WiFi site surveys in London and the South East
A survey is measurement, not a walkthrough. We map what your wireless network actually does — coverage, capacity, interference and roaming — and tell you what to change before you spend anything on hardware.
The difference between a survey and a walk around the building
Plenty of WiFi problems get "diagnosed" by someone walking the floor with a phone, watching the signal bars, and recommending more access points. That is not a survey, and it regularly makes things worse — because the most common cause of poor wireless in a busy office is not weak signal. It is too many access points competing on overlapping channels, which is exactly what adding more creates.
A professional survey replaces opinion with measurement. We use Ekahau and Hamina survey equipment to record signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, channel utilisation, co-channel interference, data rates and roaming behaviour at hundreds of points across your floorplan. The output is a set of heat maps and a written report showing precisely where the network underperforms and why.
Which one you need depends on where you are
- Predictive — modelled from your floorplans and wall construction before anything is installed. Used to design a new fit-out or a relocation, and to produce an accurate hardware count.
- Passive — measures what is actually broadcasting today: coverage, interference and neighbouring networks. The right starting point when an existing network misbehaves.
- Active — connects a client to the network and measures real throughput, latency and roaming as it moves. This is what proves whether the network performs, not just whether it reaches.
- Validation — carried out after installation, to confirm the deployed network matches the design and to hand over evidence rather than assurances.
Evidence you can act on — and hold a supplier to
Every survey produces documentation you own. If you go to tender afterwards, it is the specification. If you already have a supplier, it is the standard their work gets measured against.
- Heat maps for coverage, signal-to-noise, interference and data rate
- Access point placement, mounting and antenna recommendations
- Channel plan and transmit power settings
- Cabling and PoE requirements for anything that needs to move or be added
- A written report in plain English, with the findings ranked by impact
Two professional platforms, chosen per job
Most firms own one survey tool, and every job gets surveyed with it. We run both of the serious platforms, because they are good at different things.
- Ekahau — the long-established standard, with a Sidekick that measures raw spectrum. That is what finds the interference a WiFi adapter cannot see: the faulty power supply, the microwave, the wireless camera sitting on your channel.
- Hamina Planner — browser-based design that models the building from your floor plan or CAD drawing, and plans the switching, PoE and cabling alongside the wireless rather than leaving it until afterwards.
- Hamina Onsite — on-site measurement across 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz with a Clip survey device, heat maps building live as we walk, and AP-on-a-stick testing before anything is mounted.
- Interactive reporting — a Hamina report can be shared as a browser report your team clicks through, floor by floor, instead of a static PDF that goes stale.
Which one we reach for depends on the question. Suspected interference points to Ekahau; a new fit-out, or a design you want to explore for yourself, points to Hamina. On a large site we use both.
The moments a survey pays for itself
Before you buy hardware
A predictive survey gives you an accurate access point count. Buying on a rule of thumb means over-buying, under-buying, or both in different parts of the same building.
Before an office move
New building, unknown walls, unknown neighbours. Surveying at design stage is far cheaper than re-cabling after the desks arrive.
When complaints keep recurring
Dropouts in the same meeting room, calls failing as people walk between floors, scanners falling off in the warehouse — all measurable, all fixable once measured.
After a density change
Hybrid working, hot-desking and a room full of video calls change the load completely. A network designed for the old pattern will struggle with the new one.
Before voice moves to WiFi
Wireless voice is unforgiving about roaming and latency in a way that email and browsing never are. Survey first, or discover it on a client call.
After an installation
A validation survey confirms what was delivered matches what was designed. It is the difference between being told it works and knowing it does.
Two pieces worth reading before you commission anything
What a professional WiFi site survey actually involves
What a proper survey includes, the deliverables to insist on, and eight red flags that tell you it is a walkthrough in disguise.
Coverage or capacity: which problem do you actually have?
Full signal bars and unusable WiFi is a capacity problem, and adding access points makes it worse. How to tell the two apart before you buy.
WiFi surveys, answered plainly
Yes. We survey your site, produce the heat maps and give you the findings at no cost and with no obligation to buy anything afterwards. Full terms are on our Terms page.
Most single-floor offices take half a day on site. Larger or multi-floor buildings, warehouses and sites with restricted access take longer. We confirm the time once we know the floor area and how many floors are involved.
No. A passive or active survey measures the network from a laptop and a survey adapter while walking the floor. Nothing is reconfigured and nothing is taken offline.
If nobody complains and nothing business-critical runs over wireless, probably not. It becomes worth doing before you spend on hardware, before a move, when the same complaints keep recurring, or before voice or scanners move onto the wireless network.
Two professional platforms: Ekahau, including a Sidekick for true spectrum analysis, and Hamina — Planner for design, and Onsite with a Clip survey device for measurement across 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz. Either way the output is measured data: signal strength, signal-to-noise, channel utilisation, data rates and roaming behaviour, rather than an impression formed from signal bars on a phone.
We run both Ekahau and Hamina and pick per job. Ekahau is long established and its Sidekick measures raw spectrum, which matters when non-WiFi interference is suspected. Hamina is browser-based, models the building from your floor plan and produces an interactive report you can click through rather than a static PDF. What should matter to you is the measurement and the recommendation, not the badge on the tool.
No. The report is yours either way, and it is written so you can take it to tender. We would rather be judged on the quality of the recommendation than tie it to a purchase.
Book a free WiFi survey
No cost and no obligation. We measure your coverage, capacity and interference, then tell you what to change — whether or not you buy the hardware from us.