WLAN analyzers available in market

Too often, I find people using inferior tools for getting a general WLAN overview.Well there are a number of freely avail'able tools which anybody can download and use it to analyze/capture the wifi packets.But the question is  : " Does these tools really work ?".

The answer is very clear , "YES" these freely available wifi analyzers will work for most of the basic work to be done.But if you are looking for a full fledged tool which will monitor and capture each and every packet on your wifi setup then there is a strong reason to buy the best wifi analyzers available in the market.

Below given is the list of both freely and licensed versions of WLAN analyzers.

Freely available :

1.Microsoft Network Monitor

2.Wireshark

(Please use  the laptop with the best wifi card while using Microsoft Network Monitor and for Wireshark it is recommended to buy Airpcap USB adaptor for the best results)

Best available WLAN analyzers :

1.Wildpackets Omnipeek
2.Fluke Networks Air Magnet Wifi analyzer

(Air Magnet while compared to Omnipeek will give more graphical results but if the need is to perform detailed packet analysis then choose Omnipeek.
Buy the Linksys WUSB6300 USB adaptor or Cisco AE6000 while using omnipeek for 802.11ac packet analysis.)


http://www.virtualization.co.kr/reference/WP_Miller_WLANAnalyzer.pdf

IEEE 802.11ac mandatory Features

Dont get confused with a list of 802.11ac features.Check this below given table for the mandatory features of 11ac.

IEEE 802.11ac MANDATORY FEATURES