AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer


Anywhere, Anytime Troubleshooting for 802.11 b/g LANs
AirMagnet's Handheld Analyzer is a convenient, inexpensive way to solve serious problems in the enterprise wireless LAN. The Handheld Analyzer helps IT staff make sense of end-user complaints to quickly resolve performance problems, while automatically detecting hundreds of security threats and other network vulnerabilities.
Automatically Detect Vulnerabilities
Handheld Analyzer performs a continuous vulnerability assessment of your Wi-Fi network to detect weaknesses that often go overlooked, enabling you to take corrective action before problems occur. Handheld Analyzer automatically identifies hundreds of vulnerabilities and performance problems, such as 11b/g conflicts, 802.11e problems, QoS, etc. Handheld Analyzer also alerts you of 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.
Lockdown Security Policies
The Handheld 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 monitor for exposed wireless stations, ad-hoc devices, and other vulnerabilities.
Perform Live, Interactive Network Tests
In addition to the issues that Handheld Analyzer automatically locates for you, a suite of active troubleshooting tools are available at your fingertips to help you quickly pinpoint network problems—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, and Jitter and Roaming for Voice over Wi-Fi.
Track Down Rogues and Devices
The Handheld Analyzer offers a zero-tolerance approach to Rogue Management, enabling you to detect and block rogues wirelessly or at the wired port. The convenient "Find Tool" locks on to a particular AP or station and guides you to the physical location of a device, enabling you to quickly track down Rogue APs and non-complying devices. Also use the Find Tool to align signals between antennas to quickly optimize reception in line-of-sight bridging.
Detailed Packet and Frame Analysis
Handheld 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. Handheld 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.
Access the AirWISE® Expert
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.
GPS Support
Handheld Analyzer provides GPS coordinates with your alarms to help you quickly pinpoint the location of security and performance issues in your outdoor 802.11 b/g network.
Flexible Mobile Form Factor
Handheld Analyzer is the most flexible troubleshooting solution for 802.11 b/g networks on the market today. The Handheld Analyzer software works on any hardware platform that supports the Summit Data Communication SDC-CF20G 802.11g Compact Flash Card with integrated antennas, AirMagnet's Wireless Compact Flash Card (Mercury NL_2511 CF) or the Cisco Aironet 352 (AIR-LMC352 or AIR-PCM352).
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Minimum System Requirements:
The installation and operation of AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer (software-only) requires separate hardware with one of the following minimum system requirements below.
- Intel® StrongARM processor, Marvell® Xscale® Processor (PXA 270-tested & verified by AirMagnet)
- Microsoft® Pocket PC 2003 or Windows Mobile® 5.0 (Note: Windows Mobile® 6.0 is not supported)
- 64 MB of RAM
- 3 MB of free disk space (for installation)
- 16 MB of free memory space
- Open slot for PCMCIA or CF Type II card
The following Handheld devices have been tested by AirMagnet:
- HP
- HX 2495
- HX 2795
- HX 2490
- Dell
- Axim x51v
- Axim x51 520 Mhz
- Axim x51 416 Mhz
Preferred Adapters
AirMagnet
- AirMagnet Wireless (Original and Mercury) Compact Flash Card (EL-2511CF) ( NL-2511CF)
More Details »
Summit Data Comm
- Summit SDC-CF20G 802.11g Compact Flash Card with Integrated Antennas
More Details »
Summit CF card users
CANNOT:
- See noise in the wireless environment.
- Visualize CRC errors.
- Use active tools (DHCP, ping, trace, roaming, survey, performance) in the AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer product.
Here is a list of the new features being introduced in Handheld Analyzer 7.0
- Monitor 802.11g devices and speeds
- New Summit SDC-CF20G 802.11g Compact Flash Card with Integrated Antennas (SDC-CF20G)
- New alarms: Potential pre-802.11n alarm
- 802.11d support
The AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer provides an all-in-one solution for Wi-Fi security and performance monitoring for Enterprise Wi-Fi networks. The solution detects over 130 classes of threats and over 200 types of WLAN attack tools and strategies and includes a suite of troubleshooting tools to resolve problems for Wi-Fi Networks.
At the heart of the Handheld Analyzer is the AirWISE® engine, which automatically detects the root-cause of dozens of Wi-Fi issues that impact security, performance and compliance across 802.11b and 11g channels. AirWISE® eliminates the need for users to manually interpret complex packet decodes and wireless data by taking the proactive role of identifying and explaining more than 130 classes of threats and performance and over 200 types of attack tools and strategies before they impact the network. The user-friendly AirWISE® interface explains alarms in straightforward details, provides access to additional diagnostic data, and offers advice on corrective actions.
Yes. The AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer is very simple to use. AirMagnet Handheld's AirWISE® engine is an intelligent Wi-Fi analysis engine that detects and explains events that can impact performance, security, or policy compliance. AirWISE® translates its analysis sessions for non- RF experts into alarms with detailed explanations of each event, including why they are important and problem-solving techniques or policy recommendations. With AirWISE®, AirMagnet Handheld users can quickly detect and diagnose any wireless problem.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer monitors the 802.11b/g band.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer automatically detects and alerts users of dozens of wireless intrusions, penetration attempts and hacking strategies including Rogue Devices, Denial of Service attacks, Dictionary Attacks, Faked APs, RF Jamming, and many more. This includes the ability to detect and identify the use of various "stumbler" tools which may indicate an unauthorized user attempting to snoop your network and can also detect security configuration vulnerabilities.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer automatically detects and alerts users of channel and device overloading problems, problematic traffic patterns, excessive bandwidth usage, 802.11e issues, IEEE 802.11g issues, RF regulatory violations, device resets, and many more.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer detects Cross Channel Interference in the environment. The brown bar on the START page denotes normal Cross Channel Interference (CCI) emitted by access points, as well as probing signals from other devices looking for an access point with which to connect. The CCI is a side effect of the Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum coding used in the 802.11b RF transmission. It creates potential interference with other 802.11b devices operating in the adjacent channels. It could also result in a higher packet error rate during transmission, and reduce over-all network bandwidth availability.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer users can be notified of any security or performance violation by sound messages.
AP's implementing 802.11d will broadcast the country ISO code in certain wireless frames to help tune devices to meet the channel (frequency) and power requirements of the country the device is being implemented in. The client in turn, will adjust its frequency, power levels, etc. AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer decodes 802.11d traffic and displays specific 802.11d information for every device.
The AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer decodes the most popular protocols such as FTP, HTTP, SMTP, POP, and Telnet, with advanced filtering options that allows users to focus on particular conversations based on IP address or port number.
AirMagnet Handheld's Find Tool locks onto any rogue AP or station and can guide you to their physical location.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer provides the following tools to solve wireless problems:
- Site Survey — AirMagnet's site survey tool allows users to perform a detailed continuous site survey, and then export the collected data to a variety of file formats. The Site Survey tool also allows users to log events such as changes in the AP, signal strength, connection speed, as well as the ability to log by time interval and by physical location.
- Coverage Tool — AirMagnet's coverage tool allows users to visualize what percentage of their network conforms to established service levels. This allows IT to set custom SLAs, and provide proof that the SLAs are actually met.
- Signal Distribution Tool — AirMagnet's Signal Distribution tool measures very rapid fluctuations in signal quality and allows users to identify malfunctioning APs and detect potential multi-path interference for a client station.
- Diagnostic — AirMagnet's Diagnostic tool provides a utility to diagnose the connection between any station and any AP in the environment. The AirMagnet Diagnostic tool identifies mismatched configurations, such as SSIDs, WEP keys, transmission rates, preamble, or RF channels. It also helps isolate the problem to the specific step in the association process where the connection is failing.
- Connection Test — AirMagnet's Connection test tool provides built in tools (DHCP, ping, trace and whois) to help network professionals diagnose and resolve connectivity issues in the network and find the registration information about a registered Website from the server that serves the site.
- Roaming Tool — AirMagnet's Roaming tool measures the time required for clients to roam between multiple APs.
AirMagnet Handheld Analyzer supports a wide range of internal/external wireless LAN adapters. Refer to
Handheld Analyzer Specifications for the list of supported wireless adapters.
The Summit CF card (AirMagnet part number: C1015) can be purchased from AirMagnet resellers.