Site surveys, should every install have one?

[Doug]

I wanted to get the communities thoughts on this topic.

When installing Wireless Networks do you think you should do predictive and post active surveys for every install?

As a customer do you have a survey tool or do you work with a Partner to do the survey?

What do you or your Partner use for software?

Why did you pick one survey vendor over another (ease of use, features, etc...)?

Do you think you should perform yearly surveys?

[Doug]

RF Planner, it's close I promise 

[Chris_Sherman]

This also begs the question - what reporting/logs are the most helpful for post-installation? All I have found(I'd like more) is the java NetSight Wireless Manager which reports noise issues and I have alarms setup for APs that go down and when I get too many clients/AP. We have non-wing Extreme Wi-Fi.

[Timo1]

And very important topic, a AP can't detect noise issues. It try to detect it and sometimes this works for you. If it have a integrate spectrum analyzer it can detect interference next to the AP. An AP under the ceiling detect a video camera under the ceiling, but it don't detect the motion detector next to the client at the floor.

[Doug]

Great topic to post, let's start that one.

[Joshua_Puusep]

I do AP on a stick surveys for pre, as they are a lot more accurate than predictive. I do a post survey for tweaking the Tx and channel plan and then a Final survey for documention.

We use Ekahau and chose it for it's intuitive interface and decent price point.

Yearly surveys don't hurt, especially if your using static channels, as the environment will inevitably change. We don't have a large enough team to re-survey every building yearly, so we also rely on reporting/logs in order to determine if changes are necessary.