Designing a Wi-Fi Network

Designing a Wi-Fi Network


This is the first in a series of blogs on Wi-Fi operation, design, and troubleshooting.


Designing a Wi-Fi network is much easier if you have the right procedures and tools in place.


First you must collect data about the network:

  • What are the requirements of the network?
  • What is the goal of the new network?
  • What is it meant to achieve?
  • Are there any constraints you have to overcome?

Next you have to decide what wireless vendor is being used? One of the most important things to get is an accurate map (or plan) of the site and the various floors. 

Now you need to validate the map(s), and confirm the accuracy. This usually involves a site visit. During your site visit, you may take measurement to test the walls, to see what they are made of, and check their dB loss for use in your model.


Your goal now, is to build a model, to simulate the environment, so you can see how signal propagates, and how the network will perform.


Next you test and validate the model, and plan AP positions. 


To collect accurate data, and build an accurate model, the right tools are necessary. Ekahau provides a suite of tools that are invaluable for Wi-Fi network design:

  • Ekahau AI Pro
  • Ekahau Connect subscription
  • Ekahau Sidekick 2 (hardware)

When used together, these give you the ultimate toolset for designing Wi-Fi networks!


These packages include tools that run on local PC's, or mobile devices for easy data collection. They include cloud systems for advanced 3D simulation and modeling, along with advanced optimization and insights. They also include packet capture tools for analysis and troubleshooting. 

You can easily use these tools to design a network model simulating the operation of your proposed network. They are so powerful, you can even capture data from your current network, build a model, and simulate how newer APs will operate. 


One of the most amazing features is that you can capture a 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi 5 or 6 network today, with your current AP equipment, and build a model, that can be leveraged to show how a brand new set of 6GHz Wi-Fi 7 APs will perform in a new network design! This is truly amazing!


Once you have designed your network model, you can order the equipment and create an installation plan.


Now you simply install the network, power it on, and then validate its operation again with the same tools, making fine tweaks and adjustments if necessary.


Then, as if by magic, “hey presto”, you have a wonderful Wi-Fi network that just works great!

Ekahau also provides award winning training that teaches you how to use these tools, and move from Wi-Fi novice to expert in easy-to-digest steps!


To learn about NC-Expert Consulting Services, to help you design and manage Wi-Fi networks, click here 


To learn more about Ekahau, or get a Demo, click here: https://wifi.ekahau.com/demo-phil/ 


See you next time!

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#General #Ekahau #NetworkDesign #WiFi


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About NC-Expert

NC-Expert is a privately-held California corporation and is well established within the Wireless, Security, and Collaboration industry certification training, courseware development, and consulting markets.

NC-Expert has won numerous private contracts with Fortune level companies around the world. These customers have depended on NC-Expert to train, advise, and mentor their staff.

So remember, if you are looking for the best IT training just call us at (855) 941-2121 or contact us

NC-Expert Blog

Wi-Fi Myth Series - Myth #13: Mesh is ALWAYS The Best Solution

By Rie Morgan • September 10, 2026
Mesh Wi-Fi has developed quite the reputation: Need coverage in the far end of the building? Mesh. Can’t get Ethernet to an access point? Mesh. Dead spot upstairs? Mesh. Need Wi-Fi in the warehouse, courtyard, annex, garage, loading dock, or that mysterious conference room where RF signals apparently go to die? Mesh. And there’s a reason for the enthusiasm. Mesh networking can be extremely useful: it can extend connectivity into places where running cable is difficult, expensive, disruptive, or simply impossible. Modern mesh systems can dynamically select paths, recover from connectivity changes, and provide remarkably capable wireless backhaul... but that doesn’t mean mesh is automatically the best architecture. Sometimes the best mesh network is the one you don’t build!

Wi-Fi Myth Series - Myth #12: Auto Channel Selection ALWAYS Knows Best

By Rie Morgan • August 28, 2026
Automatic Channel Selection sounds like one of those features we should simply be able to trust: the APs monitor the RF environment, the Controller gathers data, an Algorithm considers interference, utilization, neighboring APs, channel availability, and other metrics, then Radio Resource Management (RRM) does its “thing” and selects the best channels. Wonderful! One less problem for the wireless engineer to worry about... except RF rarely cooperates with anything quite that neatly! Modern RRM systems are remarkably capable, and automatic channel selection can dramatically simplify the management of large wireless environments, but an algorithm can only make decisions based on the information it collects, the parameters it has been given, and the objectives it has been designed to optimize. That makes automation a powerful engineering tool. It does not make it the engineer.

Wi-Fi Myth Series - Myth #11: Interference Is Always Someone Else’s Wi-Fi

By Rie Morgan • August 20, 2026
When Wi-Fi performance suddenly deteriorates, interference is often the first culprit to be suspected and, when this (interference) enters the conversation, attention tends to turn immediately toward neighboring Wi-Fi networks. “Someone must have installed another AP.” “The office next door is probably using our channel.” “There are too many SSIDs around here.” Sometimes, this diagnosis is exactly right, but RF interference has a much larger cast of characters than just neighboring APs. In fact, some of the most frustrating wireless problems occur when the interfering device isn’t speaking 802.11 at all! The spectrum doesn’t particularly care whether the energy occupying it came from an enterprise AP, a Bluetooth headset, a microwave oven, or something considerably stranger. To a Wi-Fi radio trying to communicate, unwanted RF energy is simply unwanted RF energy. Wi-Fi Has to Share the Neighborhood The 2.4 GHz band has always been something of an RF “community center”. Wi-Fi operates alongside Bluetooth, Zigbee and other technologies, while various consumer, industrial, medical, and electronic devices may also generate energy within or around the same spectrum. Microwave ovens are perhaps the most famous example. Their emissions can interfere with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, particularly when clients are operating nearby. Bluetooth devices, cordless equipment, wireless cameras, sensors, and other transmitters can also contribute RF energy. Some interferers transmit continuously. Others appear periodically. Some hop frequencies. Others produce wideband noise. That last category can be particularly entertaining to troubleshoot... in the very specific sense of “entertaining” that wireless engineers use when they have been staring at spectrum analysis for three hours! The important point is that interference doesn’t need to understand Wi-Fi to disrupt it.