Wireless site survey and Heat mapping

Why Heatmapping is important

Heat mapping establishes efficiency and provides important network information to your organization. From a cost savings perspective, it can be far cheaper and easier to invest in a Wi-Fi heat map than sending out an internal senior administrator to conduct testing to determine the source of problems, or, to guess on an overall design in the case of a new installation.

Additionally, heat mapping can prevent costly network and internet disruptions that are detrimental to business operations. Beyond the bottom line, heat mapping technology also offers a technological advantage for determining optimal connectivity locations.

Once properly calibrated, heat mapping will receive and analyze transmitted signals to synthesize a complete visual image of signal coverage. This technology also enables continual monitoring to measure how connectivity may fluctuate over time.

Heatmapping best practices

While there are clear benefits of implementing Wi-Fi heat mapping, there are some important considerations to consider beforehand. To achieve maximum data accuracy, the installers of this technology must calibrate the software to your company’s specific floor plan.

For example, this may include setting attenuation values for potential causes of physical interference such as doors, windows and walls. Before setting up heat map software, it is also wise to consider the data structure and file format in which network visualizations will be presented, and whether any business processes may be affected or need to be updated to view and use the information it provides.

The standard file format for Wi-Fi heat maps are KMZ files, which stands for "Keyhole Markup language Zipped." Be sure that you contract the services of an IT firm that has the appropriate software tools to export and execute KMZ files into a usable format before making the investment in this service.

Looking for professional help

Engaging outside expertise to provide the best solution for your organization is an important step for Wi-Fi heat mapping.

Our team at Echopath can assist your company by providing external consulting and technology solutions to deliver the insights and advantages generated from a Wi-Fi heat map. Whether it’s assessing the level of performance on an existing Wi-Fi network, or gathering the information needed for a new high-performance installation, our team can get the job done. Contact us today for a free consultation.