Part of the planning stage of setting up a wireless local area network, is to undergo a WLAN site survey. This can be done with the help of some software and it can save you a lot of headaches down the line. A site survey will analyze how well a wireless signal is received within different areas of a room, for example an office or at home. One issue with wireless signals is that they are prone to interference (from things such as microwaves and baby monitors) which can disrupt the signal and impede speeds and reliability. This is naturally something which should be avoided when you are expecting high data transfers to be sent, especially within the work environment. There are some simple methods of avoiding aspects of interference in the first place, and this will be an essential part of planning. Switching some devices to cable connections will cut down on noise within the radio waves. Items such as wireless cameras and cordless phones, while convenient, could be sources of interference. Wireless networks generally run on 802.11a (5 GHz) and 802.11g (2.4 GHz) standards, and unfortunately things can interfere with that spectrum. There are options if you want to stay completely wireless as certain products will use less radio spectrum than others, so it is well worth researching. Microwave ovens, especially older ones are notoriously bad, as can cell phones when they have their Bluetooth connectivity activated. A WLAN site survey will be able to determine aspects of interference. The first option when wanting to perform a WLAN site survey will be to find some good freeware which will conduct a survey for you. By running the software on a laptop, and moving the laptop around to different locations, you will be able to build up a good plan of the strength of coverage within a floor plan. It will be good to predetermine the point at which you want to measure the radio signals, and this will help you monitor results. Fire up the software and start walking your planned route, and you will gather information along the way about how effective your wireless network is at certain points of distance away from the main router. You should be able to store the information for later analysis. More advanced software will allow you to monitor the floor plan from within its WLAN site survey tools. The principle is the same as that of the freeware, but there will be more bells and whistles involved with commercial software, so it will be a matter of choice as to how far you want to go with your site planning. One other way to analyze the amount of noise, or lack thereof within the radio spectrums, a Spectrum Analyzer will do a wonderful job as it will determine where the sources of interference are coming from. Again this is an option which can cost a lot of money, or be done on a scaled back basis with software and a PCMCIA card. A device which can measure both of the standard ranges will be ideal as you set up your wireless network.