacity planning is fairly straightforward in wired networks However wireless is a shared medium where the overall capacity is shared by multiple users at any given time For these and many other reasons proper tools are required when designing deploying maintaining and troublesho
24. Sur Format vey project to Cisco Prime NCS WCS File Export Image Export the currently displayed map image and visualization File Print Image Print the currently displayed map image and visualization File Report Generate a report of the network File Merge Merge another Project with the cur rent Project File Preferences Change the product preferences such as the length unit File Exit Exit the program Edit Undo Undo the previous action Edit Redo Redo the undone action Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 28 Menu Selection Description View Zoom In Zoom in to see an area in more detail View Zoom Out Zoom out to see a wider area of the map at once View Zoom to Fit Fit the map into the window View Zoom 1 1 Zoom to see the map in its actual pixel size View Surveys Show or hide the survey routes View GPS Reference Points Show or hide the GPS Reference Points View Access Points Show or hide the access point icons View Access Point Names Show or hide the access point names View Floor Alignment Points Show or hide the Floor Alignment Points View Walls Show or hide the Walls View Coverage Areas Show or hide the Coverage Areas Site Add Map Add a map to the Project Site Duplicate Map Make a duplicate of the currently displayed map Site Change Map Image Change the currently displayed map image Site Remove Map Remove a map from the Pr
25. View will display No Ping Host message if valid Ping Host has not been found By default the Ping Host is Default Gateway but it can be changed by clicking the Miniature Ping View Figure 7 3 No Ping Host message will be displayed if valid Ping Host has not been set No Ping Host e Click the Record Survey button ESS will start the end to end connectivity testing automatically if the internal Wi Fi adapter has been enabled for Hybrid Survey and valid Ping Host has been found set Figure 7 4 Miniature Ping View displaying successful Ping packets green vs lost packets red ee e Click your current location on the map to start collecting signal information as well as end to end connectivity measurements e Start walking at a slow steady speed Click the map whenever you start or stop walking and whenever you change your speed or direction e Right click the map when you want to finish the current survey and continue from another location e Release the Record button when finished surveying Note Ekahau Site Survey automatically scrolls the map when you click your location close to the edge of the screen You can disable this feature from File gt Preferences The data is recorded continuously during a Survey not just when you click on the map The data will be interpolated on the map between two mouse clicks If you do not stop at any point but rather continue walking when reaching a given point you only
26. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaees 53 7 1 4 GPS Assisted Outdoor Site Surveys eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeenneneeeeeeeeeeeeneneeeeeeeeees 53 7 1 4 1 Supported GPS Receivers cece ce eeee cece eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesseeeneeees 53 7 1 4 2 Performing GPS Assisted Surveys ceceeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 53 7 2 Post Deployment and Pre Deployment Surveys ceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennneeeeeeeeeees 54 7 3 Placing Access Points on the Map veseccccccccscs cscetpteeteecetscdeciiycateeessveaeete nteevneeeeneceteees 55 T A Selecting My Access POINTS iisecsiuieas tinattas ete eee Ri agers need 56 7 5 Simultatenous Survey Work Merging Two Projects as One eec 56 7 6 Inspecting Surveys in More Detail 222 ccceeeseceeeceeeeeeeteseeeeeecceneeeensseceeneeeeees 57 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance ceseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeseeneees 59 8 1 ViSUaliIZATION OPTIONS rsa e a a e e a E E E E E 61 8 1 1 Visuali ation Modes iis niaaa aeaaea ila Saad N aA E SEES 61 8 1 2 Signal Pregicuonmns canta iee aiaee aeeai aaran aaia a adana e eieaa Eid 63 8 1 3 Visualization Specific Options cece eee eeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeaeesaeeaaeeaaeeaaeeaeeeaeeees 64 8 2 Adj sting the Legend arrori rsi ad teks Gobeedven eines Sienna eve ea ea AAEE E AARE eads 64 8 3 Visualization VieWS st e a apaa a e Te aaa aaa eaat eia 66 oR MBENE pte e E E E E saa atuttens 66 8 3 2 Interference NoiSe 3 sicssceeseaeiyiect
27. even support different 802 11 standards Thus using different adapters may have a significant impact to the data rate For example an 802 11b adapter can only communicate at a maximum of 11Mbps Note The data rate is calculated only for access points that are marked as My APs If you are visual izing with Selected Access Points view the APs that are currently Selected will work as sources of noise 67 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Figure 8 10 Data Rate visualization Floor 1 JAligament Poit 1 i _ No data transfer possible High data rate 54Mbps Low data rate Red 1Mbps lt gt Green 54Mbps e ON 8 3 2 Interference Noise Co channel interference and other noise may have an impact on Wi Fi performance Ekahau Site Survey shows interference noise levels in two ways e As measured by the Wi Fi adapter e As calculated co channel interference By default ESS uses the noise measured by the Wi Fi adapter when visualizing surveyed data and when a fully supported external adapter is used for site surveys You can make adjustments to the noise visualization from Visualization Options Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 68 and Performance Note A Wi Fi adapter is not an accurate interference noise measurement device For accurate noise measurements please use the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer see http www ekahau com spec trum Figure 8
28. for starting it separately 9 2 Troubleshooting After the Survey The amount of troubleshooting scenarios ESS can be used for is almost endless Here we will present a couple of the most common Wi Fi problem scenarios and how to solve them with ESS Unlike in the previous section The scenarios in this chapter assume that a site survey has been performed as the troubleshooting happens using the map 9 2 1 Finding Network Problems with a Single View After having your Requirements set simply use the Network Issues visualization to identify network trouble spots Select the appropriate visualization to look at a given network parameter in more detail 9 2 2 Basic Wireless Issues Low Coverage High Interference Problems like low coverage and high interference are easy to identify and troubleshoot 87 Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems With low coverage identify the spots of low coverage by selecting Show Signal Strength for My Access Points After identifying the spots with low coverage first check that all of your APs are transmitting signals If the APs are working properly you may need to increase transmission power or add more access points to the problematic areas recommended To simulate how adding an AP to the problematic area would impact the coverage and performance use the Simulated Access Point tool in the Planning tab to place a Simulated AP on the map Note Drawi
29. measured against the requirements using the Network Health visualization Automatically Create the Network Plan with Auto Planner Ekahau Site Survey Pro only Use the ESS Auto Planner to create a network plan for you automatically The Auto Planner automatically computes the optimal access point locations and configurations without going on site ESS can visualize predicted coverage and performance based on your requirements In addition you can manually adjust the AP locations and configurations or just manually create the complete network plan with simulated access points if needed Perform Pre Deployment Site Survey The goal of the pre deployment survey is to verify the accuracy of the network plan prior to purchasing and installing all the equipment By performing pre deployment site surveys you can be more confident of the number of APs and that their installation locations are optimal During the pre deployment survey you will also find all the third party or rogue access points that may be radiating to the facility When on site power up an access point in one of the location defined in the Network Plan phase Perform a site survey in the coverage area of the AP Use the Freeze Access Point feature and move the access point to the next location Repeat this process for all the APs planned in the network design The end results is a site survey of the whole facility without having to purchase all the necessary network equipment Fine tune
30. scan time which allows more data to be collected over time which in turn allows faster site surveys Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi 52 cient Coverage and Performance On Site Figure 7 6 The Scanning Configuration Tab e Scanning configuration for Ekahau USB NIC 300 es Pal 1 6 11 1 4 8 11 17 13 1 5 9 13 1 2412 MHz 2 2417 MHz 3 2422 MHz F 4 2427 MHz F 5 2432 MHz W 6 2437 MHz F 7 2442 MHz 60 5300 MHz F 8 2447 MHz 64 5320 MHz 9 2452 MHz F 100 5500 MHz 10 2457 MHz F 104 5520 MHz 11 2462 MHz F 108 5540 MHz 12 2467 MHz F 112 5560 MHz 13 2472 MHz F 116 5580 MHz 120 5600 MHz 124 5620 MHz F 128 5640 MHz F 132 5660 MHz 136 5680 MHz 7 140 5700 MHz 36 5180 MHz 40 5200 MHz 44 5220 MHz 48 5240 MHz 52 5260 MHz 56 5280 MHz ISSS S SS S S Current regulatory domain Europe Scanning channels 1 6 11 36 64 awy cm Note The scan settings cannot be configured for all Wi Fi devices For example the scan settings in the built in Wi Fi adapter of an Intel Centrino cannot be configured 7 1 2 Configuring the Wi Fi Devices for Hybrid Surveys The end to end network performan
31. the Network Design If the network meets your requirements you can directly proceed to the next step If the network does not meet the requirements fine tune the configuration using the simulation capabilities ESS in until it does Deploy the Network Infrastructure Based on the network plan and the pre deployment site surveys deploy the wireless network infrastructure Use ESS to store notes about the installation Conduct a verification survey Verify the network coverage and performance by conducting a site survey throughout the entire site Analyze and fine tune to finalize the network design Analyze the network coverage performance and capacity If the verification survey reveals that the network still does not meet the network performance and capacity requirements fine tune and re survey until it does Use the simulation and optimization features of ESS to perfect the network Create documentation Ekahau Site Survey Pro only Use the reporting feature to create complete documentation of the network installation cover age and performance with the click of a button Troubleshooting Monitoring Maintenance Expansion Chapter 3 Designing Deploying and 10 Troubleshooting Wi Fi Networks Problems do occur that cannot be seen from the Wi Fi Controller but have to be investigated on the client side Use Ekahau Site Survey in combination with your Wi Fi Controller to keep your wireless network up and running Use the Live
32. the survey was performed on 4 long survey inthe hallways Floor 9 Survey Using the Surveys list you can select and de select the surveys If you want to visualize the network coverage and performance for specific surveys only such as only the surveys that have been performed recently simply de select the other surveys To select de select and delete multiple 27 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview Surveys simply select more than one Survey right click on one of the surveys and select the desired action from the context menu Similarly to access point notes you can also write down notes for each survey Simply click the note icon to edit the survey notes 4 7 The Building View The building view is only necessary when creating three dimensional network plans For information on how to use the Building View see chapter Designing a Wi Fi Network 4 8 Menus Use the menus to access file operations site specific operations Zooming and more Menu Selection Description File New Create a new Project File Open Open an existing Project File Save Save the Project using the existing file name File Save As Save the Project using a different file name File Export as XML Export the Project as an XML file File Import Maps from Cisco NCS WCS Import floor maps from Cisco Prime NCS WCS File Export to Cisco NCS WCS File Export either Planning or Site
33. to directly perform to performing site survey or troubleshooting When designing a new Wi Fi network Ekahau Site Survey is able to create a network plan for you automatically In ESS this feature is called as Auto Planner The Auto Planner saves you significant amounts of time by cutting down the manual work of placing access points and configuring their channels by hand Prior to deploying a Wi Fi network with the Auto Planner you will need to indicate the coverage area s where you need Wi Fi coverage In addition you will need to draw walls for the coverage area s so that ESS can calculate the optimal AP locations and configuration s In case you want to deploy a network plan for multi floor building s please refer to chapter Designing Wi Fi Networks for Multi Floor Buildings on page 44 for more information on how to define multi floor buildings Proper network planning will reduce costs in the long run and will lead to better coverage and performance also After creating the network plan you will know e The optimal locations for your Wi Fi access points e Antennas and their alignment e Optimal AP configurations such as transmission power and channels e The predicted coverage and performance of your network Figure 6 1 A network plan with walls simulated access points and floor alignment points Example Project Automatic Planning esx Site File Edit View Site Device Help i 2 984 ein a SERPs B ane oxe C
34. will be deployed for all floors in the building where you have defined the coverage areas For separate floor maps that are not defined as a building the network plan needs to be deployed separately for all floor maps If you are not satiesfied with the network plan you can just re run the Auto Planner with a different Requirement Access Point type and or Channel Assignment Every time you re run the Auto Planner it will clear the previous Access Point layout s and the AP configurations Alternatively you can manually change the location of the Access Point s with the Select tool or add more simulated access points For more details on how to work with simulated access points please refer to chapter Creating the Network Plan Manually Using Simulated Access Points on page 42 Figure 6 5 An example Wi Fi network plan created with the Auto Planner This particular network plan is optimized for Location Tracking Example Project Automatic File Edit View Site Device Help i k Bo ee tanan haa alL hasal PF ues access Points e surveys i sung show ras v for y acess pons r Coes x aa EELER Showing 51 51 APs Quik Select Actions _ Planning Survey V Floor 1 20 20 APs Floor 1 gt i WW My ieneric 11n Dual Radio 1 fy aor acan ery e aapna 9 O Eat Fey CED OF Be Floor 1 bb eee My meric 11n Dual Radio 10 Ba Dey GD r OL Be aa
35. you do not wish to record signal data such if you just want to use the automated network planning feature Chapter 2 Installation 6 Please visit our website for the complete list of supported Wi Fi adatpers http www ekahau com devices The Ekahau Site Survey can conduct surveys in traditional passive mode as well as in active mode When these surveys are conducted simultaneously we call this as Hybrid Survey The Hybrid Survey requires two Wi Fi adapters to be used at the same time e Anexternal Wi Fi adapter such as Ekahau NIC 300 Cardbus or NIC 300 USB for Passive Survey e Anintegrated Wi Fi adapter for end to end connectivy testing in Active Survey Warning Intel Centrino Laptops with the built in Wi Fi chipset can be used for passive site surveys RSSI measurement However since the measurement accuracy and network scanning speed is not optimal for passive site surveys it is recommended to use a third party network adapter such as Ekahau NIC 300 Cardbus or NIC 300 USB instead for the passive site survey measurements 2 2 How to Install 1 Make sure you have a supported network adapter inserted into your laptop visit http www ekahau com devices for a list of supported adapters Double click the executable file exe file to start installation Follow the on screen instructions given by the Installation Wizard to install ESS Follow the on screen instructions to install Wi Fi adapter driver and Ekahau Wireless Utility
36. 00 18 60 33 48 00 3 E My Apple Drag onto the map AirForce 1 wea ere BD 00 2435 a6 a5 c3 1 Drag onto the map Startup SW wraz pS GB 00 22 15 12 40 38 1 My Buffalo Drag onto the map AMX_A160 wes to place 00 1d 73 73 3c 2c 1 Signal Strength 40 0dBm 35 0dBm My Buffalo Drag onto the map GWeb2 wraz to place 00 16 01 e6 de 4 f My Asustek 1 Access Point Survey list and Building view tabs 2 Toolbar 3 Visualizations Selections 4 Miniature Requirement view Displays how the network perform against the requirements at a glance Miniature Ping view The digits on the top left are the last digits of the associated AP MAC address Miniature Signal view Spectrum analyzer quick launch Planning and Survey tabs Map view a COND 4 1 Map View The map view is the most commonly used view in ESS Use the map view to e Create network plans e Perform site surveys e Place and move access points e Analyze and optimize the network coverage and performance Zooming the map is done using the zooming buttons in the toolbar using the mouse wheel or from the View menu You can also zoom by right clicking on the map when using the Edit Simulated Access Point and Wall tools Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 12 Figure 4 2 ESS map view Select and add map Drawing walls is not required if network plan
37. 11 Interference visualization High interference Low interference Very low or no interference Adjust interference visualization value range colors etc 1 2 3 4 8 3 3 Network Health Network Health provides a summarized overview of the network It shows whether all of your network requirements see also chapter Defining Network Requirements are met or not If one or more of the network requirements are not yet Network Health will fail and red color will be 69 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance displayed for those areas If all of the network requirements are met green color will be displayed To adjust the requirements click on the color legend or click Site gt Edit Requirements Figure 8 12 Network Health visualization Network Health Fail Network meets requirements Network does not meet requirements Select requirement Click to adjust requirement ROD 8 3 4 Network Issues If one or more of your network requirements are not met in one or more locations see also Network Health the Network Issues visualization will display which requirement fails If more than one requirement fail only one failing requirement will be displayed Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 70 and Performance Figure 8 13 Network Issues visualization Insufficient signal strength Network meets requirement Not enough audible access points Insufficient Signal to Noise Ratio
38. Compatibility Ekahau Site Survey is backwards compatible with the following Ekahau products 1 4 1 Compatibility with previous Ekahau Site Survey versions e The Ekahau Site Survey 5 6 is able to open older project files esx ESS 5 6 can open files created with any previous Ekahau Site Survey 2 x 4 x or 5 x version e Previous ESS 5 x versions can open ESS 5 6 project files e Older ESS 4 x versions are not able to open ESS 5 6 project files e RTLS Compatibility Projects created or modified with ESS 5 6 will require Ekahau RTLS Controller 5 0 or newer Chapter 1 Introduction 1 4 2 License compatibility with previous Ekahau Site Survey versions Ekahau Site Survey 5 6 and later versions require a new license that is not compatible with previous Ekahau Site Survey versions ESS 5 5 or older If you have a valid Ekahau Site Survey Support package but you have not received a new Ekahau Site Survey 5 6 license please contact Ekahau Technical Support at http www ekahau com support or your Ekahau Sales representative Chapter 1 Introduction 5 Chapter 2 Installation 2 Installation 2 1 System Requirements and Software Limitations The following hardware and operating system are required to run the program Windows 7 64 bit amp 32 bit Vista 64 bit amp 32 bit or XP 32 bit only Operating System 1 GB RAM 2GB RAM recommended for large projects 1GB free hard disk space A supported Wi Fi adapter visit http
39. F 18 kes kuuta 2012 Date of Last Calibration iio ico Total 802 11a n Data o Points Total 802 11b g n Data 1039 Points 802 11a n Calibration Completed 802 11b g n Calibration Yes 524 done Completed No 0 done Calibration Areas System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 gt 3rd Inspect Location Floor Quality Maps Applied To This model is currently not applied to any of the maps 6 oo Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS 106 Integration Select the correct Campus Building and finally the Map you want to apply the model figure v Services v Administration v Apply to Maps Monitor gt Maps gt RF Calibration Models gt 3rd Floor gt Apply to Maps Select the Campus and Building and check the Map s where you want to apply the Model Apply To Floor Area v Campus System Campus v Building Hiilikatu 3 X Map Current Model 3rd Floor Cubes And Walled Offices 2nd Floor Cubes And Walled Offices E ist Floor Cubes And Walled Offices Click Apply Once successfully applied you can view the site survey calibrated heatmap for the map Figure 11 6 Floor map with site survey data heatmap Wireless Control System lt IP Name SSID MAC gt abali cisco User root Virtual Domain root Y Monitor Reports Configure Services Administration y Tools Help Maps Tree View Floor View E Maps Root Area Monitor gt Maps gt System Campus gt Hillikatu 3 gt 3rd Flo
40. Format Ekahau Site Survey allows you to export your simulated network plan as well as the real world site survey data into a format that the Cisco NCS WCS can utilize With ESS you can create the complete network plan for your Cisco environment including floor maps Cisco AP locations and configurations and walls The Site Survey data export is critical for many applications such for calibrating the Mobility Service Engine MSE location application Current Restrictions e Only projects with Cisco access points and antennas are supported when exporting a network plan to Cisco Prime Other manufacturers APs and antennas are not properly displayed in Cisco NCS WCS e Only site survey projects created from the scratch are currently supported You cannot export existing site survey projects You will have to first import the maps from Cisco Prime and then perform the site survey s e Cisco WCS 7 0 or higher is required To import the network plan or site survey project to Cisco NCS WCS you will first need to create an export file 1 Select File gt Export to Cisco NCS WCS file format 2 Select either Export Plan or Export Survey Data to create the corresponding Cisco NCS WCS compatible export file 101 Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration Figure 11 4 Export to Cisco Prime NCS WCS file format File Edit View Site Device Help New Ctrl N Open Ctrl O FA Save Ctrl S Save As Export as XML
41. Import Maps from Cisco NCS WCS Export to Cisco NCS WCS file format i Export Plan Export Image Export Survey Data 3 Save the export file to your computer Note The Cisco Prime NCS WCS site survey calibration requires that you have collected at least 150 survey data points at 50 distinct locations This requirement is typically fulfilled during 10 15min site survey If you do not have enough survey data points a warning will be given when trying to export the survey data If that happens please gather more site survey data In addition if no access points deployed in the Cisco NCS WCS are observed during the site survey the site survey export is not possible Figure 11 5 An error will be shown during site survey export if there is not enough site survey data to export or if no APs deployed in NCS WCS are observed Floors marked with cannot be used for positioning or calibration E System Campus amp Hiilikatu 5 2nd Floor Hillikatu 3 3rd Floor 11 3 Importing the Project into Cisco Prime NCS WCS No matter are you importing a network plan or site survey data into Cisco Prime you will always need to import the project file in the same way Please follow the below steps to import your project into Cisco Prime 1 Login to the Cisco Prime control system 2 Go Monitor gt Maps NON Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS 102 Integration afosi is Alarm Summar
42. Problems 9 2 8 Insufficient Capacity Use Capacity Health and Associated Clients visualization to detect capacity issues such as insufficient network capacity Perform the capacity analysis after the pre survey to identify areas with insufficient capacity and see how the situation would improve by introducing additional access points 9 3 Troubleshooting Non Wi Fi Interference Using Spec trum Analyzer Wi Fi devices operate on license free frequency bands This means that these frequency bands are not limited to Wi Fi devices other than Wi Fi also operate on the same frequencies Some examples of non Wi Fi devices that may operate on Wi Fi frequencies are Microwave ovens Wireless video cameras Wireless headsets Cordless phones Zigbee IEEE 802 15 4 Figure 9 5 Interference caused by a wirelesss video camera on 2 4 GHz frequency as seen by a spectrum analyzer CEE 43 0 dBm 1 Interference intensity in dBm 2 Interference on Wi Fi channels 1 3 3 Wi Fi channels Ekahau Site Survey uses the Wi Fi adapter to take signal measurements In cases where the interference is caused by a non Wi Fi device the interference issues may not be detected by the Wi Fi adapter Connectivity issues caused by non Wi Fi interference may include Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting 90 and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems Occasional momentary connectivity cut offs Low voice quality Lower than expected network performance O
43. Soul a a a AAEE 83 91 BOOZ A Details re a n ae E iehensusdeniudnuaisar pudbavetaandbnds 84 R E RET E E T E T T AE E T 85 Ekahau Site Survey 9 2 Troubleshooting After the Survey cccccccecceccscceceeseesescecnececeeeeeenedeecdeeteneeseedeenneee 86 9 2 1 Finding Network Problems with a Single View eccere 86 9 2 2 Basic Wireless Issues Low Coverage High Interference 86 9 2 3 Misconfigured SSIDS iii ue oo Seek eeenneec cake ah ie tetenelce Se ep h dah ededdtctomecams 87 9 2 4 Defective Access POIMS sic ccies case sdencacevsnevinadecenatensecveuseceteecetenscaseecdincaneaes 88 9 2 9 ROGUE ACCESS POIRMS dirsas iriserai ni aes eee 88 9 2 6 Misconfigured 802 11n settings usc 2 is i emteetisentves a leet caper sicaalcni ence 88 9 2 7 Connectivity and Latency ISSUES 0 cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceetetteeseeeeeeeneetee 88 9 2 8 Insufficient Capacity oni cscivainctsgcagicvnsdavcetdcentaciexzeceettitesseivivichie sige venasaaaedette de 89 9 3 Troubleshooting Non Wi Fi Interference Using Spectrum Analyzer n 89 9 3 1 Using Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer 2 2 2 cececccc0sceceeeeeeevecceeeeceeeesesseceeeneeeeae 90 10 Reporting Exporting and Printing ccccccccsesseeeee cece eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeees 95 10 1 Generating Reports soc cescds cases sces coves ca sdace chens ceeaey eens euea poeenseeguaadecneceulsdesuaehcaeneeeentyles 95 10 2 Exporting and Printing Mages sicicc08 srcle
44. T m Access Points jol Surveys f Building f for Em options z Showing 51 51 APs W Floor 1 20 20 APs Z My cisco AP1250 11n Omni Ry ee B Q ED aC ZI My Cisco AP1250 11n Omni 24m Qf eraen EZD eni 7 8 ee F My co AP1250 11n Omni 1 On E ri en 736 40 Po o ST My coAP1250 11n Omni 14 By zami 3 U8 2am 3 Pe W My co AP1250 11n Omni 15 By 3 1 2amS3 O eb 7 eaa ee Z My co AP1250 11n Omni 16 fy Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 38 Note If you leave the access point transmit power settings to Automatic Radio Management Radio Resource Management Radio Management from your wireless LAN management software using the default 25mW transmit power is recommended when creating simulated APs 6 1 Creating a Network Plan with Auto Planner Note You can use the Auto Planner only with empty projects In case there are simulated access points in the project the Auto Planner will clear them from the project The auto planner will not take in account recorded survey data either Thus the Auto Planner cannot be used for network expansion In order to create an accurate network plan you will need to have the map s and scale s set You will also need to define the main walls of the building With this informatio
45. The access points are grouped by floor Only the access points on the floor 15 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview you are currently viewing are displayed by default To see APs on other floors click on the floor name to see the APs for that floor Figure 4 3 Access point list view Example Project Pro esx Ekahau Site e ete Edit View Site Device Help ww en el Oaea Signal strength x for Selected Access Points S E 7 f hjm ee GS eb ia i Showing 9 9 APs Quick Select Actions rs Planning Survey ne a z r 3 4 Floor 9 Survey_ at bA 4 DB Floor 2 tl g W Floor 9 Survey 5 5 APs one radio selected 0 ieee 0 mone My cisco B 0 off2 wa testissid2 wa T GD 00 19 07 05 87 51 2 0 SSS 0 my cisco B 0 off2 wa testissid2 wa 0 GD 00 19 07 05 89 51 2 i 0 y My Dink B Unknown wa 1 GD orb 1 59 19 84 1 0 My D link B wn Wa GB oortb 11 e5 b2 93 1 TMy D4ink B Unknown wa io GD conmstres b3 c1 Floor 9 Suinvey aakwnsa Search for specific AP s such as all APs manufactured by D Link Quickly select a group of APs There are 12 APs on this floor out of which 3 are shown Perform actions to APs Select All None Freeze Join Automatically Place APs on map Edit This AP is selected Notice the orange color This AP is selected Click here to select or de select
46. able and MS Word compatible RTF Report title The title of the report Cover page image Choose an Image file such as a company logo to be included in the front page of the report Chapter 10 Reporting Exporting and Figure 10 1 Generating reports Ekahau Site Report V Office V Overall Network health vV Network Health v Network Issues Coverage and Performance v Data Rate v Number of APs V Signal Strength v Signal To Noise Ratio Interference Noise v Strongest Access Point V Connectivity v Associated Access Point v Ping Packet Loss v Ping Round Trip Time Paper Document Format 5 At RIF LETTER PDF A3 Folder C Documents and Settings mikko lauronen My Documents File Example_Project Report Renameable title of the report Customizable cover page image Click to change the image Select the maps that should be included in the report Select the visualizations and Access Points that should be included in the report Choose the paper type and document format Type the name of the report file and select where the report should be saved DARON The report includes Access point configurations as a table Access point locations on the map Access Point Notes Network coverage and performance visualizations overlaid on a map Network Requirements Survey routes marke
47. acity 89 low coverage 86 misconfigured 802 11n settings 88 Index 114 misconfigured SSID 87 on the map 69 on the spot troubleshooting 83 rogue access points 88 V visualization 59 legend 64 options 61 WwW walls customizing wall materials 39 drawing walls 38 e ekahau Ekahau Inc USA East Coast 1851 Alexander Bell Drive Suite 105 Reston VA 20191 Tel 1 866 435 2428 Fax 1 703 860 2028 sales americas ekahau com West Coast 12930 Saratoga Avenue Suite B 8 Saratoga CA 95070 Tel 1 866 435 2428 Fax 1 703 860 2028 sales americas ekahau com EUROPE Hiilikatu 3 00180 Helsinki Finland Tel 358 20 743 5910 Fax 358 20 743 5919 sales europe ekahau com ASIA 1 64 7 Den en chofu Oota ku Tokyo 145 0071 Japan Tel 81 90 8514 7882 sales asia ekahau com
48. an simply drive around the coverage area of a municipal Wi Fi network and ESS will automatically plot the route on the map in addition to taking the Wi Fi measurements 7 1 4 1 Supported GPS Receivers A GPS receiver is required for the GPS survey feature to work The following GPS receivers are supported Bluetooh GPS devices that support NMEA USB GPS devices that support NMEA Garmin Protocol or Trimble TAIP Network connected GPS devices usually using TCP IP or UDP that supports TAIP or NMEA GPS devices connected to PC CARD that supports NMEA GPS devices that are connected to an RS 232 port that support NMEA Garmin or TAIP Note To perform GPS assisted site surveys you will have to have Franscon GpsGate installed on your computer which can be installed during ESS installation If you have not or do not want to install the GpsGate during ESS installation you can later install it from Ekahau Site Survey program menu Start gt All Programs gt Ekahau gt Ekahau Site Survey gt Installa GPS Support GPS Navigators are typically not supported even if they have a USB connection 7 1 4 2 Performing GPS Assisted Surveys To perform an outdoor survey using GPS 1 Connect a GPS receiver to your laptop 2 Turnon the receiver make sure it is outputting data in one of the supported formats You will need to be outdoors for the GPS receiver to work properly Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi 54 cient Coverage and Per
49. and only refresh the visualization when needed For quick reference for visualization see the tables below Visualization Purpose Data Rate Interference Noise Network Health What is the estimated data rate in Mbit sec for the clients How bad is the co channel interference in dBm Does the network meet your requirements Network Issues Number of Access Points Signal Strength If requirements are not met what is wrong How many APs are audible in each location How good is my signal coverage in dBm Signal to Noise Ratio How much stronger is the useful signal than the co channel interference in dB Strongest Access Point Ping Round Trip Time Ping Packet Loss What is the strongest access point at each location What is the network latency between a client and host What is Packet Loss Calculated from the last 10 packets Associated Access Poin 802 11n Channel Bonding Visualize for All access points My Access Points With what Access Point was the client associated with Where has 802 11n Channel Bonding been enabled Purpose Display the visualization for all the access points Display the visualization only for the APs checked as My Other Access Points Selected Access Points Note Display the visualization only for the APs NOT checked as My Display the visualization only for the APs selected from the list or the map In ord
50. ation can be enabled or disabled Value Range Adjusts the range of values to be displayed The Open setting at each end of the value range allows you to see the values outside the value range also Spacing Each color in the visualization may represent one or many values The spacing controls how many values each color represents Colors Select the desired color range from the drop down menu Requirements Since the colors for these visualizations are fixed and the results of Network Health and Network Issues visualizations depend on the Requirements clicking the Legend when these visualizations are enabled allows you to edit the Requirements 65 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Figure 8 9 Adjusting the legend has a significant impact inn the visualizations s0 20 dBm Open Spacing 5 E x IV Show Contours open 90 40 dem V Open spaingf 1 E orl Show Contours Not all options are customizable for all visualizations The table below explains the visualization default values and adjustment options Visualization Legend Adjustment Options Default Values Data Rate Contours On Off From 1Mbps up to GOOMbps Interference Value Range Spacing Colors Contours On Off 100dBm through 50 dBm or More Network Health Requirements Pass Fail Network Isseus Requirements Pass Fail Number of APs Value Range Spacing Colors Contours On Off 1 through 10 o
51. aximum Throughput The Maximum Throughput visualization displays the theoretical maximum net throughput excluding network overhead per location given ideal circumstances and a single user accessing the network 77 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance 1 Moving the mouse cursor over each are displays the maximum throughput In this case the maximum throughput is 96 98Mb s 2 Click to enable or disable Contours 8 3 12 Associated Access Point The Associated Access Point visualization dpredicts where the client devices will be associated or if Hybrid Site Surveys have been made displays the actual associated access point throughout the survey The visualization is especially handy for recognizing roaming behaviour such as with which access point the wireless network adapters typically associates in each area Thus you can use the visualization to recognize areas where you might want to consider re positioning access points for better load balancing Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 78 and Performance Figure 8 20 Associated Access Point visualization Ke 1 Moving the mouse cursor over each area displays the MAC address and SSID of the Access Point the client adapter was associated with 2 Each roaming area is represented with different colors 3 Click to enable or disable Contours 8 3 13 Capacity Health The Capacity Health visualization displays whether the network meets th
52. ayouts it is recommended to duplicate the map to avoid unnecessary drawing of walls When you duplicate a map the map image and the walls will be duplicated This allows you to only draw the walls to a single floor and use the same wall structure for the other floors If the floors are slightly different it may still be easier to duplicate the floor and then edit the walls for the areas that are not similar Click Site gt Duplicate Map to make a duplicate of the map 6 1 2 Indicating Network Coverage Areas In order to create the automated network plan you will have to define the network coverage area where you would like to have Wi Fi coverage To do this use the Coverage Area tool in the Planning tab to indicate the areas where you need Wi Fi coverage When using the tool left click to add points to the polygon and right click to end the polygon Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 40 Figure 6 2 Coverage Area and Auto Planner buttons x for My Access Points 6 D Fo Ms f 1 1 Click the Coverage Area button to define network coverage areas 2 Click the Auto Planner button to open network requirements dialog and to create the network plan Figure 6 3 Drawing the network coverage area Show Signal Strength m for my accesspoint E I _Options z E EA Planning Survey When you are drawing the network coverage area the currently selected area wi
53. ccess points In many cases some of the APs are missing a given SSID because of either human error or an incomplete configuration update by the Wi Fi controller The quickest way to resolve this is to check the number of SSIDs in your network To check the number of SSIDs use the Quick Select button in the AP list Select the desired SSID and the respective APs will be selected in the AP list You will see a per floor summary of how many access points are selected per floor Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting 88 and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems Alternatively to using Quick Select you can type the desired SSID to the Search box in the Access Point list Only the APs with that SSID will be displayed and a per floor access point count will be displayed as well as the total number of searched access points Tip You can also visualize the coverage easily per SSID by using Quick Select and selecting Show Signal Strength for Selected Access Points 9 2 4 Defective Access Points Defective APs can be found after the survey by looking at the AP locations If ESS has not dis covered any access points close to a location where an AP should be the AP is probably broken Visualizing Signal Strength for My Access Points may also reveal a broken AP If there is low coverage near a location where an AP should be operating at it s probably broken The third way of discovering broken APs is to use the AP list Either use the Qu
54. ccess points and disregard all the prediction calculations disable Signal Prediction Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 64 and Performance Figure 8 8 Viewing a measured access point with signal prediction on the right and without on the left 8 1 3 Visualization Specific Options Some visualizations have specific options that only apply for them These visualization specific options include Minimum Signal Strenght The visualization is only shown in areas where the signal strength exceeds this threshold Adapter The visualization is shown according to how the selected adapter would have per ceived the measured data Network Load Is used with simulation visualizations to demonstrate how different network loads affects on the network performance Use Noise From Defines wheter the visualization uses measured Noise or Simulated Co Channel Interference With Automatic option the measured Noise is always used when available Show lt xx gt Strongest Signal at lt xx gt Channel Visualizes the selected strongest signal at the selected channel s 8 2 Adjusting the Legend You can adjust the visualization appearance and value range by adjusting the Legend The Legend can be adjusted by clicking on the Legend at the bottom right corner of the screen The Legend adjustments are automatically saved with the project The following adjustments are provided Contours The contour line between each color in the visualiz
55. ce testing is always made with the laptop s integrated Wi Fi network adapter The integrated network adapter has to be connected to the Wi Fi network to be able to measure the network performance To connect use Windows Wi Fi Management tool By default Ekahau Site Survey pings the Default Gateway You can change the Ping Host by clicking the Miniature Ping View icon To ensure the defined Ping Host replies to ping click the Start button It is not necessary to leave the Ping enabled as ESS will enable it automatically when you start recording Hybrid Surveys 53 Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi cient Coverage and Performance On Site In Hybrid Survey mode the traditional signal measurement is always made with the external Wi Fi adapter To configure the external Wi Fi adapter please see chapter Performing Site Sur veys on page 49 7 1 3 Moving and Deleting Survey Points After the survey it may be necessary to move or delete Survey points perhaps because the location was not clicked properly in some locations To move or delete Survey Points right click on a Survey point and select Move Survey Point or Delete Survey Point When you delete a Survey point from a survey the Survey will be split into two 7 1 4 GPS Assisted Outdoor Site Surveys ESS allows you to use a GPS handheld to perform site surveys outdoors without having to click on the map For example by connecting a GPS receiver to your Wi Fi enabled laptop you c
56. ch text box 3 then click Actions gt Select All to select all the Nortel APs 4 To select all the searched Nortel APs as My click Actions gt Select as My and all the Nortel APs will now be selected as My 4 5 5 Renaming Access Points By default the measured access points are named by the AP brand such as Nortel Cisco or Siemens The simulated APs are named using running numbers by default To rename the APs simply click on the name field and type in a custom AP name 19 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 4 5 6 Replacing Access Points If an access point breaks down there is no need to perform a new survey There are two options you can do e Ifthe access point is replaced by another identical AP in the same location In the AP List click on the MAC address of the access point and select Replace MAC and type in the MAC address of the new access point to the Replacing MAC field Figure 4 7 When replacing access points remember to select the correct Vendor setting if not selected by default to ensure that the multi MAC access points are replaced correctly Replaced Access Points X 15 70 27 2d 78 gt 00 15 70 35 3e 78 Original MAC 00 15 70 27 2d 78 Replacing MAC 00 15 70 35 3e 78 Vendor Symbol iy e Ifthe access point is not replaced by an identical AP Deselect the access point form the My Access Points using the Surveys list Note If the access point is replaced by another AP but no
57. cting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems Figure 9 7 Chanalyzer Pro User Interface B 24GHz 80211g lt lean ch 6 Chanalyzer Pro TBE m B O 1 2 3 Navigation Pane Overview Pane Details Pane The Navigation Pane contains controls for browsing a Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer recording Recording Navigator A recording or session in Chanalyzer Pro can contain multiple captures changes in the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer or hardware configurations The user can alternate between the 2 4GHz band and 5GHz band without creating additional and unecessary files The user can also narrow in on a channel for detailed troubleshooting and have it be part of the recording playback The recording will also contain all narrow band troubleshooting done during the session Timespan Controls The Timespan controls in the navigation pane allow the user to adjust the length of time they are viewing in the Overview and Details panes Changing the time frame allows the user to narrow in on anomalies and moments in time when the WLAN performed poorly Playback Waterfall The Playback waterfall displays ALL data in the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer session with visual indicators to show the section of time being displayed in the Overview and Details section The playback buttons are used to play pause jump back and fast forward to jump to an arbitrary position in the session the user can double click anywhere in the waterfall to mo
58. ctrum analyzer shows the non Wi Fi interference It allows you to solve problems caused by such interfering devices as microwave ovens wireless video cameras and baby monitors Ekahau recommends using Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer which can be purchased together with Ekahau Site Survey To purchase the the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer please contact Ekahau Sales at sales eka hau com Packet Analyzers Protocol Analyzers solve issues that are not related to the Wi Fi signals but lie in the packet level You can figure out exactly what kind of packets are being sent and received and detect otherwise hard to detect problems such as issues related to AP Client configuration or incompatibility between the devices Ekahau recommends using WildPackets OmniPeek packet analyzer 11 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 4 User Interface Overview Figure 4 1 User interface overview Eile Edit View Site Device Help ta a a a a sree 521048 65mbps lasas Ams om EEE Access Points pal surveys Bi uida aa 4 stow Signal Strength gt for 4 aN wee M amp E me Ke Showing 62 62 Planning Survey v ence a eT 15 APs f A 8 pes onto the map test2400 e 06 80 48 63 70 b2 1 C My Drag onto the map bai we to place 00 1a 9f cb f6 94 1 My 3COM Drag onto the map mawell net wea2 mawell net2 wes m to place eee GB
59. d on the map Optionally an image in the front page 96 Printing 97 Chapter 10 Reporting Exporting and Printing 10 2 Exporting and Printing Images To export or print the currently displayed image click File gt Export Image or File gt Print Image Note Your current selections will impact the image For example if you have selected a visualization for Selected Access Points the exported or printed image will be constructed with the same settings What you see in the user interface is what will be exported or printed Chapter 10 Reporting Exporting and Printing 98 99 Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration 11 1 Importing Floor Maps from Cisco Prime NCS WCS Since Ekahau Site Survey version 5 6 you can import the floor maps directly from Cisco Network Control System NCS Also Cisco Wireless Control System WCS version 7 x is supported To be able to import a map you will need to have at least one access point deployed on the map To import maps from the Cisco NCS select File gt Import Maps from Cisco NCS WCS This will open the import dialog On the dialog select the floor maps you want to import and click Import The map import utilizes the same building structure and map scale as defined in the Cisco NCS There is no need to define these separately in Ekahau Site Survey Figure 11 1 Map import dialog H Choose floors to S F
60. e Capacity Requirements If you have not defined the Capacity Requirements a dialog for editing the requirements will pop up You can also edit the requirements by clicking the Legend The visualization will display in red and green colors if the Wi Fi network will be able to support all devices and the application run on them For more information on editing the capacity requirements please refer to chapter Capacity Requirements on page 34 79 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Insufficient capacity to support VoIP calls Capacity requirement passed Insufficient capacity for the required devices Number of associations exceeded Click the Legend to edit Capacity Requirements Displays how many each device types there are on selected floor map and how many there are in total in the network Oakwnna 8 3 14 Associated Clients The Associated Clients visualization displays how the end user devices would be distributed between the access points The visualization helps finding the problem spots in the network such as an AP serving an overly large area thus trying to serve too many clients Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 80 and Performance Less clients associated with this Access Point More clients associated with this Access Point Displays how many each device types there are on selected floor map and how many there are in total in the network 4 Click the Legedn to edit Capacity Requiremen
61. e Description N Edit Edit items on the map Allows you to perform various functions to items on the map such as move and delete Ty Scale Indicate Scale Indicate the scale of the map Can also be used as a distance measurement tool CDF s Record Survey Perform Surveys Record signal measurements around the facility Enable the tool and walk around the map while clicking on your current location when you stop start walking or change direction If you check the Auto Place APs After Survey checkbox the access points will be automatically located after the survey The GPS Record button is used for performing GPS assisted outdoor surveys Survey Inspector Inspect surveyed data in detail Click on the tool and you will see the surveyed measurements on the map Double click on the measurement to see measurement details GPS Reference Point Tool Place GPS Reference Points on the map Without the reference points the GPS coordinates cannot be converted to map coordinates and thus the GPS information cannot be displayed on the map Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 14 Icon Name Miniature Signal View Description Displays the currently measured signal strength green and noise red values Click to access the Live Network Status view Shows No Devices if no devices are present Network Adapter Setting Change Network Adapter Settings Click on the network adapter to change
62. e area The Details Pane contains a number of tabs with more in depth information about Wi Fi networks and their channels You can quickly alternate between tabs by pressing CTRL TAB Networks Graph The Networks Graph represents the Wi Fi signal strength over time using data collected from the computer s Wi Fi card The signal strength represents the amplitude levels of transmit beacons received by the card Drops in signal strength indicate poor signal coverage and can be referenced against the spectrum data views Waterfall and Density to determine if interference is at fault Networks Table The Networks Table is a list of the Wi Fi access points that are within range of the computer s wireless card The names or SSIDs of the APs are given along with signal strength RSSI channel Mac address and other identifiers This table is used good for getting a snapshot of what Wi Fi networks are in the area as well as correlating RF activity as shown in the spectrum views to known Wi Fi networks Device Finder The Device finder is a signal strength over time graph similar to the Networks Graph but it shows the signal strength of the selected frequency range Specify the frequency range by using the mouse button to highlight a MHz range in the Density View that has been chosen in the Density view click and drag in density view to see this Channels Table The Channels Table grades each Wi Fi channel based on the RF activity within its g
63. e visualization type for example signal strength or data rate The second drop down selects what access points will be included in the visualization If you want to visualize signal strength for one access point only for example you would select Show Signal Strength for Selected Access Points and just select the AP you want to see the signal strength for The AP can be selected either from the map or from the AP list When the visualization is displayed roll over the map with the mouse to see the actual values on the map at a given point as a tooltip Figure 8 1 Visualization view Not placed on any Map 1 1 APs W Floor 1 2 2 APs z z M My Cisco AP1250 1 amp PIED c OA n My Nortel aP 2332 1 E Floor 1 D Floor 2 1 1 APs gt Floor 9 Survey 5 5 APs Alignment Point 2 AA o 1 Visualization type 2 Visualized access points 3 Refresh visualization button Uncheck the box to manually refresh the visualization 4 Visualization options 5 Visualization 6 Editing legend Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 60 and Performance Automatic refresh option refreshes the visualization automatically when changes are made Automatic refresh works well for small and medium sized projects If you are working with a large project you may want to disable the automatic refresht to keep the software running smoothly
64. ectivity drop offs 73 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance You can make adjustments to the SNR visualization from the Options drop down window Figure 8 16 Signal to Noise Ratio visualiation Fe i Alignment Point 1 Alignment Point 2 Low SNR High SNR SNR below OcB Noise level greater than signal level Click to adjust SNR visualization value range colors etc AON 8 3 8 Ping Round Trip Time Ping is perhaps the most common tool for ensuring the network is working by measuring the network latency During the Hybrid Survey the ESS sends ICMP request packets to the target host which by default is Default Gateway and listens for ICMP response packets and measures the Round Trip Time RTT of the packets The visualization displays the Round Trip Time of the Ping packets over the floor map The visu alization varies from 0 0 ms to 1000 0 ms When the RTT approaches 1000 ms the users may experience the network connection quality as decreased having problems from low quality VoIP calls to slow file Internet browsing The Legend of the visualization is not customizable Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 74 and Performance Figure 8 17 Ping Round Trip Time visualization Ping Round Trip Time 2 0ms 4 0ms In this area the Round Trip Time has been 2 0 4 0 ms Click to enable or disable Contours Survey route ON gt 8 3 9 Ping Packet Loss When ESS measures the
65. eieicetetaten edd Mette ndetgi teeters 97 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration c cece eee eeeeeeeeee eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeees 99 11 1 Importing Floor Maps from Cisco Prime NCS WCS cccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeetees 99 11 2 Exporting the Project to Cisco Prime NCS WCS File Format eee 100 11 3 Importing the Project into Cisco Prime NCS WCS ceeccceceeeecceeeneneeeeeeeeeeee 101 11 3 1 Associating the Network Plan with the Actual APS n 103 11 3 2 Applying the Site Survey Data to the Cisco Floor Maps 104 12 Real Time Location Tracking RTLS Features 00 cccccseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeees 107 13 TFOUDISS MOOUING seese Suto sasutterwadninsccwecaavivsanntueuusntennes Sa nunaauiveentiadanuenetwensaveniannie uunits 109 14 Additional Information Fi cecsdiedeiccenctnsstdnsnsisansasuons sdetecseineashacacuadchatevcundedaaaniarantenaeenatenne 111 el Meru Virtuale Cll 25 aa oncetetes alandac on certdedechbansencete ctaatida cechcetee ai ea 111 vi Ekahau Site Survey 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Introduction Welcome to Ekahau Site Survey ESS ESS is a tool for deploying and maintaining high perform ance 802 11 Wi Fi networks This user guide is designed to help you to understand and make use of the many features of Ekahau Site Survey and demonstrate how these features can benefit you in the design deployment and troubleshooting of Wi Fi networks
66. ekahau Ekahau the Ekahau logo Ekahau Site Survey Ekahau Mobile Survey Ekahau Location Survey Ekahau HeatMapper Ekahau RTLS Controller Ekahau Activator Ekahau Vision Ekahau T201 Ekahau T301 Ekahau A4 Ekahau B4 Ekahau NIC 54 Ekahau NIC 300 Ekahau Client and Ekahau Positioning Client are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ekahau Other product and company names may be trademarks or trade names of their respective owners The enclosed software contains implementations of Ekahau s patent pending inventions This manual and the Ekahau software described in it are copyrighted with all rights reserved This manual and the Ekahau software described in it may not be copied except as otherwise provided in your software license The contents of this document are provided as is Except as may be required by applicable law no warranties of any kind either express or implied including but not limited to the implied war ranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are made in relation to the accuracy reliability or contents of this document Ekahau reserves the right to revise this document or withdraw it at any time without prior notice Export of this technology may be controlled by the United States Government Diversion contrary to U S law prohibited Your use of the Ekahau software described in this user manual and its documentation are governed by the terms set forth in your license agreement Yo
67. ent Click the view to change the requirement Number of access points with limit 3 when signal strength 75 0dBm fails in requirement Location Tracking Tip Keep the surveys fairly short to allow more flexibility for deleting and modifying the survey data An optimal survey length varies from a few rooms to a wing of a building Right click to end the survey every now and then and continue surveying by simply left clicking on the map again There is no need to manually create a new survey the current survey is ended with a right click and a new survey is created automatically when you continue surveying Warning Do not insert or remove network adapters or other devices during the survey 7 1 1 Configuring the Wi Fi Device for Passive Surveys To configure your Wi Fi device go to Device gt Devices or click the Network Adapter Settings icon From the Devices Window you can see the connected Wi Fi devices their status and device information To activate a different Wi Fi device select the adapter from the Devices list and click Activate To configure the signal scan settings of the selected Wi Fi adapter click Scanning Configuration On the Scanning Configuration tab you can to configure which channels to scan You can either select to scan all channels on 2 4GHz and or 5GHz frequency band or select particular channels to scan Scanning just one frequency band or limiting the number of scanned channels reduces the overall
68. ent can not access your 802 11n network In this case the Greenfield mode should be disabled Figure 9 3 Llve 802 11n network details Live Network Status Signals Requirements 802 11n Details Ping MAC SSID Channel Signal Greenfield Max supp Max Spati 00 1F 9e 8d 20 8d Unknown SSID 132 136 300 0 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 20 8d Unknown SSID 132 136 300 0 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 20 82 Unknown SSID 6 144 4 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 20 82 Unknown SSID 6 144 4 Mbps O00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6d Unknown SSID 300 0 Mbps O00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6d Unknown SSID 300 0 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 1 62 Unknown SSID 1 144 4 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 1c 62 Unknown SSID 1 1144 4 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 18 6d Unknown SSID 100 104 300 0 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 18 6d Unknown SSID 100 104 300 0 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 18 62 Unknown SSID 144 4 Mbps 00 1F 9e 8d 18 62 Unknown SSID 144 4 Mbps 00 1d 73 bb 0b a8 SOPIMA 144 4 Mbps 00 10 73 73 3c 2c AMX_4160 144 4 Mbps OO 1b 11 e5 cO 7b 113 130 0 Mbps 00 1b 11 69 F9 8d tikal 130 0 Mbps 00 16 01 e6 de 40 GWeb2 6 7 Mbps ESERE ES ES ES KKK KS KS ES SS S EA K N NN NNN NIN NNI MM NM DN N poppo0p0000000p00m000 Note The 802 11n details can also be viewed per each 802 11n AP by clicking their 11n button in the Access Points list 9 1 4 Ping The Ping tab in the Live Network Status view allows testing connectivity between the Site Survey lapto
69. er to see any visualization surveys need to be recorded or at least one simulated access point needs to be placed on the map 61 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance 8 1 Visualization Options Visualizations contain parameters that can optionally be set using Visualization Options Some visualization options are specific to the selected visualization whereas some are generic and apply to all the visualizations The Visualization Options allow you to set parameters concerning the visualization accuracy performance and overall appearance Figure 8 2 Some visualization options are generic some are visualization specific s6dom 61 048 65mbps 11aPs 4 1ms 0 iil alll lt A Smooth Detailed Visualization Mode A a Rough Sketch Sketch Accurate Very Accurate Two Current One floor floor floor Adapter Raw Measurements v Show the Strongest vy signal at allchannels w Ta lt a Off 1 Visualization Mode See the visualization in Smooth mode polygons or Detailed mode rectangles 2 Extrapolation When Smooth Visualization Mode is selected adjust the level of extrapolation in meters feet 3 Speed vs Accuracy Allows the visualizations to be refreshed more quickly at the expense of the accuracy or vise versa 4 Signal Prediction Enable or disable all signal prediction Can be used to predict signal propagation through other floors
70. es think they re constantly connected to a single AP even though they are actually roaming between several APs According to Meru this makes the roaming times shorted Because the MAC address is typically the unique identifier of an access point most site survey tools will not work well with Meru infrastructure they cannot show per AP coverage or performance maps just one huge coverage area for all the APs Unlike most site survey tools Ekahau Site Survey can read the unique MAC addresses of the Meru access points which will allow the APs to be displayed normally Ekahau Site Survey displays the Meru unique MAC addresses instead of the MAC addresses seen by other 802 11 clients This feature is enabled by default and requires no user intervention Note The Meru Wireless Networks are designed so that all Wi Fi access points operate on the same channel Therefore when designing a network plan with Meru Access Points set the Network Load to zero in the Visualization Specific Options This way the co channel interference will not be calculated Chapter 14 Additional Information 112 113 Index Index Symbols 802 11n characteristics 24 extension channel 25 greenfield mode 25 live details view 84 SGI 25 spatial streams 25 802 11n channel bonding 75 A access point list 14 measured 20 multiple MAC addresses per AP 22 simulated 21 42 after the survey 86 analysis 59 associated access poin
71. ess Points There might be cases where Ekahau Site Survey falsely detects and joins access points as Multi MAC AP This might be the case for example with some legacy Cisco access points These falsely joined APs can be recognized from oversized signal coverage and from multiple distributed high signal strength peaks To split an falsely joined access point click on the MAC address button of the falsely joined AP on the AP List view and after that click on the Split button of the MAC address you want to be distinquished Figure 4 12 Splitting access points SETS My fosco entrance grad jofi2 wen q 00 19 07 05 89 5c 3 amt itist4 pb Furnit 11a 00 19 07 05 09 1 my eisce 18 i wen ofiz 11a 00 19 07 05 89 5d ofi2 WPA2 Replace MAC Split Replace MAC 11a 00 19 07 05 89 5e testissid2 WEP Split Replace MAC nip A q l l i istbl ab furniti 4 5 10 One Access Point Multiple Radios In addition to combining MAC addresses ESS combines automatically Cisco and Meru dual radio Access Points For example an access point with 802 11g and 802 11a radios are shown as a single access point You can alsomanually combine other vendors dual radio access points 1 Select the two access points you want to combine from the AP list 2 Select Actions gt Combine Radios The two Access Points are now trerated as a single access point Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 24
72. formance On Site 3 Inthe user interface check the Use GPS checkbox If you do not see the Use GPS checkbox in the top right corner of the user interface ensure that you have purchased ESS Professional version 4 If your GPS device has not been previously configured a GPS configuration dialog will pop up Typically the default settings are recommended When asked Do you want to use this device select Yes In the output selection ensure that the share my GPS between several applications option has been selected 5 ESS needs to be able to transform the GPS coordinates into map coordinates For this you will need to place three GPS Reference Points on the map To place the Reference Points use the GPS Reference Point Tool on the Survey tab Click on the map to place a GPS Reference Point When placing the Reference Points you will need to either know the latitude longitude coordinates for the Reference Point location or alternatively be physically located there with your GPS receiver turned on in which case the coordinates will be taken from the GPS receiver Repeat until you have three reference points on the map 6 Now you should see the blue circle on the map indicating your current location If it is not check if you see an exclamation mark next to the Use GPS button If so move your mouse over the exclamation mark to see the error In the Survey tab click the GPS Record button to start the survey Drive or walk through
73. g Wi Fi Networks for Multi Floor Buildings In multi floor buildings signals propagate through floors just like they propagate through walls It is essential to take this into account when designing Wi Fi networks as the floor to floor signal propagation can be used to your benefit You may need less access points as an access point on the floor above or below may cover an area that would have need an additional access point oth erwise However the signals penetrating floors may also harm the network performance if there is co channel interference created between access points on nearby floors This must be accounted for also in the network design To simulate a multi floor model in ESS you will need to define the building layout the floor order height and floor material and set at least three Floor Alignment Points per floor Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 6 3 1 Defining the Building Layout Figure 6 8 A sample building view enabling 3D planning for two floors Example Project Pro esx Ekahau Site Survey File Edit View Site Device Help RIA Access Points Jal Surveys E Building Show sior 3D Status OK Building 1 gt Actions N E Planning Floor 9 Sur Map Floor 2 v 0 5 mp Office US 30dB m v Select building 3D planning status indicator Add Remove buildings Floor material Map image Add Remove floors
74. gt an 4 5 9 One Access Point Multiple MAC Addresses Many modern access points can be configured to broadcast several MAC addresses from a single physical access point An example of this feature is when an AP is configured for multiple SSIDs In order for Ekahau Site Survey to work properly in multi MAC environments the MAC addresses coming from a single AP should be joined together By default Ekahau Site Survey automatically joins together all major Wi Fi vendors light weight enterprise access points working on a multi SSID This option can be removed from Site gt Auto Detect Multi MAC Access Points You can also adjust the auto detection to only automatically join only selected brands of access points To view all the joined MAC addresses one single AP broadcasts and their corresponding 802 11 technologies and encryption methods click on the MAC address button 23 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview Figure 4 11 This single physical access point broadcasts three different MAC addresses and SSIDs 10M My cisco entrance D go l s ofi2weas o 00 19 07 05 89 5c 3 i istbl pb furnit 11a 00 19 07 05 89 5c ofi3 WPA Split Replace MAC inii 1 My eiscc 4 c ofis WPA plil eplace pa ae q wea ofiz 11a 00 19 07 05 89 5d ofi2 WPAZ Split Replace MAC a o 11a 00 19 07 05 89 5e testissid2 WEP Split Replace MAC i jetbl nb furnits Splitting Falsely Joined Acc
75. gt Select None e To quickly select the APs with a given SSID channel or band click Quick Select and click on the SSID channel or band to select only the appropriate APs You can also select only simulated or measured access points If you select multiple criteria such as SSID and band only the access points matching all the criteria will be selected Figure 4 5 Access Point Quick Selection ss Access Point Quick Selection AP type SSID Band Channel Measured AMX_AIS6 A 802 11b AMX_A160 802 11q AMx2 802 11n 2 4GHz ardw aruba ap bai IBATTTEST ICOM Example WISP iGWeb2 heyerdahl Ten miirkki 17 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 4 5 2 Searching for Access Points Use the Search text box to search one or more APs Only the APs matching the search criteria will be displayed To display all access points either delete the search field or click on the X button next to the search field The following search options are available Example Search Terms Description 00 17 0f 00 17 0f 12 ab a1 Search by a partial or complete MAC address Nortel Siemens Simulated AP 4 Search by the name of the AP The name is defaulted to the vendor with measured access points guest tsunami Search by the SSID the AP is on 802 11a 802 11b Search by the 802 11 standard the AP supports my Search only the APs selected as My other Search only the APs not selected as My 4 5 3 Vi
76. h eed senna ve beagas chehadendyh deria iun inida aukaista 67 8 3 3 NetWork Health errire ana a a e ee daan awe bev 68 8 3 4 Network ISSUES orenen a a a eaaa 69 83D NUM er of AP Saa aeara hg Gaetan tadda kaana ki daO Sanana ae Doade eed dah hae ah aaie idie 70 8 3 6 Signal Strength i s isri aces shea Seetaasediascheneceevenevieatecendadengessdaecendeechvassasee tenets 71 8 3 7 Signal to Noise Ratio vss aiar estes tote e me eee 72 8 3 8 Ping Round Trip TIME ae 25 ols ha oes Sinise ebe ang aah seta ettae ahead coe av ah acl sesia 73 8 3 9 Png Packet LOSS 04 222 cd inen tintin rence e deletes tlsnctaat aE 74 8 3 10 802 11m Channel Bonding icc i etetescn cectittececincded iedensadeessmeneegeietanheeeeeeexcenee 75 8 3 11 Maximum Throughput ses ee Sateen i Raa ote See ass Sean eden caet eee 76 8 3 12 Associated Access Point se hta te grant wirestosentt sa athoote scarey shauseceanheatu grated tant 77 8 3 13 Capacity IGA sisi cid teded r eaea ced uate ae Sang aaaea a aa ahaaa inaani 78 8 3 14 Associated Cento cicccccccetelscesieeceeds chclsegenisaecdinh scenes catedentseeelsareentente eles 79 8 4 Different Survey Methods vs Visualizations 0 eecceseeeeeee eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaeees 80 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems 83 9 1 On Spot Troubleshooting Using Live Network Status 20 0 0 eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeees 83 9 1 1SignalS iaire aea A A a ERE eani 83 9 1 2 Reg irementS aint er e
77. he Wall Materials If you want to customize the wall materials you will need working knowledge of XML or HTML and a plain text editor The wall materials are specified in the wallTypes xml file located in the conf folder under the product installation folder To edit the wall materials open the wallTypes xml file with a plain text editor and add remove or edit the wall materials The tags are explained in the table below Description An identifier for the wall material Needs to be unique for each material name The name of the wall material displayed in the user interface width The width of the wall material absorption The absorption factor of the wall material in dB per meter The color of the wall material represented as hex triplets For more information see http en wikipedia org wiki Web_colors When inserting new wall materials you will need to measure the signal strength both in front and behind the wall Subtract the former from the later and you will get the signal loss in dB Then measure the width of the wall and calculate the absorption factor by diving the signal loss with the wall width in meters Insert the new wall material into the conf file save the file and re start ESS Note It is recommended to make a backup copy of the wall materials list before editing it 6 1 1 2 Duplicating Maps with Similar Layouts If several floors have similar or fairly similar wall l
78. he time between each district data transmissions It is used to ensure that the district transmissions in the network do not interfere with each other when there are propagation delays echoes and reflections Typically the guard interval should be two to four times the transmission delay spread In 802 11a g networks the long guard interval is 800 ns allowing 200 ns delay spread By shortening the guard interval it is possible to increase throughput of the network Most office and home environments have much smaller delay spread than 200 ns typically 50 100 ns Thus Short Guard Interval of 400 ns can boost the throughput by avoiding unnecessary idle times in the network 4 5 11 1 Measured Access Points Ekahau Site Survey can measure the 802 11n characteristics during site surveys To view the characteristics of an 802 11n AP click the 11n button on the Access Point List view Figure 4 15 802 11n characteristics lV IV My cisco 4307 D 1 ofiz wen2 ofi3 wea testissid2 wee i istb hb furnit nsion Channel 56 W lv My cisco 4319 Pal s Short Guard Interval SGI On mal TT foFi2 wena ofi3 wen testissid2 we Greenfield Mode off 00 1F 9e 8d 20 8c 3 Maximum Spatial Streams 2 oimistbo4 nk no Furnit 00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6c 3 5 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 26 In the above example the AP with Cisco A307 SSID has bonded two channels 52 and 56 where the channel 56 is the exten
79. hey are not recommended to be used as this slows down the software For optimal performance please use maps smaller than 4000 x 4000 pixels To insert a map click Site gt Add Map or click the sign next to the map selector Alternatively you can also import the floor maps directly from Cisco Prime NCS WCS control system by selecting File gt Import Maps from Cisco NCS WCS The following image formats are supported for maps BMP WBMP JPG JPEG PNG GIF SVG SVG drawings DWD DXF 2D CAD drawings Note Only two dimensional 2D CAD drawings are supported 3D drawings are not currently supported Chapter 5 Starting to work with Ekahau 32 Site Survey You also need to set the scale for each map To set the scale you need to know the distance between two points on the map It is recommended to use a measuring tape to measure the distance between the points Once measuring the real world distance set the scale in ESS e Select the scale tool e Indicate the distance between the two points by clicking the first point and holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse pointer to the second point e You will see a line between the two points and a tooltip indicating the number of pixels Click on the tooltip on the ft m field and type in the distance between the two points in feet or meters Figure 5 1 Use common objects whose width length is typically known such as doors to set the correct scale
80. ick Select or the Search box to select an SSID and look at the total count of APs or the count of APs per map in the AP list Finally the AP may provide good signal coverage but the Ping Packet Loss may show 100 loss for the AP In this case check the cabling of the AP as well as the AP bridging and VLAN settings 9 2 5 Rogue Access Points ESS automatically locates access points after the survey After identifying and selecting My APs the detected rogue APs will be the ones that are displayed in red color If there are APs that are not automatically located and are not a part of your network they are probably not in your facility and may not be distributing strong enough signals to interfere with your network 9 2 6 Misconfigured 802 11n settings The 802 11n includes several improvements that offer higher throughput range reliability and bandwidth than legacy 802 11 standards However sometimes these 802 11n settings may cause interference or other problems with legacy 802 11 networks and devices 9 2 7 Connectivity and Latency Issues After performing Hybrid Surveys it s easy to find connectivity and latency issues Use the Ping Packet Loss and Ping Round Trip Time visualizations to identify such issues The issues may be caused for example by high interference excessive network traffic or bad configurations in the APs or the wired network 89 Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi
81. iction options The Rough Sketch will provide the fastest response with the least amount of detail whereas the Very Accurate setting will provide most detail sacrificing some of the response time Figure 8 5 Visualization speed vs accuracy slider Rough Sketch Sketch Accurate Very Accurate 63 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Figure 8 6 Very Accurate Mode on the left and Rough Sketch Mode on the right 8 1 2 Signal Prediction It may not always be feasible or even possible to survey all areas and rooms of the project Instead signal prediction can be used There are two main types of signal prediction in ESS e Signal prediction of simulated access points All signals from the simulated APs are predicted e Signal prediction of measured surveyed access points The signals outside the surveyed areas are predicted Ekahau Site Survey can predict signal propagation through floors There are five options to choose Off No signal prediction is used at all Currect floor Signal propagation in current floor is only predicted One floor Signal propagation to one floor above and below is predicted Two floor Signal propagation to two floors above and below is predicted Figure 8 7 Signal Prediction options Signal Prediction il i H E off Two Current One floor floor floor By default Signal Prediction is enabled If it is necessary to see only the measured surveyed data of the a
82. its settings or to select a different adapter to be used Miniature Ping View End to end Testing Click to configure the host that is being used for end to end network connection testing and to access the Live Network Status Ping view Miniature Requirement View Displays how the network performas against the requirements Each criterion that passes the requirement is displayed with green bar where as the failing criterion is shown with red bar Click to change the require ment 4 3 Visualization Selections You can select the visualization by adjusting the two drop down menus at the top of the screen one selects the visualization and the other selects the access points to show the visualization for More about visualizations in chapter Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance on page 59 for My Access Points v e Show Signal Strength p 4 4 Toolbar The toolbar includes the icons for the most common actions Icon Name Description Open Open a Project B Save Save the Project Report Generate a Report in PDF or RTF R Zoom In Zoom in to see an area in more detail A Zoom Out Zoom out to see a wider area of the map at once qa Zoom to Fit Fit the map into the window A Zoom 1 1 Zoom to see the map in its actual pixel size 4 5 The Access Point List Both simulated and measured access points are listed in the Access Point List on the left hand side of the screen
83. iven fre quencies and time range selected in the navigation pane This table is primarily used in pre deployment of new wireless devices because it considers all RF noise occurring within Wi Fi channels whether it is Wi Fi or non Wi Fi The Channel Grade is a weight for each freq amp point based on how close it is to the center of the channel and its amplitude The duty cycle is a relative score to help determine if a channel is usable or not It measures how much RF activity is occurring in the channel within the channels frequencies and the specified time range in the navigation pane and is weighted so that signals near the center of the channel have a greater effect on the duty cycle score The average is a measurement of the average power within the channel frequency range The max value is the highest amplitude point captured within the Wi Fi channel frequency range Finding Interference Issues When using a spectrum analyzer the goal is to find the interferers in the Wi Fi frequencies The spectrum analyzer will display all the activity in the selected frequency space meaning you will see Wi Fi activity as well as other activity If you have already deployed Wi Fi at the site you will need to be able to separate Wi Fi signals from the actual interference An example is shown in the images below The Chanalyzer Pro will automatically try to identify the interference source You can also use the Signatures tab in the right hand side of the
84. ldwide UNII 2 100 140 1 Choose the network requirement type for your plan You can select from one of the predefined requirements or define your own requirement How to edit or define your own network requirements is explained in more details in chapter Defining Network Requirements on page 33 Note that the in Auto Planner only the Signal Strength and Number of APs requirements are taken in account 2 Select the Wi Fi band either 2 4 GHz or 5 GHz If you want to optimize your network for 5 GHz Wi Fi band the network will be more dense than for 2 4 GHz 3 Optional Define the capacity requirements for the network Check the Consider in plan checkbox and a dialog for editing the capacity requirements will pop up For more information Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 42 on editing the capacity requirements please refer to chapter Capacity Require ments on page 34 4 Select the Access Point type you want to use in the network plan as well as Transmit power Antenna height and 802 11n characteristics 5 Define the Channel Assignment you want to use for your network plan You can select a predefined channel assignment just a single channel for example if you are using Meru Access Points or none meaning that you will assign the channels after the network plan has been deployed After you have defined the requirements for you network plan click the Create Plan button to deploy the network plan The plan
85. lization Selections cccccccecccecccecceecceeeceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeteeenteess 14 AA KOTO o te secvescteecduatitratenesttud sates tetecncteavetbewes da ve seune dean sidan EEE ETE 14 4 5 The Access Point LiSt AE E EEEE ATES 14 4 5 1 Selecting Access Points ic 2 sscelsc ised sided ies Nene cee tees etinesceneeeds leds 15 4 5 2 Searching for Access Points cccndinnce ciel A ii ainsi 17 4 5 3 Visualizing Selected Access Points cccc eceeeeceeeeeeeeueceeneeeseeeeseeeneeee 17 4 5 4 Selecting My Access Points ces ccecccenetseneseeceteeteneetenseneneneeeeneennseees 18 4 5 5 Renaming Access Points cps ca st acectet cei iaceasuecis ces ahvaetuenendh cuevap aa elatendghientadecsies 18 4 5 6 Replacing Access Points iesiri e a ie 19 4 5 6 1 Replacing Single MAC and Multi MAC Access Points 19 4 5 7 Adjusting the Properties of Measured Access Points cccceeeeeees 20 4 5 8 Adjusting the Properties of Simulated Access Points cccceeeeeeees 21 4 5 9 One Access Point Multiple MAC Addresses cccccccceeeeeceeeeeeseeeeeseeeeees 22 4 5 10 One Access Point Multiple Radios cccccccccsssseseeeeceseeeaeseseeseeeeeeees 23 4 5 11 802 11 Characteristics ccccccccceccccecceeceeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeneeeneenes 24 4 5 11 1 Measured Access Points cccccccecceecceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettees 25 4 5 11
86. ll be displayed as lilac After you have drawn the desirable network coverage area it will be bordered with a dash line and the lilac colour will disappear 41 Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 6 1 3 Configuring Auto Planner After you have defined the network coverage areas click the Auto Planner button to open the Auto Planner dialog where you can select the Network Requirement Access Point type as well as Channel Assignment Figure 6 4 Auto Planner dialog Auto Planner 7 E Ac x Plan will cover 3 maps in building Building 1 Requirements Coverage Requirement E Mail Web Video Signal strength at least 75 0 dBm i Number of APs at least 2 when signal strength at least 85 0 dBm Optimize Coverage for 2 4GHz less dense 5 GHz more dense Consider in plan V i Requirement 11n Laptops 50 p 11abg Phones 30 11n Tablets 30 Access Points Access Point type Generic 11n Dual Radio 802 11n with Generic 2 2dBi Omni 802 11n with Generic 2 2dBi Omni Advanced settings Transmit power 25 mW Antenna height 2 4 m 802 11in Channel bonding on 5 GHz V Short guard interval Channel patterns Single channel None Regulatory Domain Europe 2 4 GHz Channel assignment 1 6 11 1 4 8 11 1 7 13 1 5 9 13 5 GHz Channel assignment V U NII 1 36 48 U NII 2 52 64 U NII Wor
87. m Campus gt Hiilikatu 5 gt 3rd Floor Floor Area 0 0 i o 0 a Entries 1 9 of 9 i Select XML Formt and click Next Import Map Choose map format Monitor gt Maps gt Import Map Choose map format XML Format APWIFi TDOA Receiver Chokepoint Placement WLSE Map and AP Location Dats Choose the file and click Next Scroll down the validation page and click Next Finally click OK 103 Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration 11 3 1 Associating the Network Plan with the Actual APs The steps 1 4 need to be repeated for all the maps in the building to associate the planned access points with the physical access points that are active at the site 1 Go back to Monitor gt Maps 2 Navigate to the map you just added by clicking it from the left hand side tree view vtftet iy Alarm Summary Q 125 cisco Reports Configur Services Administration v Tools v Maps Tree View l Building View Eb Maps Root Area Monitor gt Maps gt Example Project Automatic Planning gt gt Buil h Example Project Automatic Pla EHEJ Building 1 S Floor 1 Floory Map FR Floor 2 re Floor 3 3 3 From the drop down at the top right corner Select a command select Planning Mode and click Go A new browser window will open Planning Mode Maps gt Example Project Automatic Planning gt Building 1 gt Floor 1 Ho p Contributing APs RSSI Cutoff Resolution RSSI Color Lo
88. n ESS can calculate the Wi Fi signal propagation Once the environment has been defined as well as the desired cov erage area you can use the Auto Planner to create the network plan Alternatively you can create the network plan by yourself by placing and configuring simulated access points Both methods are explained in detail in the following chapters For more information on how to add maps and how to set scales please refer to chapter Setting the Map and Scale on page 31 6 1 1 Drawing and Editing Walls To define the environment you will have to draw walls To do this you will need to go to the Planning tab and select the Wall tool First you will need to select the wall material that most closely matches the wall you re going to draw To draw the walls simply keep left clicking on the map If you want to end the wall drawing just right click You can edit the walls that you have drawn by first selecting the Edit tool and left clicking the wall you want to edit You can edit multiple walls at the same time by holding down the Ctrl key while selecting the walls To edit the wall s simply drag and drop the wall s to its new location You can also change the wall material by right clicking the wall and selecting Change Wall Type Note By default the walls are drawn in 15 degree angles To draw walls in any angle hold down the Ctrl key while drawing walls 39 Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 6 1 1 1 Customizing t
89. ne or more channels completely unusable momentarily or permanently Other suspicious network issues For the reasons mentioned above it is highly recommended to use a spectrum analyzer when deploying or troubleshooting a wireless network For Ekahau Site Survey users using spectrum analyzer is recommended in the following scenarios 1 Network planning Find out the interference sources before you deploy any access points by making spot checks with the spectrum analyzer around the facility Detecting the interfer ence issues in advance may affect the access point placement and configuration 2 Network verification A Wi Fi site survey done with Ekahau Site Survey is always highly recommended when verifying the network This is typically done before the network production use starts and periodically for example every month During the verification check you may choose to perform spectrum analysis spot checks at selected locations to ensure that there are no significant interference sources present 3 Troubleshooting The most common purpose for a spectrum analyzer is troubleshooting Whenever Wi Fi issues arise that are not solvable with a Wi Fi site survey Ekahau recommends using Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer Typically collecting a minute or two of data with a spectrum analyzer will reveal the underlying issue 9 3 1 Using Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer Firstly you will need to insert the Ekahau Spectrum Analyser device to your computer and ins
90. need to click on the map once at every turn If you stop somewhere for more than one second you should click on the map when you arrive and click again on the same location as you leave The upside of the continuous recording is that you gather more data during your survey In addition you only need to click twice at the beginning and at the end when walking a straight line such as a hallway If SSID Broadcast has been disabled in the access points the SSID will not be detected by ESS However the MAC address and other information of the AP will still be detected Enabling at least one SSID to be broadcast for the duration of the site survey may help in organizing and selecting the access points ESS continuously monitors how your network performs against the network requirements The Miniature Requirement View displays the network s current status where you are and indicates if some of the network requirement criteria is not met This allows you to react on network problems while you are performing the survey For example you may notice that your network does not meet the Location Tracking requirements and adding more access points is required This prevents you performing unnecessary surveys until more APs has been added 51 Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi cient Coverage and Performance On Site Figure 7 5 Miniature Requirement View displaying the Signal Strength and Number of APs criteria failing in Location Tracking requirem
91. network performance by pinging the target host it measures the number of lost packets at the same time Packet Loss occurs when ESS fails to receive a ICMP response packet to the ICMP request packet from the target host The Packet Loss can be caused by several factors such as interference and or congestion in the network medium corrupted packets faulty network hardware or faulty network drivers The Ping Packet Loss visualization displays the relative Packet Loss over the floor map The Packet Loss is calculated from the 10 last packets 75 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Figure 8 18 Ping Packet Loss visualization Ping Packet Loss 0 10 Ping Packet Loss 50 60 Ping Packet Loss 90 100 Click to adjust the visualization value range colors etc PON gt 8 3 10 802 11n Channel Bonding To better visualize your 802 11n network characteristics use the 802 11n Channel Bonding visu alization to see in which areas Channel Bonding is used to achieve higher bandwidth and to recognize the area where it could be enabled Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 76 and Performance Figure 8 19 802 11n Channel Bonding visualization Alignment Point 5 ja ese a a a ay Alignment Point 2 Alignment Point Show Contours 1 802 11n Channel Bonding enabled 2 802 11n Channel Bonding disabled 3 Click to enable or disable visualization Contours 8 3 11 M
92. nfield and Short Guard Interval SGI Spatial Streams In 802 11n the data stream is divided into multiple parts called spatial streams Each spatial stream is transmitted through separate antennas to corresponding antennas on the receiving side When the number of spatial streams is doubled from one to two the maximum data rate is also doubled from 150Mbps to 300Mbps With three spatial streams it is possible to achieve 450Mbps data rate and with four spatial streams 600Mbps data rate Extension Channel The 802 11n s optional extension channel is used to double the available bandwidth to achieve higher data rates This is done by bonding two channels to occupy 40MHz channel width In legacy 802 11 Wi Fi networks the typical channel width is 25MHz Thus there is a good chance that the 40MHz extended channel overlaps with some nearby legacy Wi Fi networks enough to cause interference It is highly recommended to use extension channel only in 5GHz frequency band due to the limited number of non overlapping channels available in 2 4GHz frequency band Greenfield Mode The Greenfield mode is used to improve efficiency in pure 802 11n networks by eliminating the unnecessary support for 802 11a b g devices When this mode is enabled only 802 11n clients can access the network Thus if you have legacy 802 11 clients that cannot access the network make sure that you have this mode disabled Short Guard Interval SGI Guard Interval defines t
93. ng Walls scc ccccts ads este ceten attic etenaes hecel ieee 38 6 1 1 1 Customizing the Wall Materials eeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 39 6 1 1 2 Duplicating Maps with Similar Layouts 0 0 0 0 eee etter 39 6 1 2 Indicating Network Coverage Areas ceccseeeeceeeeeeennnneeeeeeeeeeteeeneeeeeeeees 39 6 1 3 Configuring Auto Planner sc cccccesceeteecetceceeseesenesccceeedetaedebtncaeneeteneeeene 41 6 2 Creating the Network Plan Manually Using Simulated Access Points 42 6 2 1 Optimizing Access Point Layout and Configuration eeeeeereeees 44 6 3 Designing Wi Fi Networks for Multi Floor Buildings 0 eeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeentaeees 44 6 3 1 Defining the Building Layout c ccccceeceessecectcceeseeeeeeeseennucenteceneeesenseceeeae 45 6 3 2 Setting Floor Alignment Points 2 0 0 ccececescceeneeeeedceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeneneeeeee 46 6 3 3 Visualizing Floor to Floor Signal Coverage ceeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeenttneeeeeeeeeees 47 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Sufficient Coverage and Performance On Site 49 7 1 Performing Site Surveys ixcccc i cssiscec ese avecseeciaacedagy cedees cases cuengeuenss saben ceeds teeeteeseaaceeeers 49 7 1 1 Configuring the Wi Fi Device for Passive Surveys s n 51 7 1 2 Configuring the Wi Fi Devices for Hybrid Surveys ccceeeeeeeeeeeeteeeees 52 7 1 3 Moving and Deleting Survey Points 0 0 0 0 ee eeceeeeee eee
94. ng walls prior to placing Simulated APs is recommended To identify high interference or low Signal to Noise Ratio use the respective visualizations If SNR is below 0 or interference is above 70dBm issues are likely to occur After identifying the issue ensure first that the channel separation of your network is optimal Nearby access points should not be on the same or nearby channels If there rogue or neighbor access points audible to your facility check their signals and channels by selecting Show Signal Strength for Other APs Use the Signals at Channel visualization option to see which channels are crowded If you suspect that there is non 802 11 interference such as cordless phones microwave ovens or other machinery in the area use the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer To optimize the channel separation change the channels from your access points to more suitable ones This can be done for measured as well as simulated access points When changing the channels the visualizations are updated appropriately using Always Refresh Automatically visu alization option is recommended Keep the Interference or SNR visualization active to see the impact of changing the channels Tip Go to Visualization Options to visualize the calculated co channel interference instead of measured noise when optimizing channel separation 9 2 3 Misconfigured SSIDs Sometimes in enterprise networks the SSID configuration may not be correct for all the a
95. ning is not used An 802 11g access point on channel 1 Survey route Arrows indicate survey direction Visualization Legend Click to adjust visualization value range and color scheme oe w gt 4 2 Planning and Survey Tabs Use the Planning and Survey tabs to access the most commonly used tools 13 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview The Planning Tab These tools are needed when working with a predictive design of a Wi Fi network Icon Name Description R Edit Edit Items on the Map Allows you to perform various functions to items on the map such as move and delete Scale Indicate Scale Indicate the scale of the map Can also be used as a distance measurement tool Simulated Place a Simulated Access Point on the Map Optionally select the Access Point properties of the AP prior to placing it i 7 E E Wall Floor Alignment Place a Floor Alignment Point Aligns the floor with the neighboring floors Only needed when the 3D planner is used Draw Walls Only needed when the 3D planner is used Coverage Area Indicate Coverage Areas for Auto Planner Draw areas where you want Auto Planner to provide Wi Fi coverage and to place access points Auto Planner Open Auto Planner Click to open the Auto Planner configuration dialog and configure the Auto Planner The Survey Tab Survey These tools are needed when performing site surveys or troubleshooting the network Icon Nam
96. nology Channel Signal Noise SignalfNo 00 0c e6 04 e6 31 leinal 1b 00 0d 88 bc fa 7d Apia tig 58 notava tig Blalol E D iia 11g m a 11a heyerdahl heyerdahl bi heyerdahl AMX_A156 GWeb2 Sb ekahau_du 1 1f b7 ekahau_du 6 0d c0 MYMESH Unknown 5 Signal Strength glslslglej sl AalslalalMeslslsislg sonde oanwsoonwnoo EAEE EEIE EEEE Round Trip Time milliseconds 13 38 35 13 38 45 13 38 50 Scanning duration 3 Time Results 130 jon host 192 168 1 1 1 Signal behaviour over time for the selected access points 2 These signals were heard at the highlighted point on the graph 3 Ping Round Trip Time graph displaying the latency at the selected time interval 4 The time window shown in the graph 5 Move to next signal measurement Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi cient Coverage and Performance On Site 58 59 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance There are various visualizations that allow you to estimate network coverage and performance The visualizations are displayed as heat maps on the map image The displayed visualization is selected using the two drop down menus above the map window The default visualization is Signal Strength for My Access Points The first drop down menu selects th
97. not start The evaluation license has several limitations For evaluating the product for network design and site surveys the limitations are e Network planning is time limited to 15 minutes e Surveying is limited to 15 minutes e Opening except the Example Project merging reporting and saving are disabled Chapter 2 Installation Chapter 3 Designing Deploying and Troubleshooting Wi Fi Networks 3 Designing Deploying and Troubleshooting Wi Fi Networks Below is shown a typical example on how high quality wireless networks are designed deployed and managed using Ekahau Site Survey Network deployment strategies may vary but most of the network deployments include several of the following steps 1 Define the Requirements Determine what applications and the anticipated number of users the network will host Determine service areas network security policies end user devices funding and scheduling From these define the network coverage capacity performance compatibility and security requirements Conduct a visual site inspection In Ekahau Site Survey you define the network requirements by selecting the type of application used in the network such as data or voice over IP You can also create your own custom network requirements The requirements can be edited from Site gt Edit Requirements Once the requirements for your network have been defined you can easily compare the net work simulated or
98. o File gt Preferences The preferences include Changing the length unit meters feet Setting the regulatory domain to limit network adapter scanning Enabling or disabling Real Time Location Tracking System features Enabling or disabling automatic map scrolling while surveying Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 30 31 Chapter 5 Starting to work with Ekahau Site Survey 5 Starting to work with Ekahau Site Survey 5 1 Starting Ekahau Site Survey After the installation ensure the following before starting Ekahau Site Survey e For traditional passive surveys A supported Wi Fi adapter is enabled and connected to your laptop Visit http www ekahau com devices for the list of supported adapters e For Hybrid Surveys A supported external Wi Fi adapter is connected to your laptop and a supported integrated Wi Fi adapter is enabled and associated with a Wi Fi network using the Windows Wi Fi Management tool e All other programs are closed e You are logged in as the computer administrator or have administrative privileges To start Ekahau Site Survey click Start gt Programs gt Ekahau gt Ekahau Site Survey 5 2 Setting the Map and Scale The functionality of the program mostly relies on the floor plan s of the facility You will need to insert at least one map and set its scale For multi floor buildings add multiple maps one for each floor Note Even though map images with 10000 x 5000 pixels are supported t
99. oject Site Active Map Select the currently displayed map Site Edit Requirements Edit the network coverage and pefromance requirements Site Edit Capacity Requirements Edit the network capacity require ments Site Start Auto Planner Open Auto Planner dialog and choose network requirements for the network simulation Site Locate Surveyed Access Points Automatically place the access points that were detected during the survey on the map Site Clear Surveyed Access Points Loc Clear all AP locations from the map ations Site Auto Detect Multi MAC APs Automatically detect access points distributing multiple MAC addresses Site Edit Replaced Access Points Edit Replaced Access Points Site Edit Project Notes Edit text notes about the Project 29 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview Selection Description Device Live Network Status View the currently audible Wi Fi signals and quickly troubleshoot issues without a map Device Devices Shows the currently connected Wi Fi devices Help Ekahau Site Survey Quick Guide Open the Quick Guide Help Ekahau Site Survey User Guide Open the User Guide Help About Ekahau Site Survey See product information upgrade license Help What s New Shows the latest features introduced into the current Ekahau Site Survey Help Sign Up for Update Notifications Sign up for the ESS mailing list 4 9 Software Preferences To adjust software preferences go t
100. okup Zoom Protocol Heathap Type 35 dBi 90 dBi Full Sc J si m F Full Screen Cisco AP1140 tin 802 t2b e n Signal Strenoth x 75 dem a High ea owm sowgia M 1 E gJ Cisco AP1140 1in O feet 50 Jio 150 200 Cisco AP1140 11n 1 Click on an AP to change its position and properties Drag the AP with the mouse and place them in required location Cisco AP1i40 11n 2 ik 30 a Cisco AP1140 11n 3 Cisco AP1140 1in 4 Cisco AP1140 1in 5 100 Cisco AP1140 11n 6 Cisco AP1140 11n 7 Cisco AP1140 11n 8 4 In Planning Mode select Planned AP Association Repeat steps 5 6 for all the access points on the map 5 From the drop down at the top right corner Select a Command select Add AP Associ ation Chapter 11 Cisco Prime NCS WCS 104 Integration Planning Mode Maps gt Example Project Automatic Planning gt Building 1 gt Floor 1 Home Add APs Delete APs Map Editor Synchronize Generate Proposal Planned AP Association Planning AP Mapping List AAI AP Aasaciakion Select a command Import AP From CSV File P Za Delete AP Association No Planning AP Association 6 Select the planning AP and below that type in the base radio MAC address of the corres ponding physical access point Add a new AP Association Planning AP Cisco AP1140 11n 1 e
101. on and so on An empty paper is displayed if there are no notes for the AP and a paper with text will be displayed if notes are written for the AP In some cases the surveyed network shows high interference due to inoptimal channel selections of the APs Ekahau Site Survey allows you to simulate how interference and thus network per formance would change if the AP channels were changed To simulate a channel change for a measured AP simply click on the 802 11 channel selection drop down menu and change the channel 802 11b band channels are presented in blue 802 11g channels in green 802 11a channels in orange and 802 11n channels in purple The impact of the channel change will be visualized on the map thereafter Figure 4 8 Channel selection view r p OM 3COM amp 2 i paa WPA2 lt gt Sa WPA 1 Ge __ Ao bffice I r z C My Apple Bii m ee Ls irForcel wea i Ey 2 J vwr2e 36 26 05 C 00 24 36 a6 a5 c3 1 Sice Man ann 44 a ue 46 E he A 5 L aruba sg i jl a 1e c4 c5 50 1 ffi ice a z C My E 3 Eg i TechnoWLAN Open E 7 Ss w bffice II ry 4 My Proxim amp A yota wpa r l dB 00 20 a6 49 bc 2b 1 bffice A 802 11g Band Green 802 11n Band channel selection Purple 802 11a Band Orange 802 11b Band Blue P ONS 21 Chapter 4 User Interface Overview Figure 4 9 Working with access points Ya Exam
102. or H systemcampus Data may be delayed up to 15 minutes or more depending on background polling interval Zoom Auto Refresh p a ons Eos 188 aml INNIS 98 Hq Hy TS cec gt RS RD ab 2ra Foor 2 50 75 5 R 3rd Floor 5 5 83 Hiikatus LR 1st Floor HE 2nd Floor 0 3rd Floor 5 125 100 E Loading Tags Loaded 10 out of 10 Tags ne Loading Chokepoints E Loaded 0 chokepoints pe 107 Chapter 12 Real Time Location Tracking RTLS Features 12 Real Time Location Tracking RTLS Features Assets and people can be accurately tracked using a standard Wi Fi network to improve safety and to locate assets quickly when necessary Ekahau Site Survey fully integrates with Ekahau Real Time Location System This allows you to use your existing site survey data to be used for calibrating the location system To enable the location tracking features check the Enable RTLS Features checkbox under File gt Preferences After re starting the software go to the Help menu and open the Ekahau Site Survey Guide for Deploying RTLS for more information about the RTLS Features If real time location tracking RTLS is of interest visit www ekahau com to read more about Ekahau RTLS the industry leading real time location tracking system Note If you have the RTLS Features enabled but you do not use ESS to deploy Ekahau RTLS you may receive a warning about undefined Rails and Open Spaces when sa
103. oting Wi Fi networks Ekahau Site Survey is a state of the art tool that makes Wi Fi understandable and allows you to get the best out of your Wi Fi network 1 2 Features Ekahau Site Survey is designed for use throughout the life cycle of your Wi Fi network Whether you are in the planning deployment verification or troubleshooting phase ESS has features to assist you The key features of ESS are e Automated Network Planning Automatically determine the optimal the number and location for your access points prior to physical deployment Ekahau Site Survey Pro only e Verification Perform active and passive indoor and GPS assisted outdoor site surveys to verify coverage and performance GPS support in Ekahau Site Survey Pro only e Analysis and Optimization Visualize network coverage capacity and performance fine tune them and simulate changes in the network or environment e Troubleshooting Solve various Wi Fi issues e Reporting Generate reports of Wi Fi coverage and performance Ekahau Site Survey Pro only Chapter 1 Introduction 2 1 2 1 Feature Differences Between Professional and Standard Ekahau Site Survey Standard includes tools for network verification analysis optimization and troubleshooting Ekahau Site Survey Professional version includes all the features in Standard plus the following features e Automated Network Planning Design a network off site in 3D Also enables planning for extended coverage or ca
104. ould use one or few access points to ensure the network coverage and performance on site prior the complete network has been deployed Simply move the AP s between the planned locations and make a survey whenever the AP has been moved To simulate a complete network with a limited number of access points in the pre deployment survey phase use the Freeze Access Point tool The Freeze Access Point tool allows a single access point that as been placed in several locations to be treated as multiple access points Using Freeze AP you can individually visualize and analyze each location where the AP was placed If Freeze AP is not used you would simply see one AP detected and be able to visualize one huge coverage area Moreover it allows simulating a complete network in terms of overlap channel interference and data rate by using just one or a few access points To use Freeze AP Turn on the access point Perform a survey within the coverage area of the access point Stop surveying and unplug off the access point From the user interface select the access point and only that access point and select Actions gt Freeze Selected Access Points Move the access point to the next location Repeat steps 2 4 until all the necessary AP locations have been surveyed a an Note Although the previous instructions are for one access points several access points can also be used in the pre deployment survey and several access points can be fro
105. out the outdoor area you wish to survey End the survey by clicking the GPS record button again COON Note If the GPS device is not detected re try the GPS device detection If the GPS device is not detected after several retries try using the advanced options to adjust the GPS configuration to your needs Note To ensure measurement accuracy take the reference points at least 300 meters 1000 feet apart from one another and don t place the reference points on a straight line Tip Using an external antenna for the Wi Fi network adapter improves the outdoor survey accuracy 7 2 Post Deployment and Pre Deployment Surveys Post deployment surveys are performed after the complete network is already in place Post deployment surveys are used for network verification immediately after the network has been deployed and for periodic checks to ensure the network is still operating at a required level The periodic maintenance surveys may cover the entire area or just parts of it whereas the verification surveys done immediately after the network has been built usually cover the whole desired coverage 55 Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi cient Coverage and Performance On Site area To perform post deployment surveys no specific actions need to be taken just survey as specified in the previous section Pre deployment surveys are used for on site validation of network plan In pre deployment sur veys you w
106. p and a selected server The ping host is user configurable By default the Default Gateway is used as the ping host The Ping tool can be used without performing any surveys Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting 86 and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems Figure 9 4 Live Network Status with Ping tool Live Network Status Signals Requirements 802 11n Details Ping Host www ekahau com 194 79 17 79 22 22 loss 0 0 Round Trip Time milliseconds Seqeuence Sending time Association 2 0 ms 22 11 31 44 00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 3 6 ms 21 11 31 43 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 7 ms 20 11 31 43 00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 9 ms Tig 11 31 42 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 3 ms 18 11 31 42 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 5 ms 17 11 31 41 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 6 ms 16 11 31 41 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 7 ms 15 11 31 40 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 3 ms 14 11 31 40 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 3 2 ms 13 11 31 39 O0 1F 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 7 ms 12 11 31 39 00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 5 ms 11 11 31 38 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 2 0 ms 10 11 31 38 00 1F 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 1 6 ms 9 11 31 37 00 1f 9e 8d 1c 6e testissid2 Clear Note You can define the target host as an IP address or as a host name When performing Hybrid Surveys ESS will automatically start the Ping tool There is no need
107. pacity Requirement Add Different Client Devices In my network there are 50 Lan Laptops JLo 10 11abg Phones z es 5 Lin Tablets H E Peak Hour Usage 1 0 ix ax ax SK 5K OK 7K 8K Add Wi Fi Devices 3 If you want to prepare times for unusually high network utilization adjust the Peak Network Usage slider This will multiply the amount of traffic in the wireless network 4 Optionally adjust the applications used on the devices by clicking the pen icon Figure 5 4 Edit applications run on the client devices Add Wi Fi Devices EE te o 5 Select each applications that are run on the client device as well how long they are being used during 8 hours Figure 5 5 Adjust application usage run on the client device a O ewro During 8 hours this device is used for VoIP_G 71150ps 2 hours 0 2 minutes Typical WWW page 144 hours 0 minutes Typical Email 8 hours 0 minutes Note The configured client devices will be distributed evenly between the floor maps according to the surveyed data You should limit the area of client devices by using Coverage Areas Planning tab Chapter 5 Starting to work with Ekahau Site Survey 36 37 Chapter 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network 6 Designing a Wi Fi Network Note The network design capabilities are only available in Ekahau Site Survey Pro version You may skip this chapter if you want
108. pacity for an existing network e Network Capacity Analysis With the increasing number of smartphones laptops and tablets constantly utilizing Wi Fi networks capacity needs to be considered during network design verification and troubleshooting e Automated Reporting Automatically generates comprehensive network documentation including coverage and performance maps network infrastructure layout and configuration and other information e GPS Enabled Outdoor Site Surveys For performing outdoor site surveys without clicking on the map using a GPS receiver GPS receiver not included e Cisco Prime NCS WCS Integration Complete integration with Cisco Prime NCS WCS Import your floor plans directly from Cisco Prime Export both your planning and real world survey project to Cisco NCS WCS 1 3 Technical Support Ekahau provides technical support free of charge for all customers for 30 days Customers who have purchased Ekahau Support will receive Ekahau Support services for 12 months from the date of purchase Ekahau Support includes e All upgrades and patches for the product s and documentation purchased e Free of charge support via Ekahau Technical Support Portal at http www ekahau com support preferred and telephone during regular business hours PST EST GMT 2 Bug fix patches are free of charge for all customers To renew your Ekahau Support please contact your Ekahau representative or sales ekahau com 1 4 Backward
109. ple picture below Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 18 Figure 4 6 Visualizing only selected access points File Edit View Site Device Help ww Access Points hol Surveys Buicing Showing 9 9 APs Quick Select Actions DP Not placed on any Map 1 1 DP Floor 1 2 2 B Floor 2 1 1 V Floor 9 Survey 5 5 2 selected m ofi2 wa testissid2 wa GBD 00 19 07 05 87 51 3 My Ccisco B ofi2 wa testissid2 wa GRD 00 19 07 05 89 51 3 Floor 9 Suryey 1 Inthe example ESS visualizes only those APs that are selected notice the orange color 4 5 4 Selecting My Access Points During the site survey all the audible access points will be detected It is important to segregate the access points in your network from the other access points such as the APs radiating from the nextdoor building The My checkbox in the AP list indicates whether an AP is in your network or not You can select My APs either one by one or by selecting multiple access points first and then selecting or de selecting the My checkbox to select or de select multiple APs to from My APs For example if you have Nortel APs and there are no other Nortel APs around 1 De select all the APs from My selection Click Actions gt Select All and then choose Actions gt Deselect from My Now none of the APs are selected as My 2 Next type Nortel into the Sear
110. ple Project Pro_X esx Ekahau Site Survey File Edit View Site Device Help ajajaj sissa Esem enoe a o E jy P rues Access eys E Building Show Signal Strength for Selected access Points S Options yu l w Tu elect Acl amp 4 RRA 1 my Cisco bigconfroom NES MA eS a3 o iofizwmo off3 uey testissid2 we AT so farnre i a ll a ERED _ wuthisessd t8 6c 3 iin oe oitristb4 nb fur Extension Channel 104 m My Cisco entrance a short Guard Interval SGI On waz ofi3 wea testissid2 we Greenfield Mode off _ a 00 19 07 05 89 5c 3 Maximum Spatial Streams 2 1 14 my Cisco entrance ofi2 ofig won bestissid2 ws GRD 00 19 07 05 89 51 3 A 11g 00 19 07 05 89 51 testissid2 WEP Split Replace MAC 1M my cisco ofi2 weas ofig 119 00 19 07 05 89 52 ofi2 WPA2 Split Replace MAC g a40 11g 00 19 07 05 89 53 ofi3 WPA Split Replace MAC My Cisco kitchen amp 7 wena ofi3 wea testissid2 wee 00 19 07 8c 5b 51 3 1 The names of Cisco APs are automatically shown 2 Notes 3 Measured 802 11n properties 4 If Selected Access Points is selected the visualization will be displayed only for selected APs 5 This AP is selected Select and de select from here or from the map 6 Multi MAC and SSID access point This AP has three SSIDs and MACs 7 The channels of the AP
111. points i Exampie Project Automatic Planning esx Ekahau Site Sunvey Eram Eile Edit View Site Device Help HEA E eee a Massaa SP L Dues Access Points fall surveys FJ Building _ show Signal Strength for Selected Access Points 7 Options eS ee a i 2 al radios selected My Cisco AP 1250 Tae n 2 ae T s Fag 80211a Da K Floor 1 80211b aa ian 1 80211g co AP1250 11n Omni 1 ED 09 38 OE 136 40 Po o Pee eee e G RY Cisco AP1250 ANT2430 2 4GHz 11n 28 1tn Omni 17 3 130 a E A B REN a 2 om s Extension Chan Gree te 36 4 s S 3 FISI Gua tery Foort au m gt g A Supported Spatial Streams 2 J Short Guard Inter n WlMmy q j inomi 13 nE ome lane e Ai ari O T g A Z My co AP1250 11n Omni 13 pep ep 2am 3 i Eite ae EZD 24m gt Co N Editus Floor 1 haak My co AP1250 11n Omi 19 By j Te a Edit nt Dee GED OIE Qa gE eee C78 eee Floor 1 WZ My co AP1250 11n Omni 15 Jag 0 O Bi z Ee a 802 11 Technology a b g n Click on the Edit button to adjust antenna properties Tx Power Height and Antenna downtilt properties Antenna type and its radiation patterns E Elevation Plane Side View A Azimuth Plane Top View Channel 802 11n properties PWON
112. pter is connected and enabled when inserting the license Ensure the license you have has not been registered previously by anyone else The issue may be in the firewall or proxy Try activating the license from another location can t see any signals in the Miniature Signal View In other words the network adapter is not scanning Ensure your Wi Fi adapter is enabled Ensure you have a supported Wi Fi adapter See www ekahau com devices for details Ensure you have the correct network adapter driver installed If using an external Wi Fi adapter install the latest adapters from Start gt Programs gt Ekahau gt Ekahau Site Survey gt WLAN Adapter Driver Installer If using the integrated Wi Fi in Intel Centrino use the latest available driver from Intel Exit Ekahau Site Survey remove and re insert or disable and enabled the wireless network adapter then re start Ekahau Site Survey If the problem persists contact support ekahau com Chapter 13 Troubleshooting 110 111 Chapter 14 Additional Information 14 Additional Information 14 1 Meru Virtual Cell The Meru Networks access points can operate in Virtual Cell mode When in this mode all the access points broadcast the same MAC address This is unlike other access points that broadcast at least one unique MAC address per access point Because of Meru Virtual cell the mobile devices only see a single MAC address being distributed by all the APs Thus the mobile devic
113. r more APs Signal Strength Value Range Spacing Colors Contours On Off 80dBm through 20 dBm or more Signal to Noise Ratio Value Range Spacing Colors Contours On Off OdB through 50 dB or more Strongest Access Contours On Off MAC addresses of the APs Point Ping Round Trip Contours On Off 0 0 ms throught 1000 0 ms Time Ping Packet Loss Value Range Spacing Colors Contours On Off 0 through 100 Associated Access Contours On Off Automatic Point 802 11n Channel Contours On Off On Off Bonding Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 66 and Performance 8 3 Visualization Views 8 3 1 Data Rate Data Rate is the is the speed at which the client device and the access point are communicating at The higher the data rate the more data is expected to be transferred between the client device and the access point in a period of time In 802 11 the advertised data rate is the theoretical maximum at which the devices are able to communicate However the net data throughput between two devices is typically less than half of the advertised data rate In ESS the data rate is calculated using the following Visualization Options as parameters e Network Load affects the data rate The higher the network load the more interference The more interference the lower the SNR and the lower the SNR the lower the data rate e Different Adapters have different receiver sensitivity capabilities and
114. ram and thus also the customized network adapter driver simply run the Wi Fi Adapter Driver Installer from the Start menu again and select Uninstallation 2 2 2 Upgrading the Ekahau Site Survey License The first time you start the software you will be prompted for a license key If you are evaluating the software you do not need a license If you have purchased the product you should have received the license key via e mail When prompted type in the license key as well as your name and company The software license will be tied to a selected network adapter When starting the software you will need to select the network adapter you wish to pair the license key with The network adapter does not need to be a Wi Fi adapter you can pair the license with a fixed Ethernet adapter also the network adapter just needs to be present when the software is started The adapter you select at this point does not limit what Wi Fi cards can be used with the tool After inserting the license the tool will register the MAC address and the license key on line For this an internet connection is required when starting the software for the first time If you wish to continue in the evaluation mode and upgrade the license later go to Help gt About and select Upgrade License Note After registering the software the network adapter will be checked every time the software is started If the network adapter is removed or disabled the software will
115. rate in the network Data rate minimum Number of audible APs the minimum number of audible APs given a minimum signal strength e Ping Round Trip Time minimum round trip time for ping e Packet Loss packet loss calculated from the last 10 packets In addition to requirements you can choose the following conditions that affect on the network coverage and performance e Use Noise from the source of the noise data choose either Measured Data Simulated Interference or Automatic which uses Measured Data when available e Network load the estimated amount of wireless traffic in the network available only if sim ulated noise is selected e Adapter the end users wireless adapter To define the Requirements select Site gt Edit Requirements Chapter 5 Starting to work with Ekahau 34 Site Survey Figure 5 2 Setting the wireless network requirements using the Requirements dialog Requirements Requirement Basic Connectivity New Duplicate Criteria m Signal strength at least 85 dBm I Signal to noise ratio at least S dB Data rate at least 1 Mbps a Number of access points at least 1 when signal strength 85 dBm E Ping round trip time lat most 500 I Packet loss at most 10 Conditions Use Noise from EMEZAN EA v Network Load Custom 5 v J 0 20 40 60 80 100 Adapter Raw Measurements The Requirement defines what your network is used for You can ei
116. rd the signals from the strongest access points visualizing the second or third strongest signals instead of the strongest one This is useful for visualizing AP failover scenarios and redundancy Signals at Channel limits the Signal Strength visualization to only show the signals at a selected channel Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage 72 and Performance e The Adapter selection allows you to visualize the signal strength as the selected adapter would see it For example the signal strength may be sufficient using a high quality network adapter but may not be sufficient using a wireless VoIP phone with different antenna charac teristics Ekahau Site Survey has characterized and field tested various wireless adapters and VoIP phones to allow accurate simulation when deploying wireless networks for different adapters Figure 8 15 Signal Strength visualization High signal strength Low signal strength Signal strength below 80dBm Click to adjust signal strength visualization value range colors etc PONS gt 8 3 7 Signal to Noise Ratio The Signal to Noise Ratio visualization displays how much the signal strength is stronger than the noise With ESS the noise is either noise level measured by the Wi Fi adapter if available or calculated co channel interference Signal must be stronger than noise for data transfer to be possible If the signal is just barely stronger than noise you may encounter occasional conn
117. s Ensuring Suffi cient Coverage and Performance On Site 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Sufficient Coverage and Performance On Site 7 1 Performing Site Surveys With Ekahau Site Survey you simultaneously perform traditional passive surveys as well as active surveys this is called Hybrid Survey Passive surveys measure signal strength SNR and other information whereas active surveys measure end to end connectivity During the active survey an end to end connection is made to a specific host ensuring that the network truly works and delivers the required performance The end to end network connectivity testing can be used for e Detecting significant latency Excellent for investigating latency sensitive applications such as VoIP over WLAN e Detecting dropped packets Solve problems possibly caused by low coverage roaming issues and hardware defects e Visualize roaming areas Visualize which AP the Wi Fi adapter was connected to in different locations During the traditional passive survey signal readings from all the audible access points are measured and all the audible access points will be discovered and added to the AP list In addition to the access points in your network you are likely to discover other access points as well some may be audible from the neighboring office or even the neighboring building and some may be rogue access points placed in your environment without authorization To perform a Hybrid Survey
118. select Automatically Place Access Point 7 4 Selecting My Access Points After the surveys have been completed and you have located your access points you should indicate which APs actually belong to your network My access points are defined by using the My checkbox in the AP list By default all the APs are checked as My You need to uncheck the APs that are not a part of your wireless network Warning IMPORTANT If your My APs are not properly selected the visualizations as well as many other features will not work properly To learn more about My Access Points see chapter Selecting My Access Points 7 5 Simultatenous Survey Work Merging Two Projects as One If several persons are surveying the areas at one time the results need to be merged as one in the end The Merge feature imports surveys access points walls everything in the Project To merge two or more files as one Open the first Project Select File gt Merge Browse for the second Project which needs to be merged with the first one If more than two surveyors have been on the field repeat the previous step for all the Projects Warning In many cases some access point locations are lost in Merge Always check the AP locations of the Merged file and make the necessary corrections Note The Merge feature does not Merge surveys within the same map The surveyors need to operate on different floors maps for the Merge to work properly 57 Chapter
119. sion channel The AP has SGI enabled Greenfield mode disabled and it uses two spatial streams 4 5 11 2 Simulated Access Points The 802 11n characteristics can also be adjusted when working with simulated 802 11n access points To adjust the characteristcs of an 802 11n AP click the Edit button of the simulated AP on the Access Point List view Note that access points with multiple radios need to be adjusted one radio at a time Figure 4 16 Adjusting 802 11n characteristics of an simulated access point rmanmy esr W mapimage 0 1 1 APs 2 radios selected Z My isco AP1250 11n Omni 1 Led 1 Mmapimage 0 POM IO ET oS S H iG bai i H Cisco AP1250 ANTS140 5GHz 11n Bs SS A Extension Channel N A w T Greenfield Supported Spatial Steams 2 w F Short Guard Interval 4 6 The Surveys List Figure 4 17 Surveys list File Edit view Site Device Help ea wa 5 4 Access Points ial Surveys g Building __Selected_ Map Notes Name Selected Survey in the east wing Iv Floor 9 Survey OO O B 2008 01 25 14 41 Floor 9 Survey Show Signal z r Zl Planning Sur 2008 01 25 14 47 Floor 9 Survey 2008 01 25 14 52 Floor 9 Survey Floor 9 Surves Every time you stop a survey by right clicking the mouse when surveying a Survey will be added to the Surveys list The Surveys list will show the name of the survey as well as the map
120. ss point on the map with a left click If Always Refresh Automatically visualization option is enabled you should instantly see a visualization for the placed access point 4 Click either the Edit button on the AP list or the technology channel rectangle on the right hand side of the AP on the map to edit its properties You can select the technology channel and adjust the AP transmission power AP height and antenna downtilt The Elevation Pattern presentation of the antenna displays the beam towards the floor If you are simulating a 802 11n AP you can also edit the Extension channel of Supported Spatial Streams Greenfield and Short Guard Interval properties 5 Repeat steps 2 4 to place more access points Figure 6 6 Editing simulated access point My ieneric 11n Dual Radio 1 hon f im i 2am toel pa Edt i qnm amp 24m Edit op Floor 1 a l 25 mW 2 4 m 0 0 J Generic 2 2dBi Omni Extension Channel N A Greenfield Supported Spatial Streams 2 w V Short Guard Interval Close 1 Click to edit a simulated access point You can adjust a non omnidirectional AP s orientation Click and hold the small yellow triangle on top of the AP icon until you find the correct orienation Figure 6 7 Adjusting AP orientation You can move a simulated access point by simply dragging them on the map when the Edit tool is selected hold down the left mouse button while moving the AP
121. sualizing Selected Access Points You can limit the access points to be included in the heat map visualizations from the drop down menu next to the Visualization Selection menu e Showing the visualization for All Access Points displays the visualization heat map using the information from all the access points For example if you want to see the total number of access points on a given map select Show Number of APs for All Access Points e f My Access Points is selected the visualizations will only be shown using the data of the access points checked as My from the AP List For example if you want to see the coverage area of your network select Show Signal Strength for My Access Points Selecting All Access Points instead of My Access Points would include neighboring and rogue access points and thus overly optimistic results would be displayed e Having Other Access Points selected is the exact opposite for selecting My Access Points For example if you want to show the signals from access points that are not in your network select Show Signal Strength for Other Access Points e f Selected Access Points is selected only the access points that have been selected in the Access Points list will be taken into account into the visualization For example if you wanted to see the coverage area of a single access point first highlight that access point from the AP list and then select Show Signal Strength for Selected Access Points See the exam
122. t 77 associated clients 79 automated network planning 37 B backward compatibility 2 building view 45 Cc capacity health 78 D data rate 66 E exporting images 95 floor alignment points 46 freezing access points 55 G gps site surveys 53 l interference 67 L license evaluation license limitations 7 live network status 83 802 11n details 84 ping 85 requirements 83 signals 83 location tracking 107 M map duplicating maps with similar layouts 39 map view 11 map scrolling 50 maximum throughput 76 Miniature Requirement View 50 N network health 68 network issues 69 network planning finding optimal AP layout and configuration 44 multi floor 44 network requirements 33 visualizing on the map 68 number of APs 70 P packet loss 74 ping 73 printing images 95 professional version 2 R real time location tracking system 107 reporting 95 round trip time 73 rtls 107 S setting scale 32 signal strength 71 signal to noise ratio 72 site surveys active survey 49 gps assisted outdoor surveys 53 hybrid survey 49 passive survey 49 post deployment 54 pre deployment freeze access point 55 supported gps receivers 53 survey inspector 57 standard version 2 survey surveys list 26 survey inspector 57 T troubleshooting 86 connectivity and latency issues 88 defective access points 88 examples 86 high interference 87 insufficient cap
123. t with an identical one you need to perform a new survey within the coverage area of the new access point 4 5 6 1 Replacing Single MAC and Multi MAC Access Points When replacing access points distributing just one MAC address use the Generic one MAC replaced Vendor option In case of Multi MAC access points APs that are sending out one MAC per SSID ensure that the vendor has been selected correctly to apply the changes to the whole MAC range of the AP If your vendor has not been listed there are several options e Change the MAC addresses of the replaced AP one by one using the Generic one MAC Replaced vendor option e Use the Generic Up to 16 Virtual MACs Replaced option to replace all the MAC addresses automatically This option should be used if the last hex number 4 bits of the MAC address changes between different SSIDs e Use the Generic Up to 64 Virtual MACs Replaced option to replace all the MAC addresses automatically This option should be used if the last 6 bits of the MAC address change between different SSIDs Chapter 4 User Interface Overview 20 4 5 7 Adjusting the Properties of Measured Access Points By deafult the names of the measured access points are defaulted as the AP manufacturers To change the name edit the text box Edit the AP notes by clicking on the note icon This information may include AP mounting inform ation name of the person responsible for installation cabling informati
124. tall the appropriate software The spectrum analysis software is called Chanalyzer Pro Consult the Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer documentation for details on the installation To start spectrum analysis click the Spectrum Analysis button This will start the Chanalyzer Pro software assuming that it has been installed on your computer Figure 9 6 Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer Chanalyzer Pro software quick launch li all use ces It is important to note taking measurements using a spectrum analyzer requires a method different from Wi Fi site surveys Whereas during Wi Fi site surveys it is acceptable to fairly quickly walk around the facility taking measurements spectrum analysis is something done in selected locations only spending more time for example one minute in a given location This is because a spectrum analyzer typically needs more time to collect meaningful data Prior to spectrum analysis you will need to find out whether the problems are on the 2 4 or 5GHz frequency space For example if the problems are found with 802 11g VoIP phones but not with laptops operating on 802 11a you should concentrate on analyzing the 2 4GHz frequency space Use the Configuration Side Bar explained below to configure the spectrum analyzer to scan the appropriate frequency space User Interface Ekahau Spectrum Analyzer Chanalyzer Pro software has three main panes Navigation Over view and Details 91 Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Dete
125. ther select one of the pre defined Requirements such as Basic Connectivity or Voice over WLAN If none of the Requirements matches the purpose your network will be used for you can either customize the existing profiles or create new ones If you want to keep the existing Requirement and want to make a slightly different one you can make a duplicate of the selected Requirement The requirements are explained in more detail in chapter Visualizing Network Coverage and Performance 5 3 2 Capacity Requirements Ekahau Site Survey takes the capacity of the Wi Fi network fully into consideration With the increasing number of smartphones laptops and tablets constantly utilizing the Wi Fi network capacity needs to be considered during network design verification and troubleshooting ESS can accurately analyze the network capacity based on the number of Wi Fi devices and the applications run on them The Capacity Requirements are considered in Capacity Health and Associated Clients visualizations If you are trying to view them not having the Capacity Requirements defined Edit Capacity Requirement dialog will pop up and lets you define the requirements To define the Capacity Requirements 1 Select Site gt Edit Capacity Requirement if do not have the edit dialog already open 2 Inthe edit dialog define the number of different client devices in the Wi Fi network 35 Chapter 5 Starting to work with Ekahau Site Survey Figure 5 3 Edit Ca
126. this chapter However Ekahau Site Survey also provides a powerful troubleshooting tool called Live Network Status It works without a map without having any surveys performed In a typical troubleshooting scenario the wireless network does not function in one or more locations for some reason at a particular time With ESS you need to take the laptop to the problematic area and use the Live Network Status view to troubleshoot the issue You can use the pre defined Requirements to see whether the network meets different application requirements or not To start the Live Network Status click Device gt Live Network Status or click on the Miniature Signal View 9 1 1 Signals The Signals tab of Live Network Status displays the current signal measurements from all audible access points Click Reset to clear the list of currently audible APs Figure 9 1 Signals view displays all currently audible access points Live Network Status Signals Requirements 802 11n Details Ping Device Ekahau NIC 300 802 11a b g n Network Adapter Packet Scheduler Miniport MAC SSID Security Technology Channel Signal Noise 00 18 9b 3f 94 2a IHK WEP 00 18 9b a4 7a d0 TAPSARI WPA 00 19 cb 8b d3 72 2yxELD372 WPA 00 22 3F a3 98 e8 aruba ap WPA i 96 00 22 b0 80 f8 66 heyerdahl WPA i 96 00 24 01 dF bd a3 heyerdahl WPAZ it in i 87 Scanning duration 1 640 milliseconds Results amp
127. ts ON gt 8 4 Different Survey Methods vs Visualizations Not all visualizations are available with just passive surveys or when working with simulated access points The visualizations that require Hybrid Surveys do not work for simulated data The Network Health and Network Issues visualizations provide all the functionality only when using Hybrid Surveys The below table outlines which survey methods affect on each visualization Visualization Passive Survey Tradi Hybrid Survey End to Simulation tional Signal Reading end Connectivity Test are Data Rata Interference Noise Network Health i Network Issues Number of APs Signal Strength 81 Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance Visualization Passive Survey Tradi Hybrid Survey End to Simulation tional Signal Reading end Connectivity Test Ping Packet Loss 802 11n Channel Bond X ing Maximum Throughput Associated Access Point Capacity Health Associated Clients Chapter 8 Analyzing the Wi Fi Coverage and Performance 82 83 Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems 9 Troubleshooting Detecting and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems 9 1 On Spot Troubleshooting Using Live Network Status Ekahau Site Survey provides excellent tools for visualizing and troubleshooting your network on the map we will cover these later in
128. ur use of this Ekahau software contrary to the terms of this User Manual may void the warranty if any described in your license agreement Under no circumstances shall Ekahau be responsible for any loss of data or income or any special incidental punitive consequential or indirect damages howsoever caused You may not use any Ekahau software or hardware products in hazardous environments such as operation of nuclear facilities aircraft navigation or control environments containing high levels of dust or mines or in Life Critical Solutions unless you have advised Ekahau that they will be used in a hazardous environment or in a Life Critical Solution and Ekahau has had an opportunity to evaluate further whether and on what terms and conditions the software or hardware products may be licensed for your intended use The term Life Critical Solution means an application software package or hardware device whose functioning or malfunctioning may result directly or indirectly in physical injury or loss of human life Ekahau tags must always be used in compliance with the user environment and instructions con tained in the User Manual for the tags Copyright Ekahau Inc 2000 2012 All rights reserved iii Ekahau Site Survey Table of Contents AM HTHOGUCTIOMN Aeaee EE E E E ETATE sucus cocuddeeurds ined veces T 1 4M QVEIVIOW sa sioats a a a a hots ata r E ah tae 1 A OALUNGS eecdishesss afta h A AENA E EO EE 1 1 2 1 Feature
129. ve the playhead to that point in time The Overview Pane contains the Waterfall and Density views and provide an overview of the current time span Waterfall The Waterfall View graphs amplitude over time for each frequency in the band The colors represent power levels in the spectrum with dark blue as low bright red as higher amplitude levels much like a doppler radar weather map This view indicates the instances where wireless devices like cordless phones or microwaves may have changed the spectrum This is an enhanced version of the highlighted green section in the waterfall navigation pane Density This views gives the traditional real time spectrum view with a density map of the most used points in th The current average and max are 1 pixel lines drawn to show the current amp Chapter 9 Troubleshooting Detecting 92 and Solving the Most Common Wi Fi Problems litude of all signals the average amplitude for all signals in the timespan and the max These can be toggled on and off by clicking the buttons above The Density View maps and displays how often a frequency amplitude point is being used The less trafficked frequency ranges will appear more transparent The colors represent amplitude height with reds indicating higher signals and darker blues lower power levels An important feature of this view is that it picks up device specific signatures which enables analysis of what types of electronics are emitting RF energy in th
130. ving a survey project You can simply ignore this warning and choose Continue to save the survey project However if you want to avoid this warning in the future uncheck the Enable RTLS Features checkbox under File gt Preferences and re start the software Chapter 12 Real Time Location Tracking 108 RTLS Features 109 Chapter 13 Troubleshooting 13 Troubleshooting This chapter includes some of the most common troubleshooting scenarios The program does not start or is very slow Ensure you have enough memory in your laptop and that all other system requirements are met Ensure you are logged in as the computer administrator or have administrative privileges Ensure that the pixel sizes of the maps you have inserted are reasonable preferably below 4000 x 4000 pixels Ensure all other programs are stopped when running Ekahau Site Survey Ensure that the scale has been set to each map If the program is running slow disable Google Desktop third party Virus Spamware Scanners within reason ensure your computer will not get affected and other such applications The software does not accept my license Ensure that you are connected to the Internet when starting the software for the first time Ensure you have the license for the correct software and for the correct version Ensure the the same network adapter is in the computer which was registered when the product was started for the first time Ensure the network ada
131. y cisco amp Monitor y Reports y Con WCS Homi c General Google Earth Maps Controllers Access Points Clients Inventory Tags Chokepoints Interferers WiFi TDOA Receivers Spectrum Experts Media Streams RRM Coverage On the top right hand side corner Select a command select Import Maps and click Go Wireless Control System Administration Tools v Help v Maps Tree View Maps csit view Select a command Gal Maps Root Area Monitor gt Maps San in Er ie System Campus Type Status Entr New Campus Show Go a A Hiilikatu 3 All v All X New Building LR 1st Floor Name Type Total APs an Radios b g n Radios atus g Move Buildings LRA ard Floor System Campus Campus 6 6 6 o Copy Maps Sal Hiilikatu 5 System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 Building 6 6 6 0 LR 1st Floor Le 2nd Floor F System Campus gt Hiilikatu 5 Building 0 e o 0 3rd Floor B System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 gt 1st Floor Floor Area 0 oO o o RF Calibration Models System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 gt 2nd Floor Floor Area 0 o o o SSID EERE System Campus gt Hiilikatu 3 gt 3rd Floor Floor Area 6 6 6 it 95 E System Campus gt Hiilikatu 5 gt ist Floor Floor Area 0 0 o it o i F System Campus gt Hiilikatu 5 gt 2nd Floor Floor Area 0 0 o 0 o li Syste
132. you will need two Wi Fi network adapters Please visit http www ekahau com devices for the list of supported adapters The external network adapter such as Ekahau NIC 300 will be used to capture passive signal readings whereas the integrated Wi Fi adapter will be used for the end to end testing The integrated Wi Fi adapter has to be associated with a Wi Fi network and the network has to allow ICMP echo requests Ping To perform a Site Survey e Ensure that both of your wireless network adapters external amp integrated have been enabled in your laptop Check the Miniature Signal View to see if the external network adapter is suc cessfully scanning access points Alternatively you can use your integrated network adapter to scan access points when not performing end to end connectivity testing Figure 7 1 The Miniature Signal View should show signals updating before starting the survey ail lt P e If you are using an inappropirate driver with your external adapter a warning will be given To achieve the optimal accuracy use the driver provided by Ekahau For information on how to update the driver see chapter Wi Fi Network Adapter Driver Update Figure 7 2 A warning will be given if an inappropriate driver is used A E PO Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi 50 cient Coverage and Performance On Site e When testing the end to end connectivity ensure that you are able to collect Ping data The Miniature Ping
133. zen at once 7 3 Placing Access Points on the Map Ekahau Site Survey is able to place access points on the map automatically after the survey These are estimated locations You can disable the feature by unchecking the Auto Place APs checkbox during the survey If you have disabled the Automatic Placement you can manually force the automatic on demand placement of access points from Site gt Place Access Points Automatically The AP locations guessed by ESS may not be exact You can move the AP to its exact location by simply dragging the AP to the desired location when using the Edit tool After an AP has been manually moved the Auto Locate features will not try to locate the AP any more Also if you exit the program or re open the project the current AP locations will be fixed and the Auto Locate features will not try to locate those APs any more However all the newly discovered APs will still be automatically located The Automatic Placement will only try to locate the access points that are well audible surveyed signal strength has exceeded 50dBm in one or more locations This is to avoid locating the access points inaccurately Chapter 7 Site Surveys Ensuring Suffi 56 cient Coverage and Performance On Site To place an AP that has not been automatically placed just drag and drop the AP from the AP list to the map To find the position of a single AP click on the Drag on the map to place text in the AP list and

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