Channelyzer Pro... This Could Be Big

Metageek has announced that WiSpy USB spectrum analyzers can now be used with Channelyzer Pro. This could make things interesting...


Readers of this blog may know me as an anti-open source kind of guy, but I try to be fair. I've talked about popular products like AirPcap NX, Wireshark, WiSpy and Channelyzer and I've always tried to give a fair appraisal of their usefulness for enterprise-class wireless environments. The problem is that I usually just don't find them to be that useful.

Of these products the one that has always been closest to enterprise-class is WiSpy DBx. It competes with the hardware for Fluke Networks' AirMagnet Spectrum XT and the Cisco Spectrum Expert at a much lower cost ($600), and in many ways it measures up. It can be used in the both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, it uses the USB form factor (which beats the PC card form factor for Cisco Spectrum Expert) and it comes with free software in Channelyzer. The big problem was that using the WiSpy/Channelyzer pair meant that you'd have to forgo device classification. Device classification is great because it tells the user exactly what device is causing interference. It makes resolving the problem by finding the device or changing a setting much easier.

Channelyzer Pro is a new product from Metageek (the company that created  both WiSpy and Channelyzer) that was just announced today. It does cost $499 (thus bringing the comparable cost vs. AirMagnet and Cisco to about $1,100), but it adds device classification. Now, I know that a lot of WiSpy users really value the fact that the accompanying software costs nothing, but to me this sounds like superb value. Professional-grade spectrum analysis may be possible for just over a grand. That really is amazing.

Now, I don't want to get too excited because I have yet to test the product. I've emailed my guy from Metageek and I should get a copy soon, so check back next week and by then I'll have a review up.

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