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Hello all.

I have been wanting to do my first site survey and heat-map of my house for wi-fi.  I see that for instance Ekahau site survey software allows one to import a floor plan.

What are my options for creating a floor plan of my house to use in the Ekahau or any other site survey software? Should I just use some like Windows 'Paint' or Photoshop maybe to draw up a simple floorplan, save it as a compatible file type, and then import it?

I'm excited to learn the answer to this question.

Thanks!

Mike

For a modern building the floor plan should be available somewhere. It doesn't need to be a CAD drawing. Usually an evacuation plan will contain the walls and doors with sufficient detail. You can draw your own, but it is non-trivial to get the dimensions right. Plan for several hours with a measurement tape and a pencil. It is easier to ask your landlord or whoever administers the building. If the floor plan is in large format paper then the easiest way is to snap a photo of it from directly above.

Thanks for responding but I don't have a floor plan, which is why I have asked how to create my own.  I assume any program that would allow me to export a common graphics format might do.

Yes, any PNG or JPG will do.

I would start with pencil and paper since you are going to make many corrections. It is quite important to get the relationships correct. Infinite detail is not required, though. You can then transfer your measurements to a drawing program or just snap a photo of the paper sketch.

Excellent advice! I really appreciate you answering me and providing this information.  I am going to attempt this right away.  Thanks!

Mike

The most critical detail is the accuracy of your room measurements, including doorway sizes -  regardless of the price of the package.  Be absolutely consistent on the x-y scaling. 

Understand closely the manufacturer's rules for when you "click" on your mouse.   For example should you click every three paces,  or only when you turn?  Be consistent, and be ready to re-run the survey after you have gotten better at it.

Unfortunately, none of the freebie versions will let you account for different building materials, and some add a "random factor" to intentionally add an error to the  location - although the signal levels will usually be as accurate as your scanning chipset will allow.

The biggest annoyance I have seen with the free versions, are limitations to either the duration of the survey, or the number of points that can be entered.

Full blown ($) versions don't have these restrictions of course.

The free versions can still provide useful results.  I recently used one to make up a slide for a presentation I was giving at work.

Have fun with it.  You'll learn a lot.

Thank you.  Great advice!