Verkada Wireless Survey in the USA: The Guide

The Challenge: Verkada Devices Are Network-Dependent by Design

Verkada’s platform is built around the cloud. Unlike legacy security systems that record locally and require physical retrieval of footage, Verkada devices are always-on, always-connected, and pushing data to Verkada’s cloud infrastructure continuously. That means they live on the corporate network, and they need reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi to function.

For this client, the problem wasn’t a total lack of wireless coverage. There was Wi-Fi across their warehouses. The issue was that the network had been built piecemeal over several years, with access points added reactively whenever complaints came in, rather than designed with any particular workload in mind. Nobody had ever asked: does this network actually meet the performance requirements of the devices we’re deploying?

The client had already purchased the Verkada hardware. Installation was three weeks out. They needed someone to validate the network and identify gaps before the rollout, not after.

Why They Called FNG

The client had been referred to us by a VAR partner who had used FNG for wireless survey work previously. What they needed wasn’t a generalist IT company who’d been on a one-day Ekahau training course. They needed a team with genuine wireless expertise, the right tools, and a track record of delivering accurate survey reports they could actually act on.

FNG’s wireless survey practice is led by a UK-based ECSE-accredited team, Ekahau Certified Survey Engineers, who handle all survey design, data analysis, and reporting for our projects globally. This means every survey report follows the same rigorous standard, whether the site is in the USA, Germany, Brazil, or Australia. For the on-the-ground survey work, we deployed one of our engineers, equipped with our Ekahau survey kit, following our established methodology, feeding data back to our UK reporting team in real time.

What the Survey Involved

Before putting a single engineer on site, our team worked with the client to understand the Verkada deployment plan in detail, exactly where every camera was going, where access control readers were being installed, and what device density was expected in each zone. This pre-survey planning stage allows us to design a survey that answers the right questions, not just produce a generic heatmap.

Armed with the Verkada device specs and site floor plans, we defined the survey objectives:

Validate signal strength and coverage across all planned device locations

Identify dead zones, weak coverage areas, and sources of RF interference

Assess channel utilisation and co-channel interference between existing access points

Confirm roaming behaviour across warehouse floor zones

Provide specific, actionable recommendations for AP repositioning or additions

The on-site survey took two days across the two primary warehouse facilities. Our engineer conducted both active and passive surveys using Ekahau’s platform, capturing signal data across the entire floor space, paying particular attention to high-racking aisles, loading bay areas, and office annexes where Verkada devices were planned. Metal shelving and racking is one of the most common sources of signal degradation in warehouse environments. The survey captured this accurately, not modelled, not estimated, but physically measured.

What We Found

The results confirmed what the client had suspected but couldn’t prove: significant portions of the network were not fit for purpose.

In the eastern warehouse building, two of the four planned camera locations fell within areas of marginal signal. The access points serving those zones had been installed for office Wi-Fi use, never evaluated for warehouse floor coverage. The cameras would have connected, but video quality would have been unreliable and connections would have dropped regularly under network load.

We also identified a co-channel interference problem in the loading bay area. Three access points in close proximity were all broadcasting on the same 2.4GHz channel. For laptops and phones, barely noticeable. For always-on Verkada cameras needing a stable, sustained connection, a significant issue.

In the main warehouse, coverage was largely adequate, but signal dropped below Verkada’s recommended threshold in two high-racking aisles. The survey was carried out with the warehouse at near-full capacity, an important detail, because an empty rack creates a very different RF environment from a full one.

The Recommendations

Every FNG survey report is produced by our UK ECSE-accredited team, working from the data gathered on site. It’s a structured, reviewed report, not field notes written up in a van.

For this client, the report included:

Access point repositioning- Two APs in the eastern warehouse recommended for relocation, with specific coordinates on the floor plan and before/after predicted coverage models.

Channel plan remediation- The loading bay interference required channel reassignment for affected APs, moving to non-overlapping channels with adjusted transmit power. Exact configuration changes included.

Additional AP installation- Two new access points recommended in the main warehouse high-racking aisles, with mounting height, orientation, and model recommendations compatible with existing infrastructure.

Device placement validation- Every planned Verkada device location confirmed against the recommended performance range, with alternative placement options provided where signal fell short.

The client received the full report within seven days of the on-site survey completing.

The Outcome

The client used the recommendations to guide a targeted network remediation before the Verkada deployment began. Access points were repositioned. The channel plan was corrected. Two additional APs were installed in the high-racking aisles.

When the Verkada rollout commenced, it went smoothly. All cameras connected and maintained stable connections. Access control readers synced without issue. Intercoms at the loading bays worked as expected. No connectivity-related delays, no call-backs, no signal-related support tickets in the weeks following installation.

The client’s IT manager summed it up: they’d expected the survey to confirm the network was fine, with maybe a couple of small tweaks. What they got was a detailed map of exactly where things would have gone wrong, with specific fixes to action before a single Verkada device went live. It saved them a significantly more expensive remediation exercise post-deployment.

Why Getting the Survey Right Matters

This project illustrates something we see regularly: companies invest heavily in the technology they’re deploying and overlook the wireless infrastructure that makes it all work. It’s an understandable oversight. Wi-Fi tends to be invisible until it breaks.

But Verkada’s cloud-managed model makes wireless reliability more critical than ever. These aren’t devices you can point at a local recording server and forget about. They’re always connected, always uploading, always dependent on the network. A weak signal doesn’t just degrade performance, it means your security system isn’t functioning as intended.

A wireless survey conducted before deployment answers one fundamental question: is this network ready for what we’re about to ask it to do? Done properly, it gives you a clear answer and a clear action plan. Done badly, or not done at all, you find out the hard way, on the day your cameras start dropping offline.

At FNG, wireless surveys represent a substantial part of our global business because the value is real and measurable. Our Ekahau-accredited team, supported by direct engineers on the ground in over 150 countries, can survey almost any site in the world and deliver a consistent, high-quality report within days. Whether it’s a warehouse in Ohio, a data centre in Singapore, or a corporate campus in São Paulo, the methodology is the same and the reporting standard is the same.

Ready to Validate Your Wireless Infrastructure?

If you’re planning a Verkada deployment, or any project where wireless reliability is business-critical, a survey before installation is one of the most cost-effective steps you can take. It’s far cheaper to reposition an access point before the ceiling tiles go in than after.

Book a free discovery call and let’s talk about what your project needs: fortitude-nicsa.com/book-a-discovery-meeting

Our Company

Channel Partnerships

Solutions

Resources

Verkada Wireless Survey in the USA