Site Survey Documentation and Utilities
ACU site survey

The Aironet Client Utility (ACU) Site Survey tool operates at the RF level and is used to determine the best placement and coverage or overlap for the network APs . During the site survey, the current status of the network is read from the client adapter and displayed four times per second so the network performance can be accurately measured. The feedback that is received can help eliminate areas of low RF signal levels that can result in a loss of connection between the client adapter and its associated AP.

The Site Survey tool can be operated in two modes:

  1. Passive Mode – This is the default site survey mode. It does not initiate any RF network traffic. It simply listens to the traffic that the client adapter hears and displays the results.
  2. Active Mode – This mode, shown in Figure , causes the client adapter to actively send or receive low-level RF packets to or from its associated AP and provides information on the success rate. It also enables the parameters such as the data rate to be set in order to govern how the site survey is performed.

The following guidelines should be kept in mind when preparing to perform a site survey:

  • Perform the site survey when the RF link is functioning and all other systems and noise sources are operational.
  • Execute the site survey entirely from the mobile station.
  • Conduct the site survey with all variables set to operational values when using the active mode.