802.11 Wireless Network Site Surveying and Installation

C HAPTER

6

Preparing for a Site Survey

This chapter helps you determine basic site survey requirements before deploying an

engineer to the network site. You should always collect as much information as possible

about the site to be surveyed before sending someone on site so that he or she can be

prepared for the required work with the appropriate types of equipment and knowledge.

Industry practice has honed this process so that now most good engineers start with a

document referred to as a pre-site survey form. This form is a living document that covers

all aspects of pre-survey discovery. It is a living document because it can and should be

adjusted based on the type of site that will be surveyed. The pre-site survey form is designed

to be filled out in partnership by the customer and the survey team. It enables the engineer

to get all the discovery questions covered without forgetting or omitting things by accident.

In this chapter, you are going to look at the basic components of the pre-site survey form,

compile those components at the end, and then learn about some of the discussions that are

common prior to the site survey.

Pre-Site Survey Form Information

Most work orders or job assignments begin with a pre-site survey form being filled out by

one or more individuals, including the customer, IT staff, facilities personnel, and app-

lication specialists. One benefit of using this form is that it prompts those involved in

completing the form to consider all their potential WLAN needs and discover other

potential networking needs. This form also gives the WLAN engineers a chance to converse

with the customer to explore other potential issues, such as additional bridging

requirements that were not originally considered or aging, incompatible network

components. This information is then used to manage the project by scheduling an

appropriate amount of time for the engineer to complete the work and providing for any

special considerations such as a high-lift rental or security escorts.

In addition, these forms ask important questions that might save days or weeks of extra,

unbudgeted effort once the engineer is on site. Those involved in completing this form need

to understand that minimal time required to fill out this form will save money and time in

the long run. For example, performing a survey at an aluminum smelting plant or oil

144 Chapter 6: Preparing for a Site Survey

refinery will require that all engineers take the required Occupation Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) safety courses offered by the plant. This can add several days per

person to the survey process. It is better to know this prior to development of the work

schedule.

The following basic sequence of events helps facilitate the flow of work at both your

company and the survey at the client’s site:

1 The survey engineer or WLAN project manager sends the pre-site survey form to the

IT staff responsible for the facility where the WLAN will be installed. In addition, this

form is routed to those individuals responsible for implementing the new applications

on the WLAN as well as to a few key WLAN users.

2 Data is collected and entered on the pre-site survey form, which is then returned to the

survey engineer or WLAN project manager.

3 The survey engineer or the project manager then sets up a series of interviews with

key IT personnel, WLAN end users, and facility personnel as necessary, based on the

returned pre-site survey. The interview is intended to ask the questions that may have

been overlooked or that the responses on the pre-site survey form generated. Issues

such as hazardous materials, explosive gases, or imaging equipment such as x-ray

machines or MRIs need to be discussed.

4 The survey engineer or the project manager then determines the resource

requirements and schedules the work to be done.

5 The site walkthrough occurs. If possible and within the time and budget constraints,

a pre-site survey walkthrough can provide a large volume of information. This can

assist in completing the pre-site survey form and prepare you much better for the

actual survey.

The information that you should collect can be broken into the following parts:

• Customer information

• Site survey location

• Current network and communications information

• WLAN equipment requirements

• Site information

• Survey personnel requirements

• Scope of work

• Coverage map

• Outdoor bridge link