Which survey is performed after deployment to ensure coverage matches design requirements?

A predictive survey uses RF modeling software to simulate coverage before APs are installed, making it a pre-deployment planning activity rather than a post-deployment verification.

A passive survey involves walking the site with a WLAN adapter in receive-only mode, recording RSSI, SNR, and channel utilization without associating to any AP. This post-deployment technique confirms actual RF coverage and signal levels align with design requirements by measuring what the environment truly delivers.

Validation is not a distinct survey methodology in standard WLAN taxonomy - the passive survey is the defined technique for post-deployment coverage confirmation and serves the validation purpose.

An active survey requires associating to the network and measuring throughput, which tests capacity and performance rather than simply verifying RF coverage patterns match the design.