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There are two
types of surveys that you can conduct in
TamoGraph: passive and active.
During a passive
survey, the
application collects the most comprehensive data on the RF
environment: information on access points and their
characteristics, signal strength, noise level, interference, etc.
This is the default and most important survey type that we
recommend to conduct for every project. If you need more insight
into the real-world performan
ce of your WLAN,
TamoGraph can also perform an active
survey. During active
surveys your Wi-Fi adapter connects to the wireless network(s) of
your choice and the application generates network traffic to
measure actual throughput rates and a few other metrics.In addition to the
surveys based on actual on-site measurements, TamoGraph can be used
for planning WLANs that have not been deployed yet. This type of
survey is called predictive,
because Wi-Fi characteristics are predicted for the virtual
environment model created by the user. The virtual model includes
walls and other obstructions, as well as virtual APs placed by the
user. In other words, it is a computer simulation. No on-site
measurements are conducted.
The
table below summarizes the distinctions between the two survey
types. Please read this information carefully to make sure you
fully understand which survey type you need.
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Passive
Surveys
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Active
Surveys
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Predictive
Surveys
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When to conduct
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Highly recommended at all
times. The most comprehensive survey type that covers the most
important WLAN characteristics and metrics.
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Optional. Conduct when
measurement of real-world performance characteristics of your WLAN
is required.
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Optional. Conduct before
deployment to plan your WLAN and simulate its
characteristics.
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Hardware
requirements
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A compatible wireless adapter
is required. For the up-to-date list of compatible adapters, please
visit our Web site.
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Virtually any modern wireless
adapter with the latest drivers supplied by the adapter vendor will
work.
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A fast multi-core CPU. Intel i7
is highly recommended. No wireless adapter is required.
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Supported
Windows versions
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Windows XP, Windows Vista,
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008,
Windows Server 2008 R2. Both 32- and 64-bit versions are
supported.
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Windows XP (32-bit only),
Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows
8 (32- and 64-bit).
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Windows XP, Windows Vista,
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008,
Windows Server 2008 R2. Both 32- and 64-bit versions are
supported.
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Additional software
configuration requirements
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None
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You must create a Windows
profile for the WLAN you plan to test. If you plan to measure TCP
and/or UDP throughput, you must also run the throughput server
utility on the wired side of your WLAN.
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None.
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How data is
collected
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The application passively
listens for packets and does not attempt to connect to
WLANs.
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The application connects your
Wi-Fi adapter to the wireless network(s) of your choice to measure
actual throughput rates and a few other metrics.
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No on-site data collection is
performed. Data is simulated based on the virtual environment that
you created.
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Available
visualizations
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Signal Level
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Signal-to-Interference
Ratio
AP Coverage Areas
Number of APs
Expected PHY Rate
Frame Format
Channel Bandwidth
Requirements
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Actual PHY Rate
TCP Upstream Rate
*
TCP Downstream Rate
*
UDP Upstream Rate
*
UDP Downstream Rate
*
UDP Upstream Loss
*
UDP Downstream Loss
*
Round-trip Time
Associated AP
Requirements
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Same as for passive
surveys
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List of APs and their
characteristics is available
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Yes
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No
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Yes
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Surveys can be conducted
simultaneously
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Yes. You can conduct a
simultaneous Active + Passive survey if your computer is equipped
with two different Wi-Fi adapters. One of them must be compatible
with passive surveys; for the up-to-date list of compatible
adapters, please visit our
Web site.
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Not applicable
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* When
using advanced mode with a throughput server utility connection.
See Survey Type Selection for
more info.
As
mentioned above, some additional software configuration is required
when performing an active survey. The next chapter provides
detailed information on how to configure TamoGraph for an active
survey.
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