July 02, 2009

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AirMagnet Survey

AirMagnet Survey is the industry's most accurate WLAN design and deployment solution for optimal performance, security and compliance. Today's wireless service providers, managed-service providers, and network infrastructure vendors all consider site surveys a mandatory and vital part of the wireless LAN deployment process. AirMagnet Survey stands apart from other market solutions by enabling enterprises to collect live signal, packet and spectrum data during their site surveys. This allows enterprises to simulate and measure network performance in the most scientific way possible—with the most accurate depiction of a real-world user experience-which ultimately results in a better performing network.

AirMagnet Survey is Available in Two Versions (View Comparison Chart)

AirMagnet Survey Express: The Express version allows the user to perform the basics of WiFi site surveying with ability to map out signal, noise and even user performance.

AirMagnet Survey PRO: The PRO version extends those capabilities found in the Express version and adds powerful, industry-defining features including 802.11n deployments, multi-floor deployments, outdoor surveys, network design verification, voice surveys, RF spectrum analysis, and many more.

Users can use AirMagnet Survey for all stages of designing and deploying of wireless networks. This starts right from deployment of new wireless networks to verifying the effectiveness of the current one to optimization of the network deployment as the network expands with new users or new applications like voice/video are introduced over the wireless network. AirMagnet's passive site surveying capability produces an excellent overview of the entire wireless environment including sources of noise and any wireless signals from neighboring networks. AirMagnet provides the industry's only survey solution that includes active surveying capability so that you can measure and map actual end-user network performance. The application associates itself to a specific AP and exchanges data to emulate an end-user and map how they perform in terms of data rates, retry rates and packet losses.

Additional Features Available in AirMagnet Survey PRO
Properties of Wi-Fi devices, especially 802.11n can be different on the uplink and downlink side.  Survey PRO's unique Iperf surveying capability allows users to measure this real-world uplink and downlink network performance. When it's time to analyze results, AirMagnet Survey provides the most accurate, data-rich analysis possible. Survey provides a visual Wi-Fi "weather map" of the coverage and performance of the network. Users can choose from a comprehensive list of coverage maps, namely, signal, SNR, Channel Interference, data rates, losses, retries and many more.

To visualize how the performance and coverage of the network has changed over time, users can perform periodic site surveys and use the application's unique capability of allowing side-by-side comparison of two separate surveys.

Since signal strength is not an accurate predictor of 11n performance, user MUST have the AirMagnet Survey solution in order to properly deploy 11n networks and to take advantage of the extended coverage improvements that are possible with 11n.Survey provides users with coverage maps built specifically for 802.11n networks, including ones for device operating modes (Greenfield, mixed-mode, legacy), channel width (20/40 Mhz) and 802.11n network performance (Transmit and Receive MCS rates).

Additional Features Available in
AirMagnet Survey PRO
AirMagnet Survey is the industry's first true voice-grade site survey product for wireless helping address challenges to not only design and deploy the network optimally at the start to minimize end user issues using AirMagnet's built-in voice readiness verification system (with pre-configured profiles for Cisco and Vocera phones and the ability to create profiles for other phone vendors), but also to perform real-world voice surveys* on an ongoing basis. With these voice surveys users can validate and plot the phone call performance, capacity, RF coverage and roaming behavior at every location on a floor map, to help identify and minimize issues leading to low call performance. Users can also track roaming behavior of the phones in a floor-map view and plan their future deployment decisions to mitigate any negative impact on the phone call performance due to roaming.

* Ability to perform voice surveys requires AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer PRO (purchased separately) to be installed on the same machine as AirMagnet Survey PRO.

The live data collected from surveys enables users to simulate and measure network performance in the most scientific way possible—with the most accurate depiction of a real—world user experience. Users can relocate APs on the map and adjust AP configurations—such as Power, Channel, SSID, and Noise Floor—to simulate changes until optimal settings are achieved.

Additional Features Available in AirMagnet Survey PRO
The WLAN Throughput Simulator tool helps optimize the network deployment by capturing the existing infrastructure environment and calculates the network throughput and overhead under user-specified conditions. It also allows the user to simulate the addition of new APs or stations with user specified capabilities and view their impact on network performance. Along with meeting performance requirements, AirMagnet Survey can be used to monitor for RF spillage outside the corporate building. This spillage should be kept to a minimum, unless service is to be provided in the parking lot or the outdoor area. Available in AirMagnet Survey PRO only
AirWISE® is an encyclopedia source for expert survey advice. AirWISE® displays all areas that fail to meet the design requirements of the network, and provides recommendations and procedures for problem resolution. Whether designing the network for voice or new 802.11n networks or planning for end-user capacity, AirWISE® provides the guidance needed. Available in AirMagnet Survey PRO only
AirMagnet Survey PRO includes a completely integrated reporting module that instantly creates custom outputs of site surveys and simulations. Reports include coverage, interference assessments of every channel, SSID, and AP and 802.11n specific reports. Reports can be generated in over 15 formats including PDF, XML, HTML, and Microsoft Excel. AirMagnet Survey includes coverage maps for the RF noise and channel interference present in the environment. This information is helpful for planning the channel deployment for deployed/planned APs. AirMagnet Survey PRO integrates with AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer* and Cisco Spectrum Expert*, enabling both Wi-Fi and spectrum analysis data to be collected in a single walkthrough. Airmagnet Survey PRO automatically identifies and displays the presence of non-802.11 devices that are interfering with the WLAN at the site survey locations. A simple user-interface shows a location-specific FFT spectrum plot for every data point, providing the most complete view of the wireless environment possible. Users can also use the RF spectrum heat map to visualize the average power level in the RF spectrum for each channel at any given point on the map.

* AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer and Cisco Spectrum Expert must be purchased separately and installed on the same machine as AirMagnet Survey PRO.
Available in AirMagnet Survey PRO only
AirMagnet Survey PRO provides the ability to analyze up to 4 separate projects simultaneously. Users can load multiple floors of a single building to see if AP signals are bleeding to adjacent floors and in turn prevent any over-deployment that may lead to increased costs and interference in the network. Available in AirMagnet Survey PRO only
With the combination of GPS support, 4.9 GHz support and integration with Google Earth, Microsoft® MapPoint™ and Microsoft® Virtual Earth™, AirMagnet Survey PRO provides a clear path to fast, fully automated outdoor surveys. Users can leverage their NMEA compliant GPS device to automatically collect outdoor wireless data. The results can then be analyzed in the AirMagnet user interface or exported into Google Earth. AirMagnet Planner is available as a standalone product or as a fully integrated feature of AirMagnet Survey and Survey PRO.*AirMagnet Planner makes it easy to build a detailed model of any WiFi environment. Simply load in a map of a location, use the built-in library of walls, doors and windows or specify custom materials to precisely match the building's characteristics and mark areas where Wi-Fi coverage is needed. The map now becomes a platform to simulate performance based on the correct number, placement and configuration of APs. Allow Planner to optimize the layout of Access Points on site plans automatically or manually tweak any number of these settings until full coverage is achieved for end-users while minimizing signal bleed into unsecured areas. Generate a full report of the wireless environment, including a bill of materials for an infrastructure purchase. For a full description of advanced features, read the AirMagnet Planner datasheet.

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

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