Wi-spy Dbx with Chanalyzer Pro

I have several good-sized wireless network installations, which means I have puzzling, inexplicable connectivity problems. The wi-spy/chanalyzer combo allows me to look beyond the information available on a normal 802.11 adapter, and even beyond the tools built into some large-scale wireless controllers.This pair allows you to see the other signals in the RF bands (2.4 & 5ghz) your wifi is trying to use - including such easily overlooked sources as microwaves, bluetooth, remote control systems, and cordless phones. This helps with those times when even though you're very close to an AP, you still get dropped connections and low throughput.The wi-spy also allows you to get a good, but not perfect, idea of how much congestion is in an area - so you'll know if you've got overlapping channels with other networks (visible or not), and perhaps even improve the placement of access points and adjustment of signal levels.The chanalyzer software works well and includes a lot of useful examples of interfering signals, including fairly impressive automatic recognition of things like 802.11n (vs. 802.11a/b/g etc), bluetooth, and other common office RF spammers)The only concerns I have about this package is that the wi-spy doesn't feel quite as durable as I'd hoped (but it has lasted several months bumping around in a backpack without incident). Software works best in conjunction with a good-quality dual-band wifi adapter, such as you'd have in a decent laptop. (the wi-spy picks up the raw RF, while the wifi adapter picks up the associated networks and users, and the software matches them up)This probably is not a direct replacement for the site survey packages with five-digit pricetags, but it is a very good troubleshooting tool for the independent installer or networking expert.

We've used this product to identify difficult and hard to trace WiFi problems. It takes a little while to get comfortable and productive with the software, but once you do, it's amazing. Because it's just a USB dongle with a little RP-SMA antenna, it's very fragile. If you have it sticking out the side or back of your laptop, it can easily be snapped off or bent. We built an external plexiglass stand for ours, and connect our laptop via a USB extension cable. We added a 9db omni-directional antenna to increase the listening ability of the product, and have been very pleased with the results. I'll try to post pictures of our stand on the product page.