Thought it would be helpful to cover 2 topics in the write up:
- Thoughts on the Aircheck G2/Air Mapper tool from Netally
- Share wireless site survey tips and tricks that you can use with any tool
NetAlly's Aircheck G2 is a very solid and capable tool that I enjoyed using but like all tools, there is always room for improvement and evolution. As I said in the video, I would give it an 8 out of 10 and quite happy with it.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Aircheck, it is a handheld wireless tool (that also does some wired testing) that can be used for all sorts of wireless tasks that cover disciplines ranging from support, design and implementation. In the video you will see that I used the tool to perform an outside survey and determine if there are any dead zones.
Throughout the video I mention that you can still do a survey without a tool like this and explain some of the steps involved. The advantage to using a tool is that it is specifically designed for this purpose, you can ask the company questions if you should encounter issues on best practices using their tools.
Just some additional points worth mentioning that didn’t make the video:
- When working on several maps, it is difficult to tell which map you are in when using Link Live site survey maps. It would be helpful to have the survey title or something as the top.
- Does not support external USB keyboard or mouse
- Aircheck requires tight VNC for remote control and a web based solution would be more convenient
Regardless if you use your personal equipment or tools purchased for a specific task, documenting your goal and methodology is more important than the actual findings. If you read a report and can’t figure out why they did specific tests and how they performed these tests, you can’t determine if the results are relevant or how to replicate the tests.