AirMagnet Survey Reviews

The passive survey tool is what we use the most. We use it to:

• Conduct wireless surveys of our wireless deployment.
• Verify or adjust wireless coverage within our environment.

The survey tool helps our department verify coverage areas and signal strength levels within campus buildings that have wireless network access available.

I would like to see a clearer representation of different power readings/levels when the survey tool renders heat maps.

We have been using this solution for three years.

I did not encounter any issues with stability.

I did not encounter any issues with scalability.

Technical support was excellent. They are always very helpful.

The tool has a slight learning curve. AirMagnet has “how-to” videos that quickly teach you how to use the tool like a master.

It’s worth the investment. The survey tool pays for itself.

Try out the tool. You will find out quickly that the AirMagnet survey tool is the most versatile tool out there.

The most valuable feature is that I use it mostly for doing predictive surveys and for validations, when I go back out and test whatever install has been done. Its capabilities to do measuring and with the use of the spectrum analyzer to be able to give me the spectrum analysis right away is very helpful.

We provide our customers with a report based on analysis, whether it's something after an install that we've done or going in and they need a report of where they stand now and possibly improving. We get with them and do an analysis and try to create a report from that.

The features I would like to see is better capability of importing floor plans into the design. With other software that I've used, I'm able to take a CAD drawing or even a PDF and just upload it right away without converting the file. I think it converts the file for me. Especially with a CAD drawing, if the measurements are already in there, it accepts them and, if you want it to, it can also go ahead and create walls and windows based on the drawing, how it was drawn and how it was designed. That would be a nice feature.

I haven't been able to decide whether it is stable. I've had issues every now and again, but I cannot 100 percent say it was the fault of the software or the fault of my laptop. There have been times where, in the middle of doing a survey, it will all of a sudden decide it doesn't see a certain type of card. I have to either reboot the program or reboot the whole laptop. That does the trick and then it starts working fine.

It is one of those solutions that I think my organization is going to use moving forward. It continues to grow with us.

I haven't needed to call in for support yet.

I used it before it was purchased by NetScout. The only one thing that did change is, when I am designing and I'm trying to create a report, I'll click on the screen of the heat map to try and do a copy of that screen so I can put it in my report. It throws a thumbtack on the screen and tries to take a measurement in that specific area. I've always got to disable that before I click on it. It's not a big deal, but it's something that I never had to do before NetScout. It was already disabled, whereas now it's fully enabled.

It is an excellent software solution . I would recommend, if you're getting AirMagnet, to also get the Spectrum. Get the Pro and get Spectrum Analyzer with it, because I think that's very useful when it comes to troubleshooting. That's where you get the most valuable information from. As far as using the software, it's going to give you true results and be very accurate.

There's other software out there that does the thing that AirMagnet does, but that also has the ability to import CAD drawings, accept the measurements and so on, which I like.

WiFi planning, RF measurements and roaming capability.

The feature of AirMagnet to build predictions is awesome, we can simulate the APs placement without the need to go to the installation place. The many ways to measure the RF environment with AirMagnet are great. The software has the capability to perform roaming among APs in many different ways, not all survey software do that.

Now we can attend the expectations of our clients, about indoor and outdoor site surveys.

• Interface layout - I think for a better user experience, the software GUI layout could be more elaborate, just for simplicity.
• PDF file support - the current software version doesn’t support PDF files, and PDF is a very common format to ignore it.

3 years.

Yes, sometimes the radios disappear, and then show up again.

Some WiFi devices vendors are not present.

Good technical support.

Yes, a simple free WiFi tool. We switched for the tech support and richer features.

Easy, they have plenty of documentation.

The pricing and licensing are expensive, but for us, it was fair.

Yes, the Ekahau solution, but it is more expensive, and in our point of view delivers the same functionalities.

This is a very good product.

The primary use is wireless network surveying.

The benefit is with the ease of use of the software, I am able to show the customer, "Here is what your wireless coverage looks like." It is set up in a fashion that non-technical people can understand it.

It is reliable and easy to use (user-friendly). The heat mapping, passive network surveying, and doing the heat mapping of a building's wireless network allows me to see what level of coverage an area has.

Printouts are JPEG printouts. The AirMagnet software is proprietary. I can't send my customers a file, because it is AirMagnet file, even for building projects. I can only send JPEGs or screenshots of heat maps.

We used to have issues with the software freezing up. With the latest versions in the last couple of years, the technology of the notebooks' processing capability has helped us get over the hurdle of the software freezing up because of the data input in large buildings.

I have not used the technical support.

The initial setup was fairly easy to do.

Call the manufacturer directly and talk to them about their product.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor:

1. Technical functionality
2. Competitive pricing
3. Government pricing discounts.

We use this product in the hospitality, education (K-12), and healthcare industries.

It has helped us when dealing with the hospitality industry.

• Clear and easy to use maps.
• It is easy to upload the maps
  

The pricing needs improvement.

• The possibility to conduct both passive and active surveys at the same time (+ Spectrum integration)
• The possibility with Planner to customize the antennas (and use models that are not in the AirMagnet database)

It’s the essential tool for conducting an audit and identifying interference sources on a wireless network and improve the channel tuning.

It would be great to have the possibility to use multiple floors on the same project (and not create a project for each map).

I have used it for two years.

I had some crash issues due to the wireless card driver.

I have not encountered any scalability issues.

Technical support is 8/10. I had one call with the support; they solved easily my problem.

Before AirMagnet, I used free tools that didn’t allow be to conduct an active survey.

During initial setup, there were some difficulties recognizing the proxim 8494 using the AirMagnet driver, so the software wouldn’t run (because the licence is tied to it).

No support = no upgrades: Take this into consideration.

Ekahau is a good product, too, and more user-friendly, but AirMagnet is the reference.

Do all your surveys with two wireless cards.

• Predictive survey
• Passive survey after implementation.

It has helped us to survey coverage after implementation.

Passive survey.

There is a feature "no auto-save" when the Proxim USB is disattached accidentally during survey. Newer adapters (adpter that support 802.11ac) not support noise Reading (I'am using Proxim 9100 USB Adapter).

Three to five years.