When it comes to performing WLAN site surveys there are many software tools out there but my experience mostly has been with Ekahau. It is a great piece of software with many awesome features loved by industry experts all over the world.
This part 1 of my wish list series and I will at the same time review some features of Ekahau as well.
Some people like to use it on the laptop with the trays, some people used it on Microsoft Surface Pro. I myself have been using it on Microsoft Surface Pro of which I haven’t been a huge fan. It would run sluggish at times, tablet would lose connectivity with the pen, tablet would freeze causing me to lose data, battery would not last long enough and I would have to carry a portable battery pack after few hours. Secondly I am all about not using paper and pen when performing pre-deployment surveys instead I preferred to utilize my tablet for all my notes and updating maps with notes.
So when Ekahau announced that their software will be available for the iPad I was excited as it would be a smaller and lighter device. Apple pencil is awesome and never head any issues. So we got the iPads, loaded up the software and performed my first survey. It was an awesome experience, battery lasted forever, did not freeze, using Apple pencil with it was awesome. However it did lack some features which considering a new product not a huge deal for now and I am able to deal with them as the software matures.
After performing probably about 20 or so surveys in last 3 months I must admit that there is one particular feature that is absolutely annoying and makes some parts of the survey difficult is the blue shaded area that follows your survey path as shown below:
While performing a survey especially when the following two conditions exist:
- Sunlight or bright light
- Background map is not extremely dark
It becomes very difficult to figure out at times where exactly I am on the map and where I need to tap next. So if I am walking and down a survey outside, due to bright sunlight and then those blue shaded areas, I have to make a complete stop figure out where I need to go next which at times may take a min or so. When you have to cover a large area every second counts and stopping every few min to figure out where you are takes up more time. I know I am not alone in this and there are other people who feel the same way.
In conclusion I hope to see a feature where I have the ability to turn these blue shaded areas off completely and turn them back on. Looking forward to see this product mature more as more and more people provide their feedback and developers update it.