Rollout: Air Magnet Survey Pro and Planner 5.0

The Upshot AirMagnet's Survey/Planner version 5.0 aims to be a complete toolset for planning and sustaining enterprise wireless networks. The latest version offers unique features, can perform active and passive surveys, and supports a variety of graphic formats for floor plans. The WLAN-support market is growing, with companies such as AirWave, Ekahau and Cisco offering standalone products as well as tools integrated with wireless system management suites. But WLAN planners are still hard-pressed to find advanced feature sets that truly take the mystery out of planning and managing high-quality wireless networks. AirMagnet takes it up a notch with its latest offerings. With 3-D and multi-floor views, tight integration with Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth for outside networks, and a host of new features that add to accuracy in both planning and support, Survey and Planner 5.0 step out ahead of a growing pack. A must-have toolset just got even better.

Nowhere does up-front planning pay off more than in wireless network design. Getting measurements right the first time saves the cost and hassle of having to rework a deployment.

AirMagnet's Survey Pro and Planner 5.0 provide a slick toolset to demystify critical planning steps. And even the best-planned WLAN needs ongoing support and occasional troubleshooting, so Survey Pro and Planner also provide deep views into the nitty-gritty of wireless environments that will have IT coming back to the toolset over and over again.

The new versions extend AirMagnet's lead over competitors such as AirWave, Ekahau and Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) by adding cool features such as side-by-side comparisons of deployment scenarios, the ability to diagram RF coverage in three dimensions, and integration with Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth.