NetAlly EtherScope nXG Reviews

I'm a wireless engineer. I do both troubleshooting and design. I use NetAlly EtherScope nXG mainly as a troubleshooting device, and I also use it to collect data so that when I do my designs, I have all of the data that I need.

One of the great things about it is that it is a small and portable device. We're based in London, and we had a customer in New York. We were finding it really difficult to troubleshoot a problem remotely even though we had cloud-based controllers and other things for wireless. It was an intermittent problem that was difficult for us to replicate. So, I ended up sending the device to the customer. They were able to set it up and plug it in. Because it can charge over PoE, they were able to just leave it there, and then effectively, I could log into that device through Link-Live. I could run all the tests that I needed to run. I could have the AutoTest running for 24 hours, and then I could look at that data. We figured out what the problem was. I was able to do remote packet captures and other things. We were able to fix the problem, and they just shipped the unit back to us. That was obviously much cheaper than me flying over to New York for two weeks. I could carry on with the work that I was booked into day to day, but I was also able to log in and look at things over there. It was really useful to be able to just send that device and get that fixed. It has basically enabled me to be in two places at once, which is invaluable. There aren't a lot of wireless engineers. So, the fact that I can be both in New York and in London at the same time is the value that we are getting from it.

It is easy to use for less skilled staff but has deep diagnostics for experts on staff. I told the customer at the New York site to just walk around with it and let it do everything it needs to do because I'm connected via wireless. After walking around, they said that this is a problem area, and then effectively, I could just run the device. For something simple, I could get them to click on something, but if I wanted to run more of a test, I could just remotely use the device. I told them, "Stick this in the middle somewhere and make sure it has got PoE power. I can run everything I need to run. Don't worry about it, and when I've got everything I need, just ship it back to me."

Its multi-technology functionality when it comes to validating network changes, troubleshooting connectivity, and detecting performance issues is very helpful. A lot of the time, it is proving that it isn't a Wi-Fi problem. The nice thing about having a product that has all of it in there is that I can test not just the wireless; I can also test up the stack. If everything looks good from the wireless side, I can then start to troubleshoot up the stack. No other product that I have gives me that flexibility.

I create my own tests. The test is different for each site depending on what I am troubleshooting or what applications they're using. To be able to just leave something and collect data over time is really valuable.

I have made use of its full line-rate 10 Gig capability. Because I've two nXGs, I can use the LANBERT tester as well. I've done that a few times where customers have got pre-existing cabling, and they said that they will have to completely rip out the cabling to be able to go with the new 6 GHz APs and things like that. In such cases, I've been able to just test that cabling and tell them that this cabling will be absolutely fine. There is no need to rip it out, which obviously makes the customer quite happy because it means that they don't have an additional cost of re-cabling everything.

It is a handheld tool, which makes it easy to use, and you do use it. Some of the other tools that we have are great tools, but because they're cumbersome and they require you to put lots of things in and have lots of extra things attached to them, you only use them if you absolutely have to, whereas you can use this tool every time because it is portable and easy.

The AirMapper Site Survey app is brilliant at gathering WiFi site survey data, and the Link-Live service that you have afterward is the crown jewel of it. You can easily share that with customers. All that data is readily available on any platform, which is really good. I can use an iPad, I can use a Mac, or I can use a Windows device. It doesn't matter.

The Link-Live part of the whole system is very good. You can build up reports. You can create heat maps, and you can have all that other data in there as well. You can have raw test data, and you can have your discovery data. It is all there in one place, and then you can easily share that with customers. It is very good in terms of the ability to visualize key performance metrics. It has got everything we need, and it is clear for customers too.

It impacts our ability to validate changes or troubleshoot problems. I use it for both. It has the data, and I can also see the before and after. I can go onsite really easily and collect that data. I can then make changes based on the recommendations and then go back to the site and see the difference between how it was before and how it is afterward. Being able to display that and easily show that to the customer is a great thing, and I'm not printing off 100-page reports. I can just send a link.

It has provided visibility into the network that we could only get by using many other tools. It has both the wireless and the wired in one device, and that's the thing that separates it from anything else on the market. You get some really good wired devices. You get some really good wireless-only devices. This is the only one that I've come across that has not just both of them but also a lot of detail and a lot of expertise in both of those areas. It has affected the efficiency and cost of our network troubleshooting massively. I didn't have to fly to New York for two weeks. It is helpful for the remote support that we can offer to customers. It is so much easier for us to send that device than it is for us to send a Level 3 or Level 4 engineer.

It has reduced the troubleshooting time. Now, I can walk onto the site and within a couple of minutes, I'm able to determine if this is a wireless problem or a wired problem. I still have everything I need to fix that problem, whereas previously, I would either have to take a lot of equipment with me, which is expensive and a hassle, or I would turn up thinking it is a wireless problem and not have the other equipment with me, and then I would have to come back another day or book in another session. I don't have the actual number of time saved, but I wouldn't go anywhere without this equipment now.

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.

It is one of the best solutions for finding network problems quickly. The Discovery app that I use as I'm walking around the site picks up loads of things such as retries, APs that are using wrong channels, APs that are moving channels regularly because of DSS events, etc. That's one of the best features that I use the most.

We should be able to do online wireless design through Link-Live. We should be able to take the information that we've gathered and send a customer the way to fix it, in terms of moving APs and how that would affect things, within Link-Live.

The ease of use of AirMapper could do with some improvements. I don't use the AirMapper Site Survey app a lot. I have used it recently with the new 6 GHz device because effectively, it is the only device I have that can do that. For most of my site surveys, I use a different tool. 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.

I've got two of these. I've been using them for about three years. I'm currently using the 6 GHz model.

It is very stable and reliable. I've never had a crash, and I've never had it not collect data. It has always been rock solid.

I've never had to use their support. Their documentation is good, but the main place I've gone to find out how to do things has been YouTube. When there is a new feature, or there is a webinar that's being recorded, I can just watch that back on YouTube.

I've added the NetAlly solution to what I already had. It is not replacing these, but it is better than the tools that I still take with me. I'm a wireless engineer rather than a wired engineer, and I didn't have any Fluke or Netscout products previously. I don't have a wired networking tester. I do have Ekahau, and I still use that. With NetAlly, I've now got additional capability that I didn't have previously. I used to have a separate device for doing packet captures, which effectively is just my laptop with USB wireless cards plugged into it, and now, I don't use that. I just use EtherScope nXG.

In terms of the return on investment, when you use it onsite once or twice, it has already paid for itself. I've said to people that it makes your life so much easier when you're onsite, especially if you're troubleshooting, that it doesn't make sense to not pay for it.

The main benefit is that it just saves time. It saves time on the site. Because it is a handheld device and I can walk around with it, I don't have to walk around with my laptop everywhere. My site visits now are 50% of what they were previously because I'm able to gather that data at the same time. I'm not having to go back and use different tools or take lots of different things to do it. This one tool allows me to do it all in one go or one sweep of the building. A site survey that might've taken two days can be done in a day now. It takes me less time, and I can charge more per day. It also means that on the second day that I would've been there, I can be on another site, effectively earning money twice.

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.

I am currently the only user of this equipment, and I also take care of its maintenance. I've planned an internal demo of the equipment for some of the other engineers in the company. Some of our NOC engineers and some of our wired engineers could really use something like this.

It is relatively easy to learn. There are a lot of videos and other resources that you can check out. A lot of the content is pretty intuitive. The only issue is that because there is so much there, people might feel that they don't really understand where to start with this. However, if people have a particular problem they're trying to solve, they will be able to figure out how to solve that because it has everything they need. There is just so much in there that when people first start out, they won't necessarily know where to go to check something out, but most people who are buying this type of solution would be savvy enough to open everything, figure out where everything is, and then go with it. I certainly had no problem.

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

I currently work as an Enterprise and Data Center Network Consultant. Because of that I’m in a wide variety of customer environments that change constantly. The flexibility of the nXG allows me to keep it with me, no matter where I am and know I have the resource to perform wired, copper or fiber, and wireless network testing. This flexibility allows me to have instill my customers with confidence after an install that their network services are available and functioning as expected.

As a consultant, one of my primary jobs when designing and deploying network infrastructure is determining a test plan that will be utilized to verify network services and resources are available once work is complete. The nXG provides a versatile testing platform for a variety of media and gives a user the ability to pre-define test conditions. Once defined I can attach the Etherscope to the network and run my tests to confirm a successful installation, or to identify problems within the infrastructure that need to be remedied. With this ability to run test plans efficiently I'm able to proactively improve the Quality of Experience an end-user will have before they even know a new solution is in place.

Given the fact that my job is variable by nature — I'm always with different customers, I'm always in different environments — the ability to carry a single, small, handheld unit that can provide all of this testing, troubleshooting and analysis capability is a game changer. With previous iterations of the NetAlly products, many of these great features were present, but they weren't as flexible - one may not be able to test wireless, or, perform 10 Gigabit testing - and there were times I would end up at a customer site with the wrong tester in my bag and have to find another solution, or waste time retrieving one of my other testers. Now, it's all in a single unit. I never have to worry that the unit I'm carrying won't have the feature set I need that day. I'm able to demonstrate to my customers how much value can be added by simply pulling a tool out of my backpack, plugging it into the network, and analyzing the problem. As an engineers I can then verify the problem and fix it in one fell swoop. I'm able to eliminate a lot of the intermediary work that would have been present had I not had an all-in-one tester.

While I haven't kept logs of when I use the product, how often, and how much time it has saved me, I would estimate that in troubleshooting and testing situations I have increased my efficiency by roughly 50% with the addition of the Etherscope nXG to my tool set. 

I don't think I can really hone in on a specific feature that has made this product valuable to me. Its unique combination of testing, analysis and troubleshooting tools packaged into a single unit in a reliable, efficient and aesthetically pleasing platform has been fantastic. The ability to perform packet captures, traffic analysis, iPerf testing and more in the palm of my hand has contributed to a wildly successful product and contributed to my ability to drive customer satisfaction in a big way. 

The multi-technology functionality of the solution (ie. the fact that it does WiFi and wired Ethernet analysis up to 10GB speeds in one device) has really been a huge improvement in the NetAlly products. Previously, while some of the older generations I worked with had those capabilities, they could only do a little bit of wireless or a little bit of wired, but they couldn't really do the whole spectrum together. This product has allowed me to slip one conveniently sized utility into my bag wherever I'm going and know that, right there in my bag, I have the resources to do any of fiber, wired Ethernet, or wireless testing, without having to dig into a bag if I need to change technologies or for adapters or for a different test. It's all one, convenient, centralized unit.

I use the pre-programmed AutoTest feature as a starting point and, overall, it is a very successful utility. It provides a wealth of information to the user. AutoTest isn't just a, "Is your network good to go or is it not?", type utility. The software will analyze the network conditions and provide valuable output to the user to aid in identifying network issues. It will also provide you a detailed readout on how the various test were performed, what step a tes failed out and what caused the failure. For example, if it had to wait too long for a DHCP address to be assigned, or if it couldn't reach a destination, it will provide that output as well. AutoTest provides a large amount of information for quite a few test parameters in one convenient dashboard. It also has the ability to upload those results to NetAlly's Link-Live Cloud Service. That has been invaluable for sharing results among my team members and analyzing results after the fact.

I also make use of the solution's full line-rate 10 gigabit capability very frequently. I have customers who have 10 gigabit or higher infrastructure in their organizations and, whether we have to do speed testing on those units or we simply need to connect to a port that is a 10 gigabit line rate port and determine information about it, having this small unit is wonderful. While NetAlly's OneTouch could handle 10 gigabit, it was roughly the size of a large book. It was pretty difficult to carry around conveniently or break out in the event that I needed to utilize it.

As a handheld tool, the functionality is incredible. I'm always working with one technology or another, but it's all focused around networking. This single unit can provide me the troubleshooting and analysis capabilities of five or six tools that I would've had to carry before and it fits in my backpack. I can carry it with me all the time, charge it very easily via USB-C and immediately have it available and ready to use in a customer environment. 

In addition, the solution is easy to use for less skilled staff, but has deep diagnostics for experts. Many times when I'm onsite, I'll hand my tester to someone who may be a manager or on maintenance staff in that department. I'll send them to a closet to test the cable for me when I'm on the other end looking at a console or other readout, so that I can see the results and what's happening. They're very easily able to plug in the device, hit AutoTest on the screen and press start. It's as easy as that.

There are a variety of tools out there for things like packet capture and speed rate testing. But having them all in the single unit is invaluable. You're able to walk up to a device, plug it in, and, if you need to take a packet capture for troubleshooting, it's right there, built into the device. If you need to do a speed test, it's built in. Whereas before, you'd have to have dedicated applications, pull out a laptop, make sure you had the right thing installed and, if not, go install it, and then perform the testing.

I've really had some positive experience with this product. But eventually, and I know it's not something that can be built directly into this product, I would like to see NetAlly provide a device, even if it's larger or more expensive, that can test the higher rate speeds like, 40 or 100 gigabits per second.

The only improvement I can come up with is the battery life. If they could improve the battery life, that would be great.

I've used NetAlly products for several years. The Etherscope nXG in particular I've been using since its launch in October 2019. 

I've never had an issue with its stability.

I have not had to interact with their technical support, which I think shows a lot, since I use it pretty regularly.

I've always used NetAlly solutions: I've used their OneTouch device, as well as their OneTouch G2, OneTouch AT, and LinkSprinters. I'm pretty sure I've used every physical product that NetAlly provides.

I have definitely seen return on my investment with this solution.

To me, it's invaluable. Time-saving, when I'm working with such a wide variety of customers and going from site to site, is one of the most important things that can be improved in my position. Having this tester, the ability to utilize it for quick troubleshooting while I'm on-the-fly, keeping it with me all the times when I'm traveling between customer sites, has been something that I wouldn't place a price point on.

If you're on the fence reach out to your regional account representative within NetAlly and request a demo of the product before anything else. It is a solid enough product that seeing it in use, even within a NetAlly demo, makes it very clear to many customers and many technical decision-makers how valuable a product like this can be in an organization. Its value is very easily shown and very easily understood by a wide variety of people. Requesting that demo and looking at it before purchasing is always a great step, but it will definitely reinforce the decision to do so.

Also, read the documentation. If there's something that you don't understand, or the output of a test looks unclear, or it's something that you haven't seen before, look at the documentation before anything else. Within the manual they very clearly detail all the potential test results, what they mean, and what implications they have. The fact that the manual is available right on the device in a PDF reader is great.

In addition, make sure to look at the app store that's available on the device. It's curated by NetAlly and it has tools that are vetted and specific for troubleshooting and analyzing networks. That app store has a wealth of applications that can be used in addition to what NetAlly has already built.

I would rate the EtherScope nXG at nine out of 10, because there is always room for new features and improvement in any product. That being said, NetAlly has built an incredibly stable product that provides a large amount of value to anyone using it.

The main thing I wanted to do with it was to inject noise into the line but I also used it to see how much noise was on the line. I also used it to measure the cable length and the pairing quality of the cable. 

In addition, I could remote in from my computer, as long as it was on a network, so I didn't have to go back and forth. If I needed it in the lab, I'd place it there and go to my laptop and control it. I could read all the tests and do any tests, all I needed to, which was really good.

It has not improved the way our company functions because we just used it, in a test situation, for one sample problem we were going through. We were looking for a tool that would give us what we needed, which was to look for noise and to create noise. Unless there is a part or function I was not aware of, it only reads noise; it does not create noise.

I really liked the remote login. That way, if I needed to do something inside of a ceiling, I didn't have to sit inside the ceiling. I could just plug it in and leave the instrument in the ceiling and go to my laptop and use it remotely. That was really good. I really liked that.

We do WiFi testing with our AP, but I didn't get a chance to use it because of COVID. However, I did do a quick test. One thing I liked was that it would tell me signal strength, the noise in the nearby ones, and it would even tell me about some hidden ones. That was cool, as most units don't tell you that. 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 WiFi and the wired were really good. While I didn't use very much of the WiFi, what I did use was good.

It has automated tests where it goes through each process. It took a while but I would just let it do its automated testing and I was happy with that. If I'm not mistaken, there were two pre-programmed functions. One of them was to check reports and why traffic was not running. The other one was checking cable noise and cable quality. I used the automated testing for cable noise and cable quality more than I used it for protocol and trafficking. On the side I did use it, it was good. I liked it. It was accurate. I know because I used another tool, a Fluke, and they were really close to each other, so I'm assuming they're both calibrated the same way.

If I could reset it remotely, meaning reboot the unit, that would be helpful. One time, the test would not respond; the script would lock up. I had to go and manually reboot it. If I could have sent a command to reboot and it would have automatically connected to the wireless, that would have made it perfect. That was the only thing that it did not do. If you're sitting remotely, at your desk, and the unit is at a customer's site and you need to reboot, the only way you can do that is to call up the customer and ask them, "Hey, can you go reboot it for me?" and customers usually don't like that.

I used it for between a month and two months. I was the only in our company who was using it. We were testing the product.

Other than the script locking up once in a while, it was pretty stable.

I didn't use technical support for the device. I used the manual that came with it, and that was about it.

EtherScope offered more things than the other ones offered. The other ones only offered cable length, cable quality, but no noise readings. This one gave you more in-depth networking protocols, noise readings, all that good stuff. I haven't seen another one that does as much as this one.

As for the learning curve, once I messed with it a little bit, I got to know how to use it pretty well. It was fairly easy to just plug-and-go, to do the basics. I was able to get up and run a test within 15 minutes. Within a day I was able to use all the functions just fine and was very comfortable using all the functions. And it could also provide deep diagnostics.

I also looked at an Agilent meter reader, which has two handheld units and you connect the cable. It's not as fancy as the EtherScope.

This could save a lot of headaches on troubleshooting networks, connections, and cables. It's got a lot of options and it could definitely save a lot of time if used properly.

I would rate it about an eight out of 10. It's not a 10 because there were a few bugs. It could be improved. Also, I don't know if it has this feature or not, but if I could write my own script to use on that machine, it would definitely be a 10. If it doesn't have that, I would stay with my eight. Most people who are engineers like to automate things, and they would want to write their own script to do their own testing.

I use NetAlly EtherScope to connect and view problems with networks. I have two units that help with recovery.

I sell, create, and install WiFi for customers. Not everyone has the knowledge to work with WiFI nor do they have the money to purchase NetAlly EtherScope.

I work with customers who have slow WiFi and cable problems. When there are multiple problems in the WiFi, configuration, or with the providers, I can view this with AutoTest. NetAlly EtherScope makes viewing this very easy.

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.

I use Link-Live to put maps online. I use it to upload and create networks maps and reports.

I have a unit that runs in 10 Gigs. I use LANBERT to troubleshoot in the fiber and copper cables, since the speed is slow and there is not a lot of feedback. I don't need a certificate with LANBERT, which shows me the speed. 

All my customers have slow networks. There are problems with desktop configuration and WiFi updates and networks. With AutoTest, it is very easy to view the speed, then troubleshoot problems on channels. This is difficult to view with other tools.

It is the best tool for troubleshooting. It is very easy to use. I use AutoTest and can view everything in the network. It helps to resolve WiFi issues, which is not easy to resolve.

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

NetAlly EtherScope is easy to update for new functionalities.

The technical support is very good and fast. It is easy to create a ticket. I would rate them as 10 out of 10.

Positive

While the cost of the solution is expensive, it makes it easier to support and troubleshoot problems for my customers using NetAlly EtherScope, improving my productivity.

The pricing is very expensive, but this tool is the best.

I purchased the support from NetAlly.

These tools are very solid units.

If you have knowledge of WiFi or LAN networks, it is easy to learn how to use it. If you don't have knowledge of WiFi or networks, it is difficult to learn how to use it. NetAlly EtherScope is for very knowledgeable people, such as engineers of technical networks, because the tool is easy to use, but you need to have knowledge of technical networks. Therefore, not everyone can understand this solution.

I would rate this tool as nine out of 10. It needs a spectrum analyzer.

Our biggest use case is the heat map. We also use it for testing cable length, and/or verifying what port an unmarked data drop is going to.

We're in a big push to get proper network documentation. When we go to a site, we take a NetAlly with us and we try to do both a heat map and use the discovery function. Additionally, if we're onsite and we're troubleshooting some issues, we might use both the AutoTest and Cable Tester to identify problems that we need to fix. For example, we tend to have long cable runs that sites need to be replaced or addressed.

The NetAlly product is still relatively new for us and we are exploring what other functions it will do for us. It's not a tool we use daily. We use it three or four times a month at this point.

The AutoTest feature has definitely reduced troubleshooting time. Given the fact that there's a lack of documentation about our environment—nobody's marking data drops—it's an awesome little feature. It has reduced my typical troubleshooting time on a data drop by somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes.

Overall, the nXG has helped us to be more effective when it comes to troubleshooting. It helps us identify issues in our network more quickly.

The functions we're using currently are AutoTest, Cable Test, discovery, and the AirMapper.

I love the AutoTest feature. It's my favorite feature. Finding a network problem is not the biggest deal for us. Our problem is that we usually go to a port and it's undocumented, regarding how or where it's connected. AutoTest allows us to find out what port it is on the switch and to trace it back to a particular patch panel. We can then document it, if necessary, or use that information for connecting a device or for re-VLANing a switch to the appropriate VLAN.

I'm still on the amateur side when it comes to doing heat maps and the AirMapper Site Survey app is a tool that is designed for somebody who does professional heat maps and really gets into the minutiae. It probably gives me more information than I realize. But its ability to visualize key performance metrics from the map, with the color-coding, is great. I like all the information that I get. It's easy to understand, especially by the time you weed out all the unnecessary SSIDs. That's great.

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.

One of the things I'd like to be able to do with that feature is to grab a group of devices and drag them. For example, if you drag a switch, all the devices that are attached to that switch stay in the same spot. Your switch can be dragged all the way out to the far side of the page, but all the devices are still back in their original spot. That means there are all these lines and you have to go back and move all the individual devices. I wish there was a way to drag the device and its attached devices.

Another thing that I would love for the EtherScope nXG to be able to do is when I'm looking at a topology map. A lot of times it will say, "Unknown switch," and I'm pretty sure it's a phone that probably has a PC attached to it. I would love it if it could identify that.

Also, when running a discovery, it would help if there were something that makes it a little more obvious when the NetAlly device determines that the discovery is complete. There's a little percentage sign that runs up towards the top when the discovery is going, but I'd like a little more obvious sign that indicates, "Hey, we're still running. We're still trying to discover things." That way we won't pull it off before it's done.

Another point is that this product needs to come with a stylus. It doesn't work well with fat fingers.

We've had NetAlly EtherScope nXG for about a year, and I've started using it within the last nine months.

I had to do an update because my original EtherScope had a problem with one of its WiFi radios not turning on. I couldn't use WiFi to upload things. That created a little bit of a hassle, but they replaced it really quickly.

NetAlly's customer support has been good. I haven't had any complaints.

I brought one of our engineers who works a lot with these tools and we sat down with a couple of the salesmen. I showed one of them my EtherScope and when I talked to him about my wireless issue, he was the one who said, "Yes, you need to have them replace this." I contacted support and they looked at the unit and said, "You realize that it's not up to date?" and they asked me to update it. I updated it but that didn't fix my problem. We then moved to the step of replacing it.

When it's one of the guys who knows the product best who identifies the problem and says, "You just need it replaced," at that point, I would expect customer service to just follow the engineer's lead.

Positive

I previously used AirMapper. I like the fact that this is easier to handle than walking around with a PC with a dongle hanging off of it. The nXG gives me multiple tools in one handheld device.

We're still trying to figure out how the discovery in NetAlly differs from SolarWinds, which we also use. We do gain some additional information from NetAlly compared to SolarWinds, but we still have to figure out how we can utilize that information.

EtherScope will work for less skilled staff and experts on staff, but you better be prepared to grow your skills. Some of the smaller apps are pretty intuitive. I did heat maps using a different AirMapper tool before. But I still have to learn Performance, iPerf, and LANBERT. I don't even think I've touched a Path Analysis. I'm not even sure what it does. I have watched some of the videos that are available. It is just a matter of dedicating your time to learning all the features that the tool offers. Sometimes that's hard, given the typical "IT is overwhelmed" situation.

Overall, if you've got an ugly network, this is the device for you. If you lack cable management documentation or labeling on your drops, this is the device for you.

We are a group that tests WiFi routers and interaction between those routers and client devices, such as laptops, etc. We use these NetAlly devices pretty extensively for getting a third-party view of what's going on over the air.

We use it primarily for its WiFi-related features, such as looking at what channels are being used, what other access points are on the air nearby. At times we use it at a customer's location in real-world settings, and at other times we use it in the lab when we're creating our own scenarios.

It helps us confirm what's in the air.

Since we're previous users of this type of product from NetScope and Fluke, I don't have metrics that show where this device has sped up our work, but it is an integral part of how we do our work. One way of saying it is that we have multiple RF chambers and test environments and we've equipped each one of those test locations with it's own NetAlly. We consider it an important enough tool that we have one in every place we're doing a test, so that we have the ability to get a quick view of what's on over the air.

It also provides a faster view of the network than what we could get by using other tools. In terms of our efficiency, our ability to perform tests and debug test environments quickly is enhanced by this device.

Compared to if we didn't have the nXGs at all, and we were troubleshooting a problem that could be identified by the device, it speeds up work by a factor of between two to 10 times. Rather than doing a packet capture and slow analysis, you can just take a look at something and be off and running. It speeds things up greatly.

It has also made our networking staff more productive, although I'm not sure how to quantify that. It's kind of like asking a plumber how long it will take him to do his job if he doesn't have the wrenches he needs.

Compared to any other means of getting a given type information, using this tool provides that information in a fraction of the time. It may be that we would go through an entire week and never use these units. So in that week they wouldn't save us anything at all. But when a problem comes up, the ability to pick it up and get the answer we need in a couple of minutes, versus an hour, makes a big difference at that point in time. You may only need that particular "wrench" 15 times a year, but every time you need it, it really is useful.

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.

The newer version of NetAlly, the nXG, does a better job than previous models of allowing us to drill into conversations between individual clients and access points and get packet captures.

Its ability to do 802.11ax is also useful.

In addition, the device is easy to use for less skilled staff but with deep diagnostics for our experts on stuff. The graphical approach that it uses makes it very easy to see what's going on over the air and where your potential problems may be. And the graphical interface to pursue a problem is also very easy to use. 

Having said that, we're a fairly highly-specialized group, so I don't know that I have a good answer about less skilled users. What I'm judging by is that everybody in our lab, whether they're WiFi-specific experts or not, can pick it up and use it very easily. But in terms of whether technicians and other other folks could use it, I really don't know since I haven't given it to other users. But the ability to get to the view that you're interested in, and get a number quickly, makes it an easy-to-use test tool, as compared to a spectrum analyzer or a more complex tool. It's definitely an easy to use device, easy to navigate around, and it makes good use of the user interface.

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. That's something that I've complained to them about before. It can infer that you have interference that really isn't there.

Also, the ability to integrate it into automated testing is fairly limited. Part of what we do is automate things whenever we possibly can. The ability to integrate it into automated test environments more readily would be useful.

Finally, while it does support 802.11ax technology, if it were able to give us a bit more information about what's happening in the 802.11ax realm, it would be useful. For example, we can't use this device to determine when something like OFDMA is being used in a conversation between an access point and a client. So more 802.11ax-specific data would be useful.

We have been using this particular device for several months. We bought them last year. We've been users of previous models as well, when it was NetScope, and even back when it was a Fluke device.

The stability is improved over previous versions. It has been fine. No problems with it at all. We got the previous device to "blue screen" a few times but we think that was tied to it's being in the presence of 802.11ax traffic.

If additional features are added that enhance our ability to troubleshoot WiFi problems, then it would get increased use. But we don't know of any such features at this moment in time.

I haven't used NetAlly's customer support in over a year, and that was on the previous model.

They have been very interactive. We've had conversations all the way back to their design engineering teams and that's very valuable: having a company that is active and responsive. We value that.

We originally used the Fluke version of the WiFi analyzer and then we used what I think was called NetScope, the version that was the predecessor of this one. We've been users of this same product line for some time.

The driver for us to switch to the newest version was to pick up the 802.11ax capability.

The learning curve was short. It does behave a little bit differently than the previous version, so we had to unlearn how the previous model worked. But once we understood it, it was easy to remember and use.

I wouldn't say it's completely intuitive. The company provided training for us for certain things and, while it was only an hour's worth of training, it really did help. So you can master it in an hour with a little bit of a tutorial. And to be fair, that tutorial took us through the entire product; all the features beyond WiFi. You could learn to use all the WiFi functions in a half an hour.

We have seen return on our investment. What we thought we were buying was the ability to quickly assess the WiFi environment wherever we needed to. And it does that.

In terms of the cost of the device versus its ability to save you time or solve problems faster, it's a good value.

I don't consider the pricing to be a problem. It's not a cheap device, but it's a very capable device for the money. It's a good value.

My advice would be "use it." Get a demo and try it to see how effective it is at identifying, for WiFi situations, what's going on in the air around you. Try it out, go debug something with it. If you are someone in the business of being in the field, day in and day out, try out all of the interfaces on it. If you're a person who has to debug a variety of different network issues every day — Ethernet, WiFi, fiber — I would definitely encourage you to to try it out. It's very capable. It doesn't do MoCA — that's coax cable — which is important to our market space, but for most network installers, I don't think that would be an issue. If you're a network installer you should definitely have a look at this tool.

I don't know that I've learned the following by using the nXG, but it has certainly helped reinforce it: Being able to attain a third-party look at what your WiFi environment is, is key to troubleshooting problems. Devices themselves that may be a part of your network may not necessarily always be telling you the truth. Your ability to get an independent view of what is going on over the air is key. That's the key takeaway for me. I need a reliable way to get visibility into what's going on over the air so that the analysis and the troubleshooting that are going to be done are appropriate. Visibility of what's really going on from an independent piece of test gear is very critical.

The multi-technology functionality of the device, that it does WiFi and wired Ethernet analysis in one device, is not that important to us. We use the multi-function capability maybe 10 percent of the time. Since most of our focus is on WiFi, while it's convenient to have the ability to test other things, we don't use it that often.

We rarely use the pre-programmed AutoTest feature. We typically have our own test protocol for how we want to conduct a test. I can definitely see how AutoTest could be very useful in the field-deployment arena. But we don't use it all that much. It appears to be effective at being able to find top-level network problems. A good example would be if you are testing a device and the WiFi appears to be working but you aren't getting connectivity to the internet. You might want an independent test of that with another device, and that's where AutoTest could quickly determine if you are really getting out to the internet through your router or not.

Within our group, the maintenance and systems engineering group, there are 11 of us using this solution and we are all test engineers. In terms of maintenance, we just use them. We perform firmware upgrades as they are available, but beyond that there is no other maintenance.

This product is a 10 out of 10. It's a solid little product.

NetAlly EtherScope nXG is an all-round tool we use for front-end troubleshooting, performance tests, and cable testing.

The biggest benefit of NetAlly EtherScope nXG is getting a full discovery on the wide and Wi-Fi side, getting it all under one discovery, and seeing how it all maps out together.

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. The advantages of NetAlly EtherScope nXG are that it is handheld, Android-based, and very up-to-date.

NetAlly EtherScope nXG's reporting and table qualification could be improved. The disadvantages of NetAlly EtherScope nXG are its password life and end reporting.

I have been using NetAlly EtherScope nXG for three years.

NetAlly EtherScope nXG is a very stable product, and we have not faced any issues with it.

Overall, NetAlly EtherScope nXG is a very scalable product, and it's good for what it does straight out of the box. However, if you don't pay support for it, they shut some features down on the product. We have four NetAlly EtherScope nXG users on-premises and sold 46 units.

I've had customers who have dropped units and had issues with some faults that they caused themselves. NetAlly EtherScope nXG's fantastic technical support proactively resolved those issues.

I have previously used the OneTouch from NETSCOUT and the Optiview from Fluke Networks.

The solution is easy to set up, but you need to ensure you register your product. NetAlly EtherScope nXG is deployed on cloud. For NetAlly EtherScope nXG's deployment, you need to claim it onto the cloud tester, and all the test results get pushed to the cloud service for reporting.

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

You need to pay an annual maintenance fee for the maintenance provided by the vendor.

I recommend that users go through the online training on YouTube that NetAlly provides to get the product's full potential.

Overall, I rate NetAlly EtherScope nXG a nine out of ten for the additional features you can add because it is an Android device.