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Three key interface elements affect what
data will be analyzed and how. These elements are overviewed
below.
The Plans and Surveys
tab on the right panel defines
what data the application will visualize. This tab is organized as
a hierarchical tree, where for each floor or site plan, you will
see one or more site surveys you have conducted. You need to
select the floor plan to be analyzed and mark one or more survey
paths to be included using the corresponding checkboxes (unless you
are working on a predictive survey, where no actual on-site
measurements are conducted.) Depending on where and when the
surveys were conducted, you may want to check all or only some of
the survey checkboxes. For example, if you have a large site and
you made one break while conducting the site survey, your walkabout
path will consist of two parts, both of which should be included in
the analysis. In a different scenario (e.g., if you surveyed the
entire site prior to installing additional wireless hardware and
then surveyed it again after the installation), you will probably
want to include only one of the surveys and then compare it with
the other by changing the checkbox selection. The
Type
column indicates the survey
type: Active,
Passive,
or Active+Passive.
We are reviewing passive surveys in this chapter, so you should
select the surveys that are marked as Passive
or Active+Passive
in this column. You can use
the Comments
column to add or modify
comments for surveys or modify the survey names for clarity at any
time.
The Visualization
drop-down box on the tool bar
defines what type of analytical tool will be applied to the
selected site plan. A visualization is a graphical representation
of WLAN characteristics displayed as an overlay on top of the floor
plan. The available visualization types will be described below. To
select a visualization, simply select the corresponding item from
the drop-down list, under the Passive
section. . To clear all
visualizations, select None. When no visualization is selected, the
floor plan is overlaid with the walkabout paths and guess range
areas (the zones within which TamoGraph can make a good assessment
of the WLAN parameters).
The Selected APs / All
APs buttons on the tool
bar, along with the AP
list, control which
subset of observed APs is used for visualizations. Typically, you
should select the All APs
mode only if all of the listed
APs belong to your WLAN, as there is no point in visualizing, for
example, the wireless coverage areas for the AP to which your
wireless clients cannot connect. The default mode is
Selected
APs, in which TamoGraph
will analyze only the signals originating from the APs you selected
in the AP list on the left panel. In most corporate WLANs, all APs
share the same SSID, so the easiest way to select only your APs is
using the Group by
=> SSID command button located above the AP list
and checking the box next to your SSID.
Data visualizations, such as signal level
or signal-to-noise ratio, may or may not cover the entire area of
the floor plan. This depends on the Extrapolate data beyond
the guess range option,
which can be configured in the new project
wizard or at a later
time on the Properties
tab of the right-side panel. If
this option is enabled, TamoGraph will calculate WLAN
characteristics beyond the areas covered by your walkabout path.
While this is convenient, as the time needed to collect data for
the entire area is reduced, data extrapolation cannot produce
reliable results. Your walkabout path should normally cover all the
areas for which accurate data is important.
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