By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
If your network is theoretically perfect but your Wi-Fi is still slow or keeps disconnecting, chances are you’ve got unknown sources of interference. This week NetAlly released precisely the kind of trouble-shooting device you need to identify the root cause of a problem: A tri-band spectrum analyser. In this case the new NetAlly NXT-2000 is a USB-stick extension hardware unit that plugs into NetAlly’s handheld wireless testers.
Got interference coming from rogue devices beyond your Wi-Fi network or are neighbouring Wi-Fi networks interfering with yours? The only way to really know is to examine raw RF signals by using a spectrum analyser. This week NetAlly released the NXT-2000 spectrum analyser extension to its AirCheck, CyberScope, and EtherScope handheld Wi-Fi testers. The new analyser hardware plugs directly into the handhelds and is a substantial upgrade to the previous model (NXT-1000) as it supports the 6 GHz band and comes with an external directional antenna (the NXT-1000’s external antenna is omnidirectional).
“With our previous analyser there wasn’t really any fast way to locate interference sources because the antenna was omnidirectional. With the directional antenna we can now more easily track if we are getting closer or further away from an interference source just by walking around, pointing the antenna in a particular direction, perhaps sweeping it around, and watching the display. This is an important new added feature in the NXT-2000,” says Julio Petrovitch, Wireless Product Manager at NetAlly.
The most common cause of interference is usually other Wi-Fi networks in adjacent areas. But rogue devices – meaning devices that are not part of your enterprise Wi-Fi network – for example within the same building – are not uncommon given the number and extent of Wi-Fi devices now available and how easy they are to plug-in and use.
Interference signals can also come from non-Wi-Fi sources, such as microwave ovens or non-Wi-Fi devices using the same unlicensed bands (most commonly the 2.4 GHz band) including wireless game controllers, cordless phones, radar transmissions (in the 5 GHz band) or even RF jammers. “It’s also easy to find out whether the RF signal source is Wi-Fi or non-Wi-Fi by comparing the measured frequency spectrum on the handheld device with known spectral masks ,” Julio Petrovitch says.
The new analyser can also be used to verify so-called ‘No Wireless Zones’ – a concept important to (for example) some government agencies. In this case handheld tester and the spectrum analyser combo is used to inspect the zones and to perhaps also to positively identify intentional RF interference sources, NetAlly says. The handheld tester’s ‘Spectrum App’ detects the presence of the NXT-2000 and begins making measurements as soon as it is plugged in.
NetAlly’s AirCheck G3, EtherScope, and – more recently – CyberScope handheld testers are used by thousands of Wi-Fi industry professionals around the globe for fast Wi-Fi network troubleshooting and verification. It is even possible for untrained personnel to perform the testing via remote control by a network expert from a remote location. For more about the latest test innovations by NetAlly also read here.
/Claus.
