AirMagnet Planner makes it easy to build a detailed model of any wireless environment, even before the network is deployed. Simply load in a map of the location, and use the built-in library of walls, doors and windows to precisely match the building’s characteristics. The environment can also be customized to account for cubicles, offices, elevators and a variety of warehouse obstructions. All environmental settings are fully customizable and custom materials can be created from scratch to meet the user specifications.
AirMagnet Planner provides full control of the proposed wireless infrastructure to the users. They can add APs to any location and experiment to find the ideal AP placement for the environment based on their requirements. AirMagnet Planner also provides full control over all AP settings with independent settings for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios. Users can set the AP channel, IP address, transmit power, antenna type, orientation, height and 802.11n specifications. When the planning session is complete, users can generate a professional Bill of Materials report with all the information that is needed to properly install the network, and includes a complete list of required APs, their ideal placement and configuration settings. Along with RF coverage information, users are also powered with performance metrics such as data rates and throughput.
AirMagnet Planner also includes an “advisor feature” to automatically place APs on site floor plans. Users can specify the minimum signal coverage expected, the transmit power, media type of the AP, etc. and mark Wi-Fi coverage areas and areas where APs cannot be placed.
AirMagnet Planner is the WLAN industry’s only planning solution that covers all aspects of a successful 802.11n deployment: migration, performance prediction and validation. Users can design new 802.11n greenfield networks, as well as, plan their migration strategies for existing legacy networks, including one-to-one replacements or the phased introduction of 802.11n devices into their legacy network. Users can plan their 802.11n deployments for maximized performance without any physical AP rollout and are powered with unique coverage maps for WLAN throughput and other 802.11n coverage maps, such as Operating Mode, MCS Transmit Rate and Channel Width, to predict the WLAN performance at every location on the floor. Since AirMagnet Planner is part of a single, seamless application with AirMagnet Survey PRO, users can validate “modeled” 802.11n results against “real-world active” post-deployment surveys.
AirMagnet Planner includes over 250 of the most popular antenna patterns on the market for customizing APs, including Cisco, Aruba, Ruckus Wireless, Meru Networks, HP, Symbol, 3Com, Bluesocket, Motorola, D-Link Systems, etc. AirMagnet Planner also includes a built-in tool to create customized antenna patterns, allowing users to replicate the characteristics of literally any available antenna.
Users can create and export planner projects directly to Cisco WCS. This saves users time and resources needed in setting up of maps, AP placement locations and other WLAN deployment modeling activities by eliminating the need to repeat these tasks within Cisco WCS. This integration dramatically increases operational efficiencies for both AirMagnet and Cisco WCS users by eliminating the need to repeat wireless planning and site survey tasks commonly associated with deployment and ongoing management of a WLAN network.
