What is Predictive survey?
A predictive survey designs a wireless network on a computer. The designer loads the floor plan, defines wall and floor materials and the requirements for devices and users, places virtual access points, and the software models the signal and shows the result as heat maps.
It is different from a measured survey. A predictive survey models how signals should behave, while an on-site survey measures how they do behave. A predictive design is only as accurate as its inputs, so drawings, materials and requirements need to be right. A good practice is to validate the finished network afterwards.
Providers sometimes use the words survey and design differently for the same output. Some also combine a predictive model with a short on-site check of how walls affect signal. Ask what is in the work and what you will receive.
How it shows up in practice
- Provide current floor plans and notes on construction and finishes, since wrong material data leads to wrong predictions.
- Define requirements before design: device types, applications, user density and minimum signal and data rate in each area.
- Ask for the output in a form you can use, such as access point locations, mounting heights, channel and power plan and maps.
- Plan a validation survey after installation to confirm the network meets the design.