Wifi Revolution

AirMagnet Inc. has released a new software product, Enterprise Analyzer for Cisco, designed from the ground up for customers of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network.

Working with already-deployed Cisco lightweight access points the Enterprise Analyzer for Cisco collects wireless data for real-time analysis and optional reporting, as well as provides network tools to help optimize WiFi performance. Additionally, real-time analysis can be done anywhere in the Cisco network, including remote locations.

“AirMagnet’s Enterprise Analyzer makes it possible for us to leverage our clients’ existing infrastructures to perform wireless analyses,” said Greg Taylor, senior wireless consultant at INS, a provider of business-driven, information technology consulting and software solutions in a press release.

He continued: “We work with clients who have hundreds or even thousands of access points, and this new breed of analyzer from AirMagnet enables us to reach out to any corner of those networks and perform analyses to maximize network performance.”

Users can leverage the Enterprise Analyzer software interface to perform analysis on the network. A lightweight access point (AP) is triggered to behave in “sniffer” mode to collect live traffic data on all networks channels and AP stations, and then route the data back to the Enterprise Analyzer for analysis and alarm generation. Within the Cisco network any lightweight access point can be utilized in this manner for real-time analysis.

Ben Gibson, director of mobility solutions at Cisco believes this collaboration extends the value of wireless investments by leveraging AirMagnet’s Wi-Fi performance and active analysis expertise.

Gibson said that the benefit of expert wireless LAN analysis is removing the variables found in Wi-Fi environments that impact performance.

“AirMagnet helps customers maintain optimal network performance at all times – on the industry’s most secure wireless infrastructure, a winning combination for our customers,” he added.

Also featured in the Enterprise Analyzer is AirMagnet’s signature AirWISE intelligence engine. This engine continually analyzes the wireless environment for more than 130 wireless factors, and device configurations that can impact network performance. This information is displayed in a coherent, easy-to-understand graphic user interface.

Network managers can use the suite of tools included in the AirMagnet Enterprise Analyzer to remotely test various network elements. With the help of a connectivity diagnostic tool users can view the step-by-step progress of a connection to pinpoint where the process is falling below threshold limits. The tool also eliminates the client-AP relationship as the cause for performance weaknesses. Detailed signal analysis can be performed by the network managers to reveal potential multipath pitfalls.

Enterprise Analyzer 3.0 also adds a number of features for complete wireless LAN management that includes context-driven expert advice, new interference analysis page, session saving and playback and optional professional policy and compliance reporting.

“Network administrators expect their wireless networks to behave as well as their wired counterparts, but the reality is that wireless networks are more susceptible to changes in the RF environment, which makes them difficult to manage and can lead to unexpected performance or security issues,” said Dean Au, chief executive officer of AirMagnet.

He continued: “By integrating with Cisco’s widely deployed network devices, AirMagnet enables seamless wireless LAN analysis and troubleshooting, which keeps networks running at optimal levels and adds tremendous value to enterprises’ wireless infrastructure investment.”

Want to learn more about wireless networks? Then be sure to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.

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Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering call centers, CRM and information technology. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

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