November 21, 2008

Home > Products > WiFi Analyzer

AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer (Formerly Laptop Analyzer)

AirMagnet's WiFi Analyzer is the industry's most popular mobile field tool for troubleshooting enterprise Wi-Fi networks. WiFi Analyzer helps IT staff make sense of end-user complaints to quickly resolve performance problems, while automatically detecting security threats and other network vulnerabilities. Although compact, WiFi Analyzer has many of the feature-rich qualities of a dedicated, policy-driven wireless LAN monitoring system.

WiFi Analyzer automatically identifies hundreds of performance problems, such as 802.11n mis-configurations, 802.11b/g conflicts, 802.11e problems, and QoS, as well as dozens of wireless intrusions and hacking strategies, including Rogue devices, Denial-of-Service attacks, Dictionary Attacks, Faked APs, RF Jamming, "Stumbler" tools, and many more. WiFi Analyzer also offers a convenient "Find Tool" that enables you to quickly track down rogue APs and non-complying devices that compromise network security. Also use Find Tool to align signals between antennas to quickly optimize reception in line-of-sight bridging. WiFi Analyzer enables you to set detailed security policies for all devices in your network. Designate your encryption and authentication methods then monitor your wireless LAN to check all devices for compliance with those policies. Also validate that the encryption methods themselves function correctly over the WLAN. Establish an even higher level of organized security by designating a list of approved APs for client access, and monitoring for exposed wireless stations, ad-hoc devices, and other vulnerabilities. In addition to the issues that Analyzer automatically locates for you, a suite of active troubleshooting tools are available at your fingertips to help you quickly pinpoint network problems — 802.11n mis-configurations, RF interferences, traffic/infrastructure overloads, hardware failures, connectivity issues and more. Test connections with traditional tools such as DHCP, ping, and traceroute or use AirMagnet's Diagnostic Tool to view the step-by-step progress of a connection between a client and AP to pinpoint exactly where the process has broken down. Run AP performance tests to identify mismatched settings in the network, coverage, multi-path interference, jitter and roaming. The WLAN Throughput Simulator and the Device Throughput Calculator tools help users make that critical purchase decision on how they can phase 802.11n devices into their existing 802.11a/b/g network. WiFi Analyzer identifies and classifies all 802.11n capable devices in the network (including differentiating between standards-compliant and pre-standard 802.11n devices). It supports monitoring for 20 MHz and 40 MHz channels and also detects and classifies higher data rates used by the 802.11n devices. Using the Analyzer, users can classify/decode Non-HT and HT format traffic and physically locate 802.11n rogue devices operating in the environment (which are often invisible to non-802.11n analyzers). The Analyzer shows how to get true 11n performance that rivals what 11n can do in theory and enables a smooth migration into 802.11n for the user by recognizing and resolving conflicts between new 802.11n devices and legacy a/b/g devices.

AirMagnet recommends the use of the AirMagnet 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless PC Card for monitoring and troubleshooting 802.11n networks. Click here for technical details for the card. AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer PRO's Learning Assistant provides explanations in plain, straightforward language on key technologies behind the 802.11n protocol. This helps the user understand technologies required to optimize their 802.11n infrastructure for maximum throughput and reliability. Users can visualize the implications of using/not using a particular feature of the 802.11n standard. AirMagnet's intelligent AirWISE engine alerts users to co-existence issues with legacy devices, QoS issues, etc. and suggests methods to fix them and best practices to avoid their re-occurrence in the future. Using AirWISE, AirMagnet users can solve 802.11n problems without decoding all packets and memorizing the entire 802.11n standard. Note: Analyzer's Learning Assistant and the 802.11n alarms are available in the PRO version only. The Analyzer includes the new 11n Performance Toolkit, a first-of-a-kind feature set that let users quickly see how best to deploy 11n technology and maximize the real-world performance of the network. The toolkit is available in AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer PRO only.

• 802.11n Device Throughput Calculator tool to calculate and compare the expected performance metrics for an 802.11n Access Point based on user input for 802.11n parameters. Every enterprise must use this tool before purchasing their 802.11n APs to understand the capabilities and limitations for their access points network performance.
• WLAN Throughput Simulator tool captures the existing infrastructure environment and calculates the network throughput and overhead under user-specified conditions. It also allows the simulation of new APs or stations with specific capabilities and visualization of the impact on performance. Every enterprise must use this tool before making that decision to introducing 802.11n devices in their network.
• Efficiency and Analysis tools to help users get the maximum value out of their 802.11n infrastructure, by analyzing conversations between the AP and station and pin-pointing areas where the 802.11n high throughput options are not being well used. The tools also go further and provide solutions on fixing those areas.
• AirMagnet WiFi integrates with Iperf — a free, open-source software tool for network performance analysis — to analyze uplink and downlink network performance including bandwidth, throughput, 20/40 MHz traffic, data rates, etc.

Interference can stem from a variety of sources including competition from other Wi-Fi devices, so-called "hidden nodes" in the network, and even non-802.11 wireless devices. The WiFi Analyzer's Interference Page tracks all these components of interference and plainly displays them by channel. This enables you to quickly see the impact of competing Wi-Fi devices, identify any hidden nodes affecting the channel, and track noise in the RF environment. WiFi PRO users can also integrate with the AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer* and Cisco Spectrum Expert* to identify non-802.11 sources of interference for even deeper Layer 1 analysis.

* AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer and Cisco Spectrum Expert must be purchased separately WiFi Analyzer shows real-time packet flows for any Wi-Fi asset. Track data and management packets live, watch CRC errors, utilization, packet speed, media type and more. View a real-time decode page for detailed network analysis: WiFi Analyzer decodes the most popular protocols such as FTP, HTTP, SMTP, POP, and Telnet, with advanced filtering options that allow you to focus on particular conversations based on IP address or port number. AirWISE® is your encyclopedia source for understanding the threats and performance issues at work in your Wi-Fi environment. All system alarms are explained for you in plain-English detail, including why they are important and what steps you should take to resolve issues. AirMagnet provides detailed compliance reports for a variety of regulatory standards including Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, EU-CRD (Cad 3), ISO 27001, FISMA, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, DoD 8100.2, and GLBA. Reports provide a step-by-step pass/fail assessment of each section of the standard, enabling you to complete work in a fraction of the time. WiFi Analyzer also offers an integrated reporting tool that enables you to turn your Wi-Fi analysis sessions into professional customized reports. Choose from a library of pre-built reports or generate your own targeted reports by selecting specific items of interest from the user interface, such as RF statistics, channel reports, device reports, or security and performance issue reports.

AirMagnet WiFi PRO software version contains all the functionality of the basic WiFi Analyzer version plus an additional set of features tailored to the needs of the wireless expert, such as:

• Support for 200+ 802.11a channels
• Integration with AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer*
• 4.9 GHZ (Public Safety Band) monitoring
• Session sharing between two WiFi Analyzers
• Advanced Session Reporting and Compliance Reporting

* AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer sold separately

AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer can be installed on a variety of platforms including Windows-based Laptops, Tablet PCs, Apple® MacBook® Pro and Ultra Mobile PCs. UMPC support enables end-users and resellers — for the first time — to monitor, audit and troubleshoot all aspects of the WLAN with a PC that can fit in their pocket. It gives users the flexibility of walking about the physical premises to audit and troubleshoot enterprise Wi-Fi networks using a light-weight handheld solution. AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer is supported on the OQO Model 02/e2 UMPC. Click here for more details on the OQO model 02/e2 UMPC. AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer is compatible with many external and built-in wireless LAN adapters. Click here to view list of supported adapters.

The installation and operation of AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer (software-only) requires separate hardware with one of the following minimum system requirements below.