Task 1.1: Survey
Create a map1 of the place you want to survey. A simple floorplan will be sufficient, it doesn’t have to be perfectly to scale. See the appendix for an example. The map needs to include distances and needs to be labelled with all relevant information (e.g. wall material, if used for the discussion). Your survey should cover an area of at least 60 square metres (e.g. 6x10 metres, or 4x15, or two storeys of 6x5 each). Be creative – the survey can include hallways or outside areas. Be sure to take the analysis in Task 1.2 into account, by designing your survey to include walls, doors etc. it will be easier to write something interesting in Task 1.2. Furthermore, your survey must include at least three WiFi access points. These can be your own, but can also include your neighbours’ APs, for example. If you are scanning in a commercial area or on campus, you should be able to see enough APs. If you want, you can create an additional AP with a phone (using “Personal hotspot” or “Tethering” features).
For the survey, use a WLAN sniffing tool (see below) in at least eight different locations on your map. For each location, record the technical characteristics of all visible APs.
Depending on the scanning tool you use, you can record features such as the network name, MAC address, signal strength, signal to noise ratio (SNR), 802.11 version(s) supported, band (2.4 or 5 GHz) and channel(s) used.
Add the data gathered from the survey into the map of the covered area. On the map you should indicate the location of the access points and the locations where you took measurements.
For the access points, use the actual location if you know it, or an approximation based on the observed signal strength (e.g. if it’s your neighbour’s access point and you don’t know exactly where it is).
Task 1.2: Report
Write a report (word limit 600) on your observations analysing the data collected in the previous step (Task 1.1). Your analysis should investigate the following aspects:
● Channel occupancy: Are different access points competing on the same channels? Are they configured to use overlapping channels? Could the configuration be improved?
● Interference from walls, doors etc.: How do different materials affect signal strength and/or noise? Can you notice a difference in attenuation for different APs?
● Coverage: Do the access points sufficiently cover the desired area? Could the placement or configuration be improved?
● Any other aspect of your own choice. Here are a few suggestions:
○ measure the attenuation caused by your own body
○ measure the download and upload speeds in different locations
○ determine the overlap that has been implemented to enable roaming
○ describe how you interpolated the locations of access points from the signal strengths