There are two types of surveys that you can conduct in TamoGraph: passive and active.

During
a passive survey, the application collects the most comprehensive data on the RF environment:
information on access points and their characteristics, signal strength, noise level, interference, etc. This is
the default and most important survey type that we recommend to conduct for every project. If you need
more insight into the real-world performance of your WLAN, TamoGraph can also perform an active
survey. During active surveys your Wi-Fi adapter connects to the wireless network(s) of your choice and
the application generates network traffic to measure actual throughput rates and a few other metrics.In
addition to the surveys based on actual on-site measurements, TamoGraph can be used for planning
WLANs that have not been deployed yet. This type of survey is called predictive, because Wi-Fi
characteristics are predicted for the virtual environment model created by the user. The virtual model
includes walls and other obstructions, as well as virtual APs placed by the user. In other words, it is a
computer simulation. No on-site measurements are conducted.
The table below summarizes the distinctions between the two survey types. Please read this information
carefully to make sure you fully understand which survey type you need.
Passive Surveys
When
conduct

to Highly recommended at all

times.
The
most
comprehensive survey type
that
covers
the
most
important
WLAN
characteristics and metrics.

Active Surveys

Predictive Surveys

Optional. Conduct when Optional.

Conduct
before
measurement of real- deployment to plan your WLAN
world
performance and simulate its characteristics.
characteristics of your
WLAN is required.

Hardware
requiremen
ts

A
compatible
wireless
adapter is required. For the
up-to-date
list
of
compatible
adapters,
please visit ourWeb site.

Virtually
any
modern A fast multi-core CPU. Intel i7 is
wireless adapter with the highly recommended. No wireless
latest drivers supplied by adapter is required.
the adapter vendor will
work.

Supported
Windows
versions

Windows
XP,
Windows
Vista, Windows 7, Windows
8, Windows 8.1, Windows
Server
2003,
Windows
Server
2008,
Windows
Server 2008 R2, Windows
Server
2012,
Windows
Server 2012 R2. Both 32and 64-bit versions are
supported.

Windows XP (32-bit only),

Windows Vista (32- and
64-bit), Windows 7 (32and 64-bit), Windows 8
(32- and 64-bit), Windows
8.1 (32- and 64-bit).

Windows XP, Windows Vista,

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows
8.1,
Windows
Server
2003,
Windows Server 2008, Windows
Server 2008 R2. Windows Server
2012, Windows Server 2012 R2.
Both 32- and 64-bit versions are
supported.

Additional
None
software
configuratio
n
requiremen
ts

You must create a Windows None.

profile for the WLAN you
plan to test. If you plan to
measure TCP and/or UDP
throughput, you must also
run the throughput server
utility on the wired side of
your WLAN.

How data is The application passively

collected
listens for packets and does
not attempt to connect to
WLANs.

The application connects

your Wi-Fi adapter to the
wireless network(s) of
your choice to measure
actual throughput rates
and a few other metrics.

Available
visualizatio
ns

Signal Level
Actual PHY Rate
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
TCP Upstream Rate *
Signal-to-Interference Ratio TCP Downstream Rate *
AP Coverage Areas
UDP Upstream Rate *

No on-site data collection is

performed. Data is simulated
based on the virtual environment
that you created.

Same as for passive surveys

Number of APs
Expected PHY Rate
Frame Format
Channel Bandwidth
Requirements
List of APs Yes
and
their
characterist
ics
is
available
Surveys can
be
conducted
simultaneou
sly

UDP Downstream Rate *

UDP Upstream Loss *
UDP Downstream Loss *
Round-trip Time
Associated AP
Requirements
No

Yes

Yes. You can conduct a simultaneous Active + Passive Not applicable

survey if your computer is equipped with two different
Wi-Fi adapters. One of them must be compatible with
passive surveys; for the up-to-date list of compatible
adapters, please visit ourWeb site.

* When using advanced mode with a throughput server utility connection. See Survey Type Selection for
more info.
As mentioned above, some additional software configuration is required when performing an active survey.
The next chapter provides detailed information on how to configure TamoGraph for an active survey.