WiFi Surveys (Ekahau) · Case study
Predictive Design and Validation Wi-Fi Surveys for Two Dutch Campuses.
How predictive Ekahau design and validation surveys would be planned for two Dutch warehouse and factory campuses.
Representative scenario. Last reviewed October 2026.
Engagement profile
- Customer
- Manufacturer and logistics operator with a distribution campus and a production campus
- Scale
- 2 campuses, 6 buildings, about 90,000 square meters of floor space, a mix of high-bay warehouse and production halls
- Service
- WiFi Surveys (Ekahau)
- Where
- Netherlands
Representative scenario. This case study shows how Deploris scopes and delivers this kind of work. It does not describe a real client, and no results are claimed. Want a plan like this for your own sites? Request a quote.
Quick answer
What does this engagement look like?
A predictive and validation Wi-Fi survey program for two Dutch manufacturing and warehouse campuses means modeling each building in Ekahau AI Pro, designing access point placement around racking and high bays, then measuring the installed network with an Ekahau Sidekick. Deploris runs it through one engagement manager and local engineers near Rotterdam and Eindhoven. The customer receives the project file, heatmaps, channel analysis, and a closeout report.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge.
The customer is replacing an aging wireless network on two campuses. The distribution campus near Rotterdam is a set of steel-clad high-bay warehouses with narrow-aisle racking, loading docks, and an outdoor yard where trucks and trailers move all day. The production campus near Eindhoven mixes assembly halls, offices, and technical rooms with controlled access. Handheld scanners, vehicle-mounted terminals, laptops, and office phones all share the same airspace, and the old network was never designed against a written requirement.
Wi-Fi in this kind of building is hard to predict from drawings alone. Racking loaded with pallets absorbs and reflects signal differently from empty racking, metal cladding and mezzanines create reflections, and ceilings 10 meters or more above the floor change what an access point can realistically reach. The customer also wants one repeatable method for both sites, so that a design is modeled first, checked against real measurements after installation, and documented well enough for an internal team to maintain it.
Constraints the plan had to respect
- Warehouse operations run in shifts, so measurements on the floor must fit around live forklift traffic, with stock levels close to normal because loaded racking changes attenuation.
- Several buildings have ceilings above 10 meters, so mounting heights and access equipment such as scissor lifts have to be settled before the install window, not during it.
- Both campuses require site safety induction before engineers enter operational areas, and the production campus restricts photography and equipment brought on site, so photo and device permissions need to be agreed in writing.
- Survey data records nearby network names and device identifiers, and photos can capture staff, so the customer's privacy contact needs to approve how that data is stored and shared under the EU data protection rules (AVG in the Netherlands).
- The installation is done by the customer's cabling contractor on a separate schedule, so validation can only start once the access points are mounted, powered, and configured.
HOW THE WORK RUNS
How the work is run.
- 1
Requirements and requirement profiles
The engagement manager writes the scope before any work starts and runs a short workshop with the customer's network and operations leads. The outcome is a set of Ekahau requirement profiles by area: minimum primary and secondary signal levels, SNR, and channel overlap for scanner zones, office areas, and the outdoor yard, plus which bands are in scope. The 6 GHz band is treated carefully because European availability is limited compared with other regions, and the customer's client devices must support it before it earns a place in the design.
- 2
Floor plans, wall types, and site preparation
Scaled CAD or PDF plans are imported into Ekahau AI Pro and checked against a known dimension on site. Wall and floor materials are assigned per segment, including steel cladding, sandwich panels, fire doors, and mezzanine decking. Engineers book site induction, confirm the out-of-hours rules and access windows for each building, and ask the customer to supply typical stock and racking layouts so the model can be adjusted for loaded conditions. English is widely used in Dutch business, but induction material and safety signage may be in Dutch, so the engagement manager asks for translated or briefed instructions in advance.
- 3
Predictive design and AP-on-a-stick validation of the model
The design starts in Ekahau AI Pro with simulated access points, then the model is tested on site with an AP-on-a-stick survey in a few representative zones: an aisle between loaded racks, a dock door area, an office corridor, and a production hall. Measured attenuation is used to correct the wall and racking assumptions before the full design is finalized. The design then fixes AP count, model, mounting height, antenna type (directional units facing down aisles where they fit), channel and transmit power plan, and a note of which 5 GHz channels fall in DFS ranges, since radar sources near a port can trigger channel changes.
- 4
Post-install validation survey
Once the cabling contractor finishes, local engineers carry an Ekahau Sidekick and a survey device through each building. A passive survey records signal, SNR, noise, and channel overlap, and an active survey with a test SSID records throughput and retries where the requirement profiles ask for it. Measurements are taken at floor height and, in warehouse aisles, at the height a handheld scanner is actually used. Engineers work within local working-time norms and agreed night or weekend windows, and they keep the survey kit with the engineer who holds it, so there is no cross-border shipment of equipment to schedule.
- 5
Analysis, remediation notes, and closeout
The engagement manager compares measured results with the predictive model and the requirement profiles, and lists every gap with a location, a likely cause, and a proposed fix such as an AP move, a power or channel change, or an added unit. Neighbor network names and any staff in photos are handled according to the privacy approach agreed at the start. The customer receives the structured closeout report with photos and test results, the Ekahau project file, and a prioritized list of changes, and can ask for a re-survey of corrected areas under the same written scope.
WHAT WAS PRODUCED
What the engagement delivers.
Each item links to a full guide with its scope, process and FAQs.
WHAT THE CUSTOMER ENDS UP WITH
What the customer ends up with.
- 01An editable Ekahau project file for each campus that the customer's own team can reopen, update, and use for future changes.
- 02Written requirement profiles that state what the network is supposed to support in each area, so later complaints can be checked against an agreed target.
- 03Signal strength and SNR heatmaps for warehouse aisles, docks, offices, and production halls, based on measurements and not only on the design model.
- 04A channel plan with documented DFS and interference observations, giving the network team a clear basis for radio settings.
- 05A prioritized punch list of placement and configuration changes, each tied to a location and a photo, ready to hand to the installer.
WHAT APPLIES TO YOUR PROJECT
Decisions that apply to similar projects.
Calibrate the predictive model on site before trusting it. A short AP-on-a-stick pass in loaded racking, a dock area, and a production hall corrects wall and stock assumptions and is far cheaper than relocating mounted access points.
Write requirement profiles in terms the operations team understands, such as scanner zones and vehicle routes. That way validation answers whether each area meets its agreed purpose, not just whether a heatmap looks green.
Settle access, induction, photo permissions, and data handling before the survey day. On industrial and high-tech sites these approvals, not the measuring itself, are what usually decide whether an engineer can work in a building on the planned date.
WHERE IT APPLIES
Metros in this scenario.
Local engineers in each metro, coordinated by one engagement manager. Open a metro to see local details.
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions.
Why survey a warehouse before and after installing access points?
Does a Wi-Fi survey in the Netherlands raise data protection questions?
Can Deploris survey sites near Rotterdam and Eindhoven in the same program?
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