3 questions about coverage and reporting on a school site survey

MetaGeek Products inSSIDer
1

A school with 28 rooms needs wifi coverage for 150 K-8 students with 100 Chromebooks. The kids bring in their phones as well. I visited the school after hours for a coverage survey yesterday.

  1. As I connected to different Unifi access points during a site survey at a school taking snapshots, I found that inSSIDer continued to show readings for the previously connected Unifi UAP-AC-PRO AP. My signal noise kept getting worse, at which point I saw that inSSIDer was reporting on my connection to the first AP, now down the hallway and behind a concrete wall. I found that my wifi adapter would not roam and connect to the closest AP; we solved that problem by adding new SSIDs and assigning to only 1 AP. As I traveled from room to room, I connected to the SSID physically nearest me. (Later, I found that Nirsoft.net has a utility called WifiInfoView, which is supposed to enable me to connect to different APs on demand. I will try that on another day.) Forum posts from a google search indicated that this is normal behavior. Is that experience the same as yours?

  2. I could not refresh inSSIDer on demand, to reflect my signal strength to the new AP in the new room. The “All Networks” view showed me connected to the previous SSID. I accomplished what I needed by exiting the software, counting to 5 and relaunching. Is there any other way to reload or refresh the readings within the software?

  3. How can I report from the snapshots I took with my inSSIDer and Plus subscription? I am not seeing any report capabilities at my.metageek.com, nor any way to export the data. Any advice is appreciated.

2

Hello ahosea3-tech,

Unfortunately we do not have any advanced reporting features or capabilities available from my.metageek.com or inSSIDer with MetaGeek Plus at this time, but this is on our radar.

The best software for advanced reporting would be Chanalyzer + Wi-Spy DBx. See also:
How to use the Report Builder Accessory

You can get a standalone copy of Chanalyzer here for $499 and a Wi-Spy DBx here for $500.

I found that my wifi adapter would not roam and connect to the closest AP; we solved that problem by adding new SSIDs and assigning to only 1 AP. […] Forum posts from a google search indicated that this is normal behavior. Is that experience the same as yours?

Yes, unfortunately roaming behavior is dictated by the client and not always seamless. I recommend strategically placing your APs on the best channels as possible as discussed more in this guide here. It may also be a good idea to disable lower data rates like 1 and 2 Mbps to ensure slow and far away clients are not allow to maintain connection with the radio, as discussed more here.

I could not refresh inSSIDer on demand, to reflect my signal strength to the new AP in the new room. The “All Networks” view showed me connected to the previous SSID. I accomplished what I needed by exiting the software, counting to 5 and relaunching. Is there any other way to reload or refresh the readings within the software?

A hard refresh is another thing on our to-do list for inSSIDer! I will be sure to pass your feedback to our product owner.