Automatic Identification and Location of RF Interference Sources

AirMagnet Spectrum XT offers real-time detection and identification of a number of non Wi-Fi interference sources that interfere and lower the performance of wireless networks. The extensive device or source list includes bluetooth devices, digital and analog cordless phones, conventional and inverter microwave ovens, wireless game controllers, digital video converter, baby monitors, RF Jammers, radars, motion detectors, zigbee devices and many more.

Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer users are also powered with detailed information for the non Wi-Fi interference source, including peak and average power, first and last seen time, center frequency, impacted channels, number of times the source was detected, and many more. With an additional Bluetooth adapter plugged into the same PC, the AirMagnet Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer provides Bluetooth information such as ID, name, services, etc. for enhanced Bluetooth interferer analysis.

With the AirMagnet Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer’s built-in “device locator tool”, users can physically locate any Wi-Fi or non-Wi-Fi interference sources operating in the RF environment. The wireless spectrum analyzer’s device locator tool operates as a Geiger counter and beeps louder as users get closer to the location of the device.

Integrated Reporting

AirMagnet Spectrum XT’s integrated report engine makes it easy to turn RF spectrum analysis sessions into professional reports. Customization features allow this Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer to generate reports on the RF spectrum graphs, Wi-Fi charts and the list of RF interference sources for the current environment. With the wireless spectrum analyzer, reports can be exported in the Word, RTF, PDF, HTML formats for handoff.

High-resolution RF Spectrum Diagnostic Views

Key graphs and charts include:

Real-Time FFT – provides a real-time view into the RF energy in the environment with current, max, max-hold and average RF signal levels. RF spectrum analyzer users can overlay channel duty-cycle on the Real-time FFT graph to streamline their efforts in detecting and focusing on RF interference sources that have the maximum impact on the performance of the network.

Spectrum Density – The wireless spectrum analyzer provides a longer-term view into the network by displaying real-time analysis on the signals that are common during the current capture session. This is helpful to identify infrequent transmitters.

Spectrogram – The wireless spectrum analyzer provides a scrolling history of the RF environment and allows a visual understanding of the wireless spectrum over time to see intermittent spikes or bursts of RF energy that may be causing wireless network problems.

Duty Cycle – The wireless spectrum analyzer displays how often an interfering signal is present. A high duty cycle means an interferer is constantly transmitting and will most certainly cause problems on the affected channel.

Event Spectrogram – provides a visual presentation of real-time analysis on interfering devices that are detected in the last 5 minutes. It includes information on power level and channels/frequencies affected by the device.

Channel Power – shows the maximum and average power levels across all the channels in the selected radio band.

Interference – displays the average power readings of interfering devices on the selected channel or channels.

Channel Duty Cycle & Interference Power vs. Time Trending– shows the average power in the channels that is above the noise floor and the maximum average power readings of interfering devices operating.

Visualize Impact of RF Interference on Wireless Network Performance

AirMagnet Spectrum XT’s integrated report engine makes it easy to turn RF spectrum analysis sessions into professional reports. Customization features allow this Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer to generate reports on the RF spectrum graphs, Wi-Fi charts and the list of RF interference sources for the current environment. With the wireless spectrum analyzer, reports can be exported in the Word, RTF, PDF, HTML formats for handoff.

“Zero-day” response to any RF interferer

Users who own RF spectrum analyzers usually have to depend on the vendor to create default signatures or classifications for the detection and identification of RF interference sources. Timely response to these RF interference sources is critical to environments or enterprise networks to ensure the optimum performance for their WLAN users. Spectrum analyzer vendors themselves, struggle to keep up with the creation and inclusion of every unique RF interference sources within their native classification database that can cause havoc to the WLAN network.

To overcome this hurdle and provide users with a “zero-day” response to any RF interference source, AirMagnet wireless spectrum analyzer introduces the industry’s first automated spectrum analysis capability that monitors the RF environment looking for unique and repeating RF interference patterns from these “unknown RF interference sources”. Once the RF interference pattern of interest is detected and classified, users have the option of creating a customized signature for the pattern for future alerting. With this wireless spectrum analysis capability, users not only gain independence from the vendor’s periodic classification updates, but also have a faster response to troubleshooting performance problems in their network.

Integration with AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer and AirMagnet Survey

AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer PRO AirMagnet Spectrum XT users running AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer PRO on the same PC can view non-WLAN interference for every channel in the RF spectrum. Simple color indicators point to the level of impact of these RF interference sources on the performance of the WLAN network. This information helps users plan the channel settings for the current and planned WLAN infrastructure.

AirMagnet Survey PRO users running AirMagnet Spectrum XT on the same machine can perform RF spectrum surveys or sweeps at the same time, as a passive or active site survey, reducing the walk-around time. Users also get the list of RF interference sources detected by AirMagnet Spectrum XT within AirMagnet Survey.

With this integration, spectrum analyzer users are entitled to unique heatmaps within AirMagnet Survey, for example:

• Channel power heat map that provides a color-coded display of the power levels detected on each channel in the wireless spectrum.
• Interferer power/location heat map that displays non-WLAN interference sources or devices that are detected during the site survey

Record and Playback

AirMagnet Spectrum XT users can save their RF spectrum analysis scans, retain them as hard evidence and play them back at a later time for post-capture investigation and analysis. The handy ‘jump-to’ feature allows the user to quickly navigate within a capture file to the start time of any interferers captured during the scan. This is very helpful as critical forensic information while investigating any Layer 1 Denial of Service attacks against the WLAN network. The saved trace files can also be shared between users for collaborative analysis and troubleshooting.

AirMagnet Spectrum XT’s Instant Replay feature allows users to review the most recent spectrum analysis information and play it back, as if it were being viewed live for the first time.

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NETSCOUT Helps Love’s Travel Stops Deliver Clean Places and Friendly Faces at 300+ Retail Locations Nationwide

Challenge:
Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores is a family-owned chain of more than 330 truck stops and convenience stores across 39 states. The company’s principle of “Clean Places, Friendly Faces” guides its growth and has positioned Love’s at the forefront of the travel center and convenience store industry. With more than 10,000 employees nationwide, any network performance hiccup can impact the point of sale process, from the checkout counter to Love’s advanced freight and truck services. The result affects worker productivity, as well as the overall customer experience, jeopardizing Love’s goal of serving the nation’s drivers with superior service and innovation.

Results:
Love’s Travel Stops now uses AirMagnet Survey Pro to plan wireless network access points. The company also uses AirMagnet Spectrum XT during both planning and after installation to scan for interference. And after installation, Love’s uses AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer to identify and troubleshoot performance issues beyond interference. The result helps the Love’s network team deploy wireless access points intelligently and battle outside interference from a wide range of devices—even the occasional gaming console and WiFi jammer.

• Operating Systems: Microsoft® Windows 7 Enterprise/Professional/Ultimate 32-bit and 64-bit or Microsoft Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise 32-bit and 64-bit, Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro/Enterprise 64 bit, Windows 10 Professional/Enterprise 64-bit
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.00 GHz (Intel® Core™ i5 or higher recommended).
• 2 GB RAM required (4 GB recommended)
• 250 MB free hard disk space.
• Microsoft .NET framework 2.0

Apple® MacBook® Pro

• Operating Systems

• Intel®-based 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo or higher.
• 2 GB RAM required (4 GB recommended)
• 250 MB free hard disk space.
• Microsoft .NET framework 2.0.

NETSCOUT OptiView® XG Network Analysis Tablet

• Microsoft Windows® 7, Professional, SP1
• Intel® Pentium® 1.2 GHz
• 4 GB memory
• 128 GB removable solid state drive
• 2 internal 802.11a/b/g/n/ac adapters
• 1 internal RF spectrum adapter
• 3 USB ports
• 1024 x 768 touch display

Additional Wi-Fi Analysis

AirMagnet Spectrum XT offers additional Wi-Fi analysis features in addition to the spectrum features supported by the AirMagnet Spectrum USB adapter. This does NOT remove the requirement for an AirMagnet Spectrum USB adapter, without which the Spectrum XT software will not work.

AirMagnet supports two categories of wireless adapters for additional analysis:

• Preferred adapters: Adapters that have been comprehensively tested by AirMagnet and are recommended for use with the AirMagnet products.
• Limited-support adapters: Adapters that have been known to work with the product, but AirMagnet does not perform extensive testing on these adapters. AirMagnet recommends the use of adapters that have been tested and certified as mentioned in category 1.

Wireless Adapters:
USB Adapters

Built-In Adapters

Cardbus Adapters

ExpressCard Adapters

Optional:
AirMagnet Directional Antenna
Additional Bluetooth Analysis

AirMagnet Spectrum XT offers enhanced Bluetooth interferer information using an optional Windows-compatible Bluetooth adapter. The enhanced information includes details on the name, ID, services, etc. for Bluetooth devices.

Users can either use the Bluetooth adapter that is built into their PC or can use an external adapter. One such Bluetooth adapter is the IOGEAR GBU421 Bluetooth Adapter that has been tested by AirMagnet.

Note: It is recommended that users always use the Microsoft driver for Bluetooth devices instead of the vendor-supplied driver. This driver is built into Windows XP (SP3), Vista, 7 Operating Systems. Please refer to Microsoft’s website for obtaining drivers for other Operating Systems.

Overview

AirMagnet Spectrum XT (2:40)

Tutorial

Getting Started (4:24)

Interferers 101 (3:05)

Prioritizing Interferers (4:02)

Finding a Device (2:52)

Auto Detection FFT Patterns (2:49)