The three kinds of survey
- Predictive. We model your floor plan, wall materials and expected users in planning software and predict coverage before anything is installed. Good for new buildouts and budgeting.
- Passive (on-site). An engineer walks the space with measurement tools, recording signal strength and interference from your network and your neighbors'.
- Active (validation). After installation, we connect and measure real speeds and roaming across the floor to confirm the design works.
How many access points do you need?
There's no single formula, because walls and people matter more than square feet. As a rough starting point for budgeting, an open office often lands around one access point per 2,500 square feet. You'll need more when:
- Many people meet in one room, such as conference rooms and training spaces.
- The space has concrete, brick, elevator cores or glass with metal coatings.
- You're in a dense Manhattan building where neighbors' networks crowd the channels.
- Every person carries a laptop, a phone and sometimes a tablet.
Planning by capacity, not just coverage, is what keeps video calls stable when the room fills up.
When a survey is worth it
- You're moving into or building out a new space.
- Complaints cluster in certain rooms or at certain times of day.
- You're about to buy new access points and want to know how many and where.
- You've changed the layout: new walls, more people, a new floor.
What you get at the end
A heat map of coverage, the recommended number and placement of access points, mounting heights, channel and power settings, and a note on what cabling and PoE switch capacity each location needs. If your Wi-Fi is already struggling, start with our guide to why office Wi-Fi is slow.
