The Five Effective Ways to Improve Wi-Fi

Ekahau Webinar March 2012

Jussi Kiviniemi Director, Product Marketing Head of Ekahau Wi-Fi Tools

Why are we here anyway?

Understanding the life cycle of a Wi-Fi network – Typical problems & typical tools – The Ekahau offering

Five effective ways to improve your Wi-Fi 1. Learn it 2. See it 3. Monitor it 4. Fix it 5. Clean it

Closing Words & Q&A

Agenda

Ekahau makes

1. Wi-Fi location systems RTLS

2. Wi-Fi Tools Deployment & Management

EkaWho?

”Wireless infrastructure planning becomes more critical because of increased needs by each

user.

Both capacity planning and radio interference reduction are important factors to consider”

Gartner Predicts 2012 (Mobile & Wireless):

”More people in the U.S. Will access the internet via mobile devices than through desktop computers or

other wired devices by 2015”

IDC

”Traffic from wireless devices will exceed wired devices by 2015”

Cisco

”Business IP traffic will grow by a factor of 2.7 between 2010 and 2015”

Voice

Data RTLS

Video

Laptops

Smart phones

Tablets Desktops

Tags

Webex

Minimum Coverage

AP overlap

AP placement

Min SNR

Number of users

Bandwitdh per application

Associations per AP

Voice calls per AP

Latency

Packet Loss

Planning Verification Troubleshooting Monitoring

The Life Cycle of a Wi-Fi Network

Planning Verification Troubleshooting Monitoring

Upcoming Challenges

Planning Verification Troubleshooting Monitoring

Typical Tools

Off-Site Planning Tools • Placement of

simulated Aps

• Predictive coverage maps

• Automatic placement & configuration of Aps

• Automated reporting

Site Survey Tools • Walk-through site

surveys

• Pre & post deployment support

• Coverage maps

• Performance maps

• Automated reporting

Spectrum Analyzers • Detect & visualize intereference sources

& impact

• See how to avoid interference

Signal Analyzers • Show signal

strength

• Show APs & channels

Packet Analyzers • Collect packets,

visualize issues

• Dissect packets

Wi-Fi Infrastructure • Comprehensive AP-

side monitoring

WIDS/WIPS • Additional layer of

infrastructure for extra monitoring

Client-Side Monitoring Tools • Monitoring occurs

from the true client perspective

Planning Verification Trouble

Shooting Monitoring

Site Survey Pro Planning/site survey/analysis/capacity/reports

Mobile Survey (Android)

Survey/monitor/troubleshoot

Spectrum Analyzer (USB)

Interference analysis

Ekahau Products

HeatMapper Free survey tool

The Five Efficient Ways to Improve your Wi-Fi

He has WiFi

#1: Learn it

#2: See it

#3: Monitor it

#4: Fix it

#5: Clean it

What Are Those 5 Things?

Several great options to learn

– Trainings & Certifications

• Ekahau Certified Survey Engineer (ECSE)

• CWNP Wi-Fi courses, from beginner to advanced

– Blogs: Ekahau Blog, Revolution Wi-Fi, Aerohive Blog, CWNP Blog, dailywireless.org, Jennifer Huber, Wi-Fi Planet

– Youtube: Tons of instructional videos (including ours)

– Literature

#1: Learn it Knowledge is Power

2-day training + 0,5 day certification

Covers all aspects of Wi-Fi design, deployment, and troubleshooting

Focus on Ekahau tools

Hands-on approach for both training & cert

Announcing Ekahau Certified Survey Engineer

#2: See it

You can’t control what you can’t see

Map view is typically very intuitive – For simulations as well as real-world verification

Human eye can easily detect errors invisible to the computer...

... and vice versa

#2: See it Visualization is Powerful

Example: Wi-Fi Coverage Analysis with Ekahau Mobile Survey

•Single AP coverage

•SSID coverage

•2.4/5GHz coverage

•All, My AP coverage

•Configurable minimum coverage

Coverage Heat-Maps

Get familiar with whatever tools your Wi-Fi infrastructure provides

Ask your Wi-Fi vendor about spectrum management, and how it’s done

Floor level is not the same as AP level

– For monitoring from the client perspective, 3rd party tools are needed

#3: Monitor it Know What’s Going On

With Ekahau Mobile Survey running on your Mobile Phone, you can monitor your network from the client-perspective

1. Enable background monitoring

2. Exit the app

3. Continue using phone normally

4. Tool will be silent, until a network error is detected

Example: Client-Side Monitoring Turn Yourself into a Wi-Fi Monitor

Example: Client-Side Monitoring Turn Yourself into a Wi-Fi Monitor

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•Monitors the network on the background

•Allows normal phone usage

•Alerts if network fails

•Monitors even when your phone is in your pocket

Background Monitoring

Well-configured monitoring systems only alarm when needed – The better the monitoring solution, the less the end users will act

as network monitors

When problems are identified, effectively address them: 1. Check the basics

• Signal coverage & data rate • Packet loss & latency • AP & client configs • Nearby APs & their channels

2. Go deeper • Spectrum check • Capacity check • Overview of packet distribution

3. When the going gets tough • Packet analysis

#4: Fix it Make Periodic Checks and Act

Your troubleshooting essentials

– On-the-spot troubleshooting tool (Ekahau Mobile Survey)

– Graphical survey tool (Ekahau Site Survey, Mobile Survey)

– Spectrum Analyzer (Ekahau, Metageek)

– Packet Analyzer (WildPackets, Wireshark, Metageek Eye P.A.)

– Free tools (HeatMapper, inSSIDer, Wi-Fi Analyzer for Android, iPerf)

Some Troubleshooting Tools

Ekahau Mobile Survey for Troubleshooting

•Live monitoring

•Signal strength

•Connection speed

•Packet loss and delay

•Rogue APs

Network Status

Some Ekahau Troubleshooting Tools

Instant, on-the-spot troubleshooting using the Live Network Status view. Take the laptop the problematic location and see what’s wrong

Network Issues visualization pinpoints network problem locations and causes with a single view

Each color represents a different cause for network errors: Low signal or data rate, insufficient overlap, high packet loss, high latency times

Why Spectrum Analysis

We are now in a Wi-Fi Design Era. There are too many consumer electronics operating in the same frequency range as Wi-Fi.

Sometimes you can be in the same room as an Wi-Fi access point and have little to no throughput. How is this possible?

Interference

Use a Spectrum Analyzer to find non-Wi-Fi transmitters. 1. Resolve interference issue.

o Remove interfering transmitter. o Educate customer.

2. Use a different channel or band.

Proactive Interference Analysis

Create a bad wireless environment. • Turn on the cordless phone • Use the microwave oven • Start a download • Start an upload

Proactive Interference Analysis

Look for: • Overlapping Wi-Fi Channels • High Channel utilization • Bright events in the waterfall • SSIDs with high RSSI

Spectrum Analyzer

red = high amplitude or close proximity

Properly managing Wi-Fi

Properly managing Wi-Fi

Keep Wi-Fi on channels 1, 6 and 11 to avoid channel overlap interference.

Bluetooth (Discovery)

Baby Monitor

Analogue Video Transmitter

Wide Band Jammer

Motion Sensors

Wireless Headsets

Chanalyzer Overview

• Save unlimited length recordings of Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi activity. o Wi-Fi o Cordless Phones

o Wireless video Cameras

o Microwaves

• Track down sources of interference. • Pick the best channel available for Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is increasingly complex, but don’t be afraid of it

Knowledge and the right tools combined can make life easier

Conclusion

There’s Always Time For Q&A