Advanced Wireless Analysis Tool Points the Way to a Better End User WiFi Experience

Net Star Telecommunications, a nationwide telecommunications systems integrator and Cisco SMB Select Partner, was recently able to use Cognio’s advanced wireless network analysis tool to save one of its clients from having to rip out and replace dozens of wireless network access points, a move that would have resulted in many thousands of wasted dollars.

John Agathon, vice president of sales at Houston-based Net Star, says that a new client company was having serious reliability problems with a network that had been implemented prior to Net Star taking over the account. He says Cognio’s Spectrum Expert was able to quickly and easily uncover a very minor and manageable problem.

“The client had recurring interference problems in the 2.4 GHz range, and other consultants had come in and advised the client that they had to do a complete replacement of all the access points. There were at least 50 of them,” says Agathon.

“We went in there, did a sweep with Cognio’s Spectrum Expert and discovered that all that needed to be done was change the polarization setting on the access point antennas. Bingo! After that, we were the client’s best friend.”

Spectrum Expert, a cardbus add-on for laptop computers, allows IT professionals to quickly and easily detect, monitor, identify and analyze interference on wireless networks. Such interference could come from cordless phones, microwave ovens or a wide range of other seemingly innocuous devices. The compact Cognio solution is a huge advance over traditional spectrum analyzers that could cost well over $25,000 and weigh as much as 60 pounds. At a fraction of that price, Spectrum Expert offers much more functionality, and it does not require the in-depth expertise of a RF engineer to be useful.

Agathon notes that before Net Star equipped its networking professionals with Spectrum Expert, the consulting firm would call in a subcontractor when clients had interference problems. “Each time we called him in with his big, traditional spectrum analyzer, it cost us $800. It got really expensive,” Agathon notes. With Cognio’s list price of $3,995, the payback on Spectrum Expert could be measured in weeks.

Net Star, which has been in the telecommunications business for over a decade, has equipped many of its 26 full-time professionals with Cognio’s Spectrum Expert and often recommends that its customers and subcontractors use the wireless interference tool.

About Cognio

Cognio is the leading provider of tools to fix RF interference. Cognio, part of Cisco’s SolutionsPlus program, is certified through Cisco’s Technology Partner program to be compatible with Cisco wireless access technologies and equipment. More information is available on the web at http://www.cognio.com.

Note to Editors: All product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.