Land Mobile was sent a NetScout AirCheck G2 to review. It looks and feels pleasingly robust and the combination of an intuitive interface and on-device guides meant that it took almost no time at all for our editor to start performing roaming tests. Our headquarters has a few areas where Wi-Fi reception is patchy at best and the device did a good job of reporting them in a clear and comprehensible way. For a bit of fun, we took it home to a high density urban residential development and it was interesting to see just how many home Wi-Fi networks were all running on the same channel, suggesting that perhaps the AirCheck G2 and similar devices might be of use to estate managers interested in offering a value-added service to their clients.
“NetScout is a firm believer that wireless network edge technologies, such as 802.11ac, will play a pivotal role in the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) and other industries that require ubiquitous reach and mobility,” Michael Szabados, chief operating officer for NetScout, said. The wireless tester enables front-line IT to quickly and easily identify issues responsible for spotty connections, dead zones, and slow speeds, as well as locating rogue access points and unauthorised devices. This functionality is ideal to support installation and troubleshooting of IoT wireless edge infrastructure.
“The 802.11ac standard is fast becoming the industry preference with adoption rates in 2015 reaching 54.5 per cent of dependent access point unit shipments and 71.3 per cent of dependent access point revenues,” Nolan Greene, research analyst, Network Infrastructure at IDC, said. “As enterprise mobility becomes ubiquitous and IoT applications move into the mainstream, there will be increased demand on enterprise WLANs. The tester’s strong, industry-leading capabilities around the 802.11ac standard will be absolutely critical in supporting next-generation wireless initiatives.”
