AirMagnet Rolls out New Versions of Market-Leading Wi-Fi Site Survey Solution to Address Booming Market

Surveyor 2.0 and 2.0 PRO Include New Features to Address Real-World Complexities of Wireless Installation and Optimization

SUNNYVALE , Calif. , Dec. 7, 2004 — AirMagnet, the leader in wireless LAN (WLAN) security and performance solutions, today announced the latest version of AirMagnet Surveyor—expanding the features of its popular WLAN site survey tool and customizing the solution to meet the needs of two distinct user groups. Surveyor 2.0 Standard Edition is designed to meet the requirements of network managers who set up their own wireless LANs and routinely perform their own site surveys. Surveyor 2.0 PRO adds reporting of extremely thorough, in-depth survey data that is a key component of professional WLAN installations. AirMagnet's Surveyor products are the only solutions that perform active surveys—associating to specific access points (APs) or Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) to gather actual end user performance information —and multi-floor site surveys. In less than eight months since its introduction in April 2004, AirMagnet Surveyor has become an integral part of Wi-Fi deployment for more than 800 network managers, professional site surveyors and systems integrators.

“When we started looking at deploying a university-wide wireless network, we knew it would not be easy. We have over a hundred buildings on campus, and a number of departments have been deploying wireless networks on their own in an ad hoc fashion,” said Michael Dickson, network analyst at the University of Massachusetts Amherst . “AirMagnet Surveyor PRO helps us find existing networks and remove them. If required, it can also show us how our wireless network can co-exist with others. Surveyor gives us a holistic view of wireless activity, allowing us to make necessary adjustments to ensure that network performance and security aren't compromised. The product allows us to easily import blueprints of the buildings, including our original AutoCAD drawings, merge data from multiple surveys taken at different times, and even simulate actual deployments to determine a network layout that will perform optimally in the dynamic university environment. We looked at a lot of products in this category, and AirMagnet Surveyor PRO was by far the best.”

Large-Scale Site Survey
AirMagnet Surveyor 2.0 meets the needs of users tasked with site surveys of any size, allowing users to cover survey areas of many square miles, which is critical as metropolitan areas continue to offer city-wide wireless connectivity. It now supports large scale DWG Auto CAD file format and can print out maps of up to 30-by-30 inches. Surveyor 2.0 includes an enhanced floor map zoom feature, giving users the ability to zoom in to any level of detail and maintain fine resolution and a consistent scale.

Enhanced Simulation and Predication
Surveyor 1.0 allowed users to simulate AP channels, output power and SSID assignment, and Surveyor 2.0 adds a range of new simulation features to allow users to explore a wide variety of installation options without physically testing each scenario. The new features enable users to virtually move an AP or simulate adding an AP to a new location and then predict the impact of the change based on real propagation data. It can automatically assess which channel is best for each AP and automatically disable redundant APs during simulation. Surveyor 2.0 visually displays ‘before' and ‘after' pictures of the simulation and generates reports based on the simulated results. Simulated results can also be exported as an AP configuration worksheet, which supports a variety of third party applications.

PRO Version:
The PRO version of Surveyor 2.0 is designed for the specific needs of expert site surveyors and consultants who install and deploy WLANs as their core business. Additional features in this version include:

* GPS Survey : can be used with any GPS device for outdoor site surveys. The Surveyor application will automatically know where the user is and automatically record data, without the need for the user to manually map locations during the survey.
* Multi-floor Survey : concurrently displays results of up to four floors of a structure. This feature allows users to map an AP's signal and see how it reaches and affects floors above and below the AP. Users can account for bleeding signals to prevent interference or target deployments to use a single AP to cover multiple floors.
* Reporting : Surveyor PRO automatically produces detailed, multi-page reports suitable for end users. Survey professionals can instantly create graphically rich survey summaries to share with less technical network owners. This reporting feature dramatically reduces project time and visibly improves communication with clients.

“The overwhelmingly positive response among network managers to Surveyor has exceeded our expectations,” said Dean Au, chief executive officer of AirMagnet. “We've identified two distinct types of users and matched products to each group. For network administrators and site surveyors who do a few single-floor surveys each month, we've expanded the features in the standard version of Surveyor to automate and simplify the site survey to an even greater degree and make it easy for anyone to deploy a wireless network, regardless of experience. For expert or professional site surveyors deploying large, multi-floor wireless networks on a weekly or daily basis, we developed Surveyor PRO, which includes a broader set of functions than any product in this category and is calibrated to meet the needs of a professional site survey.”

Pricing and Availability
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