AirMagnet :: AirMagnet Gives IT Departments More Control Over Wireless LAN Security and Performance with Spectrum Analyzer 3.1 Release

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August 28, 2008

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AirMagnet Gives IT Departments More Control Over Wireless LAN Security and Performance with Spectrum Analyzer 3.1 Release

Vista™ support, instant analyzer playback feature, help module, SNMP capabilities and robust spectrum analysis provide IT managers greater power to identify wireless interference issues and malicious attacks at the physical layer of the network

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Mar 27, 2007 — AirMagnet Inc., the award-winning leader in wireless network assurance solutions, today announced the latest version of Spectrum Analyzer, the industry's leading solution for identifying RF interference sources that impact the performance and security of Wi-Fi networks. Spectrum Analyzer 3.1 includes support for Microsoft Vista, an upgraded help module for mitigating interference issues, a new instant replay feature, SNMP trap support, and much more. The combination of new features give IT managers a more pragmatic, real-world approach to improving WLAN performance and security by enabling them to detect, identify, and locate sources of interference or malicious attacks at the physical layer of the network.

Identifies Multiple Interference Sources
AirMagnet's Spectrum Analyzer proactively identifies, classifies, and finds sources of RF interference that impact the performance of Wi-Fi networks. Unlike earlier generations of spectrum analyzers, AirMagnet's Spectrum Analyzer provides an IT-friendly user interface with a rich set of real-time graphical displays to help IT managers analyze the spectrum. Using patented spectral fingerprinting techniques to measure, analyze, and display critical spectrum events and log all interfering devices in real-time, Spectrum Analyzer's system automatically recognizes a wide variety of wireless devices — such as Bluetooth, cordless phones, microwaves, analog video cameras, RF jammers and more — which can be viewed by time and channel for easy tracking and management.

Security at the Physical Layer
Wireless LANs are susceptible to attacks at both Layer 1 (the physical layer) as well as Layer 2 (data link). To protect a network from both types of threats, companies need security solutions that combine detailed packet analysis to detect Layer 2 attacks as well as proactive spectrum analysis to detect, identify and locate the source of Layer 1 attacks. Identifying malicious sources of interference and jamming techniques at the physical layer of the network is an important part of the wireless security equation because these events can often go overlooked and are especially disruptive and potentially damaging to the enterprise.

"The ability to monitor the RF spectrum and quickly remediate any interference issues that may impact performance and security is critical for any organization that relies heavily on wireless networks," said Dilip Advani, Product Manager at AirMagnet. "Spectrum Analyzer provides IT managers with the tools they need to automate the process and resolve issues in real-time. The latest version builds on the product's ease-of-use and helps make spectrum analysis a seamless part of an organization's entire wireless assurance initiative."

Laptop Analyzer and Survey Interfaces
Spectrum Analyzer can be used as a standalone instrument or used in concert with AirMagnet's industry-leading Laptop Analyzer and Survey products. Spectrum Analyzer can provide a data feed into these products to facilitate a complete RF view for use in network planning or as part of performance monitoring, security or compliance policy enforcement.

New to Spectrum Analyzer 3.1

Vista Support — IT managers can now install and use Spectrum Analyzer on Microsoft Vista.
Help Module Upgrade — Additional information on interference sources such as common names, severity of interference, recommended actions, and more, allow an IT manager to quickly resolve RF spectrum issues and ease troubleshooting of wireless networks.
Instant Replay — IT managers can review the most recent spectrum information through a playback feature (as if it were being viewed live for the first time), without interrupting the current Live Capture session. This allows for detailed post-collection analysis.
SNMP Traps — IT managers can send traps to an existing SNMP network management system when a new interfering device is detected based on a user policy. This allows an organization to instantly recognize when a non-authorized device is using spectrum resources and potentially causing interference.
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) Charts — These charts allows IT managers to easily identify the devices with poor signal to noise ratio by generating a color-coded bar chart that displays the SNR (the ratio of a given transmitted signal to the background noise on the channel) for each channel that has access points.
Additional Features — Device classification (in-network, known, unknown), date formats, plot backgrounds and updated spectrum alerts.

Interference Whitepapers Available
A series of whitepapers in the form of technical notes from the FarPoint Group are available, addressing the effects of interference on general WLAN traffic, Wi-Fi mesh networks and video over Wi-Fi. These documents provide insight into how spectrum analysis tools can help identify and subsequently take action regarding interference sources that impact current and emerging wireless technologies. These papers are available at AirMagnet White Papers. For more information on Spectrum Analyzer 3.1 and the entire line of AirMagnet wireless assurance solutions, please visit AirMagnet Products.

About AirMagnet Inc.
AirMagnet Inc. is the world leader in wireless network assurance. The company's wireless LAN monitoring and analysis products—available in handheld, laptop and enterprise configurations—are designed to provide an integrated set of solutions to plan, set up, secure and manage wireless networks. AirMagnet customers—more than 5,000 organizations worldwide in industries as diverse as manufacturing, financial, retail, service, health care, utility, transportation, education, government and technology—include 75 of the U.S. Fortune 100. AirMagnet solutions solve Wi-Fi connection problems, block unauthorized access, simplify site surveys and guarantee WLAN performance, compliance and security. Additional information about AirMagnet and its products is available at www.AirMagnet.com.

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