The Right Stuff
AirMagnet claims to have more than 2,000 customers, and we can see why it's so popular--we rely on AirMagnet in our Syracuse labs as a day-to-day troubleshooting and analysis tool. You can piece together freeware tools to accomplish much of what AirMagnet does, but if your wireless network is growing, you'll solve problems more quickly with the right product. At $3,500, AirMagnet isn't cheap, but the ROI can be significant.
Unlike wireless protocol analyzers from Fluke Networks, Network General, Network Instruments and Wild Packets, AirMagnet offers only rudimentary packet decoding and analysis. Despite this, the product's AirWise expert system does a credible job of aggregating and analyzing network traffic, letting AirMagnet provide a high-level assessment of security and performance problems. It also detects rogue devices, attacks and internal wireless policy violations. It tracks more than 130 potential wireless problems, and you can customize the tracking to conform to your network policies.
AirMagnet also is a powerful learning tool for wireless network managers looking to better understand both common and obscure wireless security and performance problems. Version 5.0's new integrated reporting capabilities are first-rate and can provide regulatory compliance reports for the Department of Defense, GLBA, HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley.
The new HPE Aruba 730 series Wi-Fi 7 access points tout high performance, enhanced security, location tracking capabilities, and more.
Verizon is demoing crowd analytics technology that uses 5G along with AI and mobile edge computing to give stadium operators insights into the flow of fans throughout a venue.
As we move closer to fully realizing the potential of Wi-Fi 7, it becomes evident that the RF, signaling, and throughput tests are not merely procedural checkpoints but the pillars of excellence in wireless communication.
