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What is a WiFi Heatmap: NetAlly Explains the Ins and Outs

In the complex landscape of modern wireless connectivity, ensuring a seamless WiFi experience has become crucial. But how do you ensure that every corner of your space enjoys the same strong and reliable connection? This is where WiFi heatmaps come into play. A WiFi heatmap is a powerful visual tool that provides insights into different metrics, such as signal strength, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and interference. By harnessing the power of data visualization, WiFi heatmaps enable you to make informed decisions when optimizing a network, enhancing performance, or addressing potential issues.

A WiFi heatmap tool creates a color-coded graphical representation of different metrics like signal strength, SNR, and interference in various areas. In this representation, the stronger areas are shown in warmer colors like orange and yellow, while weaker areas are represented by cooler colors like blue and green. By analyzing the heatmap, you can easily identify areas with strong signal coverage and those that need improvement.


Better WiFi Planning

Traditional methods of network planning often relied on guesswork or trial and error. With WiFi heatmaps, you gain a precise understanding of signal strength propagation, helping you strategically position access points and network equipment.

Visual Clarity

WiFi heatmaps present complex data in an easily understandable visual format. Color gradients on the heatmap represent different metrics like signal strength, SNR, and interference, making it intuitive to identify areas with good or bad coverage.

Automated Suggestions and Solutions by NetAlly

NetAlly’s advanced products take WiFi heatmapping to the next level by offering automatic suggestions and solutions. By analyzing heatmap data, these tools recommend adjustments you could make to optimize your network, minimizing manual intervention. AirMagnet® Survey PRO is a software solution for WiFi design and site survey analysis. The AirMapper™ Site Survey app is an option for those that prefer to use an all-in-one handheld device. It enables users to measure and evaluate the actual end user experience on a WiFi 6E network and is available on the AirCheck® G3, EtherScope®nXG, and CyberScope™.

Let’s delve into the key components of reading a WiFi heatmap, exploring various factors crucial to a robust and reliable WiFi connection.

Number of Access Points (AP)

One of the cornerstones of a strong WiFi network is the strategic placement of access points (APs). A WiFi heatmap can reveal crucial insights about the distribution and number of APs required for uniform coverage. A well-designed WiFi network can help you determine the number of access points necessary for consistent signal strength. Blue areas indicate low signal coverage, prompting you to add more APs to eliminate dead zones.

Associated Access Points

Understanding the APs to which devices are connected helps identify potential bottlenecks and areas with excessive load.

Difference in Number of APs

By comparing signal strength disparities between different parts of a site, you can determine whether less or additional APs are needed in specific regions to balance coverage.

Optimizing WiFi Channel Utilization

Efficient use of WiFi channels is essential to prevent interference and ensure optimal performance. A WiFi heatmap aids in channel selection and width allocation.

WiFi Channel Overlap

Overlapping channels can lead to interference and reduced speeds. A heatmap reveals areas of channel overlap, guiding you to adjust channel assignments for better performance.

WiFi Channel Width

WiFi signals can operate on different channel widths. A heatmap helps visualize the distribution of channel widths, enabling you to optimize your network’s bandwidth utilization.

Monitoring WiFi Data Rates, WiFi Throughput, and User Capacity

Data Rates, Throughput, Bandwidth, and User Capacity are also vital metrics for assessing WiFi performance. A comprehensive WiFi heatmap provides insights into these metrics, allowing you to:

  • Identify areas with low data rates or throughput, indicating potential congestion.
  • Plan for future capacity needs by analyzing areas with high user density and heavy usage.

WiFi Data Rates

A data rate, in networking, refers to the speed of data transfer within a network and is determined by various factors, including SNR, Spatial Streams, Modulation (MCS), Channel Width, and Guard Interval. A WiFi heatmap can assist in optimizing these data rates by visually depicting the variations in signal strength used in SNR calculations and allowing the strategic positioning of access points considering parameters like Spatial Streams, MCS, Channel Width, and Guard Interval.

WiFi Throughput

Throughput, in the context of networking, is the actual rate of successful data transfer over a network. A WiFi heatmap aids throughput by providing a visual distribution of signal strength, helping in strategically positioning access points to maximize data transfer efficiency. With its additional insights into interference points and areas of signal overlap, it allows for the fine-tuning of network configurations to achieve optimal throughput.

WiFi Bandwidth

A WiFi heatmap assists engineers in understanding device density across different zones. By analyzing the heatmap, network engineers identify areas with numerous connected devices that could lead to high utilization. This insight allows for resource optimization, including adjusting channels or adding access points. This results in balanced bandwidth distribution and optimal network performance.

User Capacity

User capacity insights can be derived from a WiFi heatmap, which evaluates the density of users in different areas. The heatmap’s visual display of device connections allows engineers to identify areas with a high user density, which could potentially impact the user capacity. This understanding facilitates preemptive resource allocation, adjustments to user distribution, and the establishment of load balancing techniques. By doing so, it is possible to sustain a robust network user capacity and avoid potential service interruptions.

Managing Interference and Noise

Interference from other electronic devices and noise can significantly degrade WiFi performance. A WiFi heatmap helps you tackle these challenges effectively.

Interference

By visualizing areas with high interference levels, you can pinpoint potential sources of disruption and take corrective measures.

Noise

Noise, in the context of WiFi, refers to unwanted signals that interfere with the proper reception and transmission of data over a WiFi network. A WiFi heatmap helps combat this issue by visually showcasing the strength and coverage of the WiFi signal in a specific area, thus aiding in the strategic placement of access points to minimize interference and improve network performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a WiFi heatmap is a valuable tool that empowers you to plan, optimize, and troubleshoot your wireless network with precision. By providing a visual representation of signal strength, channel utilization, interference, and other metrics, heatmaps guide you toward an efficient and reliable WiFi experience. With the help of advanced solutions like NetAlly’s AirMapper Site Survey & AirMagnet Survey PRO, you can leverage the insights gained from heatmaps to automate network adjustments and ensure a seamless connectivity ecosystem.

In your journey toward achieving the best WiFi performance, remember that a well-executed WiFi heatmap is not just a map of signals; it’s a map of possibilities. So, armed with this newfound knowledge, why not explore the world of WiFi heatmapping and unlock the full potential of your network? Remember, your network’s success is just a heatmap away.

Author Bio –
Product Manager – Wireless

Julio Petrovitch is a product manager at NetAlly, plus a certified CWNA/CWAP/CWDP/CWSP. He’s worked with network design, testing and validation for almost 20 years. Throughout his career he has had the opportunity to work with multiple networking technologies, including POTS, DSL, Copper/Fiber Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth/BLE.