How to use this planner
The planner asks six questions: site type, indoor area, outdoor area, floors, basement and the number of users and talk groups. It returns a starting architecture — direct mode, a single repeater, a repeater with an indoor antenna system, or a multi-site/PoC approach.
Use it before you request a quotation. It gives a supplier a consistent starting point and prevents the most common mistake: buying handhelds before deciding how the site will be covered.
The result is a screening recommendation. It does not replace a site survey, and it does not select a model.
Step 1: define the area you need to cover
Start with the areas where people actually work, not the whole building footprint. A hotel may need guest floors, service corridors, basements, plant rooms and the car park; a warehouse may need the picking aisles, loading docks and yard. List them and estimate the area of each.
If the site has an outdoor yard, add it separately. Outdoor coverage behaves differently from indoor coverage: there is less obstruction, but distance, terrain and antenna height matter more.
Step 2: count floors and basements
Floors and basements are the strongest predictors of whether a single repeater will work. A repeater on the roof can cover several floors if the signal can travel down the stair core and through the floor slabs. A deep basement is usually separated by enough concrete to need its own antenna coverage.
As a rule of thumb:
- One floor, open plan: direct mode or a single repeater.
- Two to five floors, concrete: a repeater with careful antenna placement.
- More than five floors or multiple wings: a repeater plus indoor antennas, or more than one site.
- Any deep basement or plant room: plan indoor coverage for that area specifically.
Step 3: decide how many talk groups you need
Talk groups are the departments, functions or zones that need to talk separately. A hotel might have front desk, housekeeping, engineering, security and management. A warehouse might have inbound, outbound, yard, returns and security.
The group count affects the technology choice:
- One or two groups, small team: analog may be enough.
- Three to five groups, one site: DMR with two time slots per carrier is usually efficient.
- Many groups, multiple sites: DMR with multiple carriers, a trunked system or PoC with a platform.
Write the group plan before comparing prices. A radio that covers the site but cannot separate the groups will not solve the operation.
Step 4: choose the starting architecture
The planner maps the answers to one of four starting points:
| Starting point | Typical conditions | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Direct mode | Small open area, few users, one or two groups | Handheld-to-handheld; test before buying |
| Single repeater | One building, up to about 3,000 m², no deep basement | Rooftop or mast antenna; handhelds reach the repeater |
| Repeater + indoor antennas | Multi-floor, basement, metal structure, multiple wings | Distributed antennas fill the dead spots |
| Multi-site / PoC | Campus, multiple buildings, city-wide fleet, temporary sites | Several repeaters or a mobile-network service |
The thresholds are planning guidance, not physics. A 2,500 m² warehouse with tall racking can behave worse than a 5,000 m² open warehouse. A hotel with a deep basement can need indoor coverage even at 1,500 m².
What the result does not tell you
The planner does not know:
- the wall and floor materials;
- the racking height and stock density;
- the antenna positions available;
- the interference environment;
- the licence and band constraints;
- the required audio quality or acceptance threshold.
Those are settled by a site survey and a design review. The planner is useful because it turns a vague fear (“will it cover?”) into a specific starting architecture that a supplier can price and test.
Next step: a site survey
A site survey usually includes:
- a walk-through of the areas that matter;
- a test transmission from the proposed repeater or antenna positions;
- signal and audio measurements at defined points;
- a talk-group and channel plan;
- a coverage acceptance method agreed with the client.
For a small site, the survey can be a one-day visit. For a campus or a hospital, it can take several days and include a design report.
If you want to move from the planner to a design, send the site details through the contact page. For the physics behind the result, read the walkie-talkie range guide. For the technology choice, read analog vs DMR vs PoC.