AirCheck G3 vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG comparison

AirCheck G3 and NetAlly EtherScope nXG are both solutions in the Network Troubleshooting category. AirCheck G3 is ranked #5 with an average rating of 10.0, while NetAlly EtherScope nXG is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0. AirCheck G3 holds a 7.3% mindshare in NT, compared to NetAlly EtherScope nXG’s 13.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of AirCheck G3 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetAlly EtherScope nXG users who would recommend it.

AirCheck G3

Read 13 AirCheck G3 reviews

926 Views
301 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Read 23 NetAlly EtherScope nXG reviews

4,272 Views
533 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AirCheck G3

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

AirCheck G3 and NetAlly EtherScope nXG are two prominent network testing tools. User reviews suggest that while NetAlly EtherScope nXG boasts superior features, AirCheck G3 offers more competitive pricing and support, making it an attractive option for those looking for value.

Features: AirCheck G3 offers handheld portability, quick diagnostics capabilities, and ease of use. NetAlly EtherScope nXG stands out with advanced analysis tools, multiple network interface support, and comprehensive testing options.

Room for Improvement: AirCheck G3 needs software updates and enhanced reporting tools. NetAlly EtherScope nXG could benefit from better battery life and reduced complexity in advanced settings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AirCheck G3 is praised for straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. NetAlly EtherScope nXG, while more complex to deploy, also receives positive feedback for its customer service.

Pricing and ROI: AirCheck G3 is noted for reasonable setup costs and satisfactory ROI. NetAlly EtherScope nXG, though more expensive, justifies its price with advanced capabilities that users feel provide high value.

To learn more, read our detailed AirCheck G3 vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

AirCheck G3 vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG

December 2024

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Helped 824,095 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

AirCheck G3

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Diagnostics (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of AirCheck G3 is 7.3%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetAlly EtherScope nXG is 13.1%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

David-Prusynski

Senior Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

A portable, rugged device that reduces resolution time and saves thousands of dollars

It would be nice if I could import an AP list with a MAC address. When it looks at access points, it should tell me the AP name instead of the MAC address. When you get a MAC address, you can eventually find out where you want to go. However, a lot of times, if I just have an AP name, I know that's in this area or that's over there. I would like that function because AirMagnet, which is the precursor of this, had that ability where you could basically import a list of APs and MAC addresses, and then it could display those instead of just a MAC address. That'd be a nice function. We should be able to put an AP to MAC address in Excel and export it as a CSV file and then import it. That'd be nice to have because I have that information for all my hospitals. The one I'm doing this weekend has got 550 access points. It is much easier for me to look at an AP name than to get a MAC address. Currently, I have to go to a different spreadsheet and try to find that MAC address. If I had the AP name, it would be like, "Okay. Yep. See it. Done." They are doing spectrum analysis in G3, which I would love to have in G2. That's a nice tool to have, and from what I heard, that's the same price. I'd like to have that. The other function I would love to see is the ability to test fiber. I know the $10,000 version has the ability to test fiber, but I would love this lower-cost device to be able to test fiber.

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Doug Dickerson

Manager at Northwestern

Handheld form factor, intuitive interface that is easy to use, helps us quickly troubleshoot network problems

It would be helpful if this product interfaced with AirWave. The battery life should be improved. The real negative to the product is the horrible battery life. We had hoped for it to be able to deliver configurations to our network switches, and I think they're developing something for that. However, it doesn't do that now. We were hoping that we would, as we replace or refresh network components, be able to use this tool to push a config file to the switch. For example, the Aruba switches that we're deploying come with a Bluetooth function where we can push configs from our phones. It would be much more convenient to use this device, rather than using our personal cell phones to do it. I think that the capability is there, but it just hasn't been figured out yet.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The information provided by the solution for resolving connectivity and performance problems is very thorough. The reporting functionality is extremely good as I can pass that information on with little input. The device will identify issues and problems, e.g., the diagnostic material. When you have Internet access, it sends the information to your email address, which is very useful."

"The solution saves us a factor of 10 in time. If a typical WiFI ticket would cost me two hours with AirCheck, then it would cost me 20 hours without it. At 20 hours, you start to refuse to do tickets because it is just too expensive."

"The airCheck is the real-time spectrum analyzer to see clients that could be connecting to our network, not just rogue networks out there, but rogue clients and other interference in that particular spectrum."

"The AirMapper Site Survey on the AirCheck G2 is the most valuable feature. It is really nice to be able to upload the maps remotely to the website, and then have the analyst upload the results so we can review the data."

"AirCheck made a lot of children and caregivers quite happy. While I might not have resolved everything, I have reduced the problems that we had every night. During the day, they would do visible checks and not always rely on the monitors, but every night, they had at least three or four of those alarms. I was able to reduce it to once or twice a week since those appliances are still limited in their wireless capability."

"AirCheck has a feature that lets you play a tone so you can track down a rogue AP based on the RF signal. That's a cool feature. It can also help you identify interference like microwave ovens or Bluetooth devices. I also like the ability to link it to your online account. It sends a report via email and saves it on the cloud."

"AirCheck G2 gives me an overview of which channels are used by the access points or who delivers the Wi-Fi, which gives me a clear picture of what's going on."

"The auto-test, channel scanner, packet capture, and Link-Live integration are all crucial features we use regularly. The wired cable tester is also indispensable. We frequently run into problems during cable testing that are hard to pin down. When tracking down a cable problem, you usually need to plug something into the cable and ensure the cable plant is reliable."

More AirCheck G3 pros

"One of the biggest pros of AirMapper is that you just hit upload to the cloud and you can use anything with a web browser to look at it and manipulate it, view it, and even share it. The fact that you can review it now on any computer that has web access is phenomenal, versus using the client. That's been fantastic."

"One of the key measurements that we use out of the device is the channel utilization measurement, how much traffic is on the air in a given channel. That's the most valuable feature for us. The ability to make a very fast measurement of how much traffic is on the air is a key value. Otherwise we'd have to do a packet capture and do some analysis. It speeds up our testing."

"Among those features that are important are the AutoTest to create a profile and then see that the network connection is in line with that profile. Also, the LANBERT test to have an idea about the quality of the cable. It is often the case that you have no reports on the cable infrastructure, so this test is also very valuable for us."

"Another good thing I really liked was that it would not only tell me the IP address, but it would tell me more info. It would grab the CDP off of the CDP profile and read all the info it could get, so I knew what I was looking at."

"The AirMapper Site Survey app is one of the biggest highlights of this product. When somebody asks me, "Why should I use this device?" it's the first thing I show them, and they usually love it. Its ability to gather WiFi site survey data is absolutely amazing."

"The things that I find most valuable are the Wi-Fi app and the Discovery app. Those two things help a lot when I'm doing the initial discovery of a space. I also use the AutoTest feature quite a lot, especially if I'm troubleshooting."

"The most valuable features are LANBERT, Discovery, and AirMapper. AirMapper is the best. Both Discovery and AirMapper are very easy to use because you can view all the problems on a single screen. If you quickly need more details about your network, then AirMapper is the best."

"It has reduced our internal troubleshooting time. In the cases where we could not internally solve the troubleshooting, we would have had to contact an external vendor to test cable, rerun it, etc. NetAlly EtherScope has let us eliminate that in most cases so we can resolve an issue on our own without having to call a third-party out to identify the problem. It has reduced our troubleshooting time for network cabling issues by a good 75 percent."

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG pros

Cons

"The only thing that would be an improvement would be the ability to do MPO/MPT testing, which is another mode of fiber, along with more options on the SFP to do that testing."

"A feature I would like to see is the ability to charge the device via a PoE outlet. Usually, I need to charge it at home. It would be good to leave the device plugged in and charging at a PoE source at the customer site after a quick look at the network when I have moved on to other tasks."

"The biggest improvement would be an easier upload over wireless to Link-Live. Currently, the device has to be patched into the Ethernet. The wireless upload has been giving us some issues."

"We use .1x authentication, so I need to download the certificate onto the device. It would be nice to have this functionality through the cloud as well. Right now, you need to do it through the software by connecting your laptop physically to the AirCheck. This is one thing that is a bit slow."

"NetAlly has been behind the curve on visualization, Wi-Fi design, and heat maps for a little while now. They're perfectly aware of this deficiency, but what they offer is good enough for a lot of people. It's not suitable for larger shops, but it works in a pinch. The AirMapper and subsequent AirMagnet integration is an afterthought."

"I would like them to modify the interface. The button to change profiles is fairly small. When you have interventions, it is not always possible to have a ballpoint pen or perfect precision touch with it, since sometimes you need to touch it quite a lot when your hands are very dirty. I would like a special pen that is compatible with that responsive screen. That would make it easier."

"The battery life needs improvement. For example, when you are doing an Ethernet test, that seems to drain the battery pretty quickly."

"It was hard to determine which AP was which because it only shows the MAC address. It'll also display the MAC address of the BSSID, so it looked like I had 12 APs in my house. If I have three access points and each is a dual-band with an SSID or BSSID for each radio, it comes out to about 12 APs. That's one of the bugs fixed in the latest firmware update, but it's only available if you have a NetAlly support contract."

More AirCheck G3 cons

"NetAlly doesn't have a spectrum analyzer. I have to use other tools to view the spectrum, and this is a problem."

"The one thing that it doesn't do well, when it's doing airtime utilization measurements, is that it will classify things as non-802.11, and that isn't correct. What it could do better is make sure that it classifies all traffic that's in the air correctly."

"AirMapper is very quick and easy once everything is on there, but I would like to see an improvement on how you get things on there. Currently, rather than being able to build up buildings or a site of things, every map is an individual piece. We should be able to set up an AirMapper survey easily and more effectively. At the moment, we just have separate floor plans. It'd be great to be able to build a building and tell where different floors are so that if it hears an AP on the floor below, it doesn't put two APs, one on that floor and one on the other floor, and it knows that there are two floors here. One is on top of the other, and it won't put the AP at both places. It would put it on one of the floors where it would be strongest. This would be one of the biggest improvements."

"There is room for improvement in the battery life and price."

"The battery life could be better. There have been a couple of times that I used it and put it down, then I went to pick it up and the battery was dead. So, I need to take the power cord with me in order to continue using it."

"NetAlly EtherScope nXG's reporting and table qualification could be improved."

"I use the NetAlly site and one of the things I don't like about the topology map, something I wish I could fix, is that the map kind of jiggles if you don't adjust any of the settings."

"The largest complaint that we get is the battery life on the unit. If you are using it heavily, you get about five hours of usage out of it. In an eight hour day, that is not perfect for us. We would like more battery usage. The battery thing is annoying."

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For a few thousand dollars, you save yourself a ton of time. It's a great deal."

"Pricing is on par with the rest of the industry and the licensing is decent."

"The overall cost of the solution, compared to the time saved—the number of man-hours devoted to other means of troubleshooting—is incomparable."

"Because I work in a big company, it is a no-brainer. If I were a consultant, I would still buy it, but it would be a huge investment. Overall, it's a good tool to have."

"I'd always love a lower price, but as compared to some of the other tools, it is fairly reasonable. I personally bought one. So, I must have thought the value was there because I'm spending my own hard cash on it, not just the company's. You can get support. I don't have support on my personal device. We did buy support for our company devices. It is reasonable. It is not super expensive or astronomical."

"The price is fairly expensive, if you are a single individual. For me, it's well worth the cost of the unit. Depending on the nature of the work that you're doing, the upfront costs can be expensive. Typically, what happens in an environment is a department might have one device as opposed to technicians having them individually."

"If you find a feature you need, you have to call them and add it, but you should be able to use the product. You spend money on and invested in multiple devices and can't even use half of the features. They should negotiate with large enterprises who buy large numbers of units to provide NetAlly support for all of them at a nominal fee."

"The product has a pretty good price."

More AirCheck G3 pricing and cost advice

"For the average network shop, the cost is a bit high. In a lot of organizations, people don't share test devices between teams. Generally, you need a device for the network team and a device for the system team, the security team, etc. While the cost is a little on the high side, that is offset by the regular updates and continued improvements that NetAlly adds to the device. Those improvements continue to increase the perceived value of the device."

"Depending on the company, it could be somewhat costly. But just two of these devices can save you thousands upon thousands of dollars."

"It is worth it. The cost benefit of Link-Live is massive because it is included with the cost of the device and the licensing. A lot of people miss that part of it. It is not just the device that you get but it is the ability to look at all of that data later on. You're not having to do all of that on the device. You can just be there, use the device, and then look at the data from the comfort of your office or home afterward."

"NetAlly EtherScope nXG is priced too much and needs to come down by about 15 percent of its current price."

"If we were to purchase separate meters to do similar things, it would be double or triple the cost for us to have each toolkit available. Being a small business, putting that much money on a single truck is not cost-effective. Instead, we could put the analyzer, network heat map, and cable tester all in one meter. That is why we went for it."

"We paid for the additional maintenance on it (for an extra year) to get that extra coverage. This was the first time that we had this solution in-house, and it was pretty pricey. So, we wanted to make sure that anything went wrong, then we could get it repaired."

"It's very expensive. I wish I could buy a few more and give them to all the people who could use it, or perhaps send it to a client, given that some of its features are easy to use. But sending something worth $8,000 or $9,000 is nerve-racking. It would be nice that if it were a lot less expensive."

"It is relatively high-priced and it should certainly not get any more expensive. I would like it to be $1,000 less, and I think everyone would say that. And of course, maintenance is also a recurring cost."

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

14%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

20%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AirCheck G3?

The airCheck is the real-time spectrum analyzer to see clients that could be connecting to our network, not just rogue networks out there, but rogue clients and other interference in that particula...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AirCheck G3?

The upfront cost of the solution is around $4,000. This cost does not include service contracts for support.

See all answers

What needs improvement with AirCheck G3?

The solution doesn't have much functional information online. Most of the information online is regurgitated from marketing brochures. I purchased the solution for a job and sold it afterward becau...

See all answers

What do you like most about NetAlly EtherScope nXG?

Being able to do a Wi-Fi walk-around survey with a handheld tool is one of the most valuable features of NetAlly EtherScope nXG.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetAlly EtherScope nXG?

In terms of pricing, EtherScope isn't cheap. It's a significant investment, and not a budget option.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetAlly EtherScope nXG?

The main area for improvement that stands out is the lack of a microburst dashboard, which some other vendors offer. However, NetAlly has carved out its niche by focusing on comprehensive network a...

See all answers

Comparisons

LinkRunner vs AirCheck G3

Compared 29% of the time

iTrinegy NE-ONE Network Emulator vs AirCheck G3

Compared 27% of the time

AirMagnet Survey vs AirCheck G3

Compared 22% of the time

More AirCheck G3 Competitors

LinkRunner vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 58% of the time

LinkSprinter vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 13% of the time

AirMagnet Survey vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 13% of the time

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AirCheck G3

December 2024

Download AirCheck G3 product report

Buyer's Guide

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

December 2024

Download NetAlly EtherScope nXG product report

Also Known As

AirCheck G2, AirCheck

EtherScope nXG, EtherScope, netAlly EtherScope, OptiView XG

Learn More

NetAlly

Overview

AirCheck G3 is the most cost-effective hardware-enabled site survey solution for Wi-Fi 6/6E networks. It provides network professionals of any skill level with complete and accurate information to survey and validate Wi-Fi deployments and changes, resolve connectivity and performance problems quickly, speed up closure of trouble tickets, and ensure your Wi-Fi network meets end users’ needs.

The new and improved battery life of 10 hours (3 - 4 hours charge) lasts you and your teams throughout the day.

AirCheck G3 Product Info

Multi-technology, all-in-one handheld network tester that enables engineers and technicians to get more done faster, from deployment to maintenance and documentation of their ever-changing Wi-Fi and Ethernet access networks.

The Etherscope nXG is the the industry’s first handheld analyzer for Wi-Fi 6/6E surveying (with AirMapper™ Site Survey), troubleshooting, and analysis.

Buyer's Guide

AirCheck G3 vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG

December 2024

Free Report: AirCheck G3 vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Find out what your peers are saying about AirCheck G3 vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.

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