The context
The building, under refurbishment, has six levels (a basement, the ground floor, two mezzanines and two upper floors) and masonry walls 50 cm thick or more. The layout plans placed 59 tri-band Wi-Fi 7 access points (2.4, 5 and 6 GHz), many of them concealed: in a cupboard, a piece of furniture, behind a false door or under a staircase.
The method
This predictive Wi-Fi study was carried out from floor plans with Ekahau AI Pro. The six plans were scaled, every wall classified by thickness and each level simulated separately, since old floors and vaults strongly isolate the storeys. The 59 locations were first simulated exactly as planned: same height, same mounting, including the attenuation of each concealment.
Criterion: at least −67 dBm over the indoor area, assessed separately on all three bands, with the second-AP signal for continuity on the move.
What the simulation showed
- With the planned layout, 18 % to 65 % of the area fell below the threshold depending on the level, about 812 m² in total.
- 23 access points were planned at 1.70 m or lower, masked by furniture and by their own concealment (3 to 5 dB of attenuation depending on the band).
- Raising them to 2.40 m out of cupboards gained up to 11 points of coverage; mounting them at 3 m added nothing more.
- Mounting height therefore explained only a small part of the gap: thick walls stop the signal from one room to the next, so each room needs its own access point.
The recommendation
The recommended layout keeps 58 of the planned locations and adds 33 reinforcement access points, 91 in total: 5 GHz coverage reaches 93 to 94 % of each main level, with no co-channel interference between access points on 5 and 6 GHz. If the planned access points can be mounted at 2.40 m out of cupboards, 87 are enough.
A roaming option (about 24 more access points in corridors) is only proposed if Wi-Fi calling is expected: for data use, the recommendation is sufficient. The frequency plan uses 20 MHz channels on 5 GHz and excludes the channels reserved for weather radar.
The report opens with a decision page: four options compared side by side, one recommendation and the decisions expected from the client, before any technical demonstration.
The deliverable
- A reasoned opinion on each of the 59 planned locations: keep, raise, or specify the mounting.
- Plans of the 33 reinforcements, with spare cable so an access point can be moved after measurement without a new cable run.
- An atlas of coverage maps on all three bands (primary and secondary signal, SNR, co-channel), planned and recommended layouts.
- The Ekahau projects for the integrator, with the exact access point positions.
A plan-based study relies on attenuation assumptions: it is completed by on-site measurement with a temporary access point (AP-on-a-Stick survey) at the locations to be raised, in the basement and in borderline areas, before the layout is frozen.