Chanalyzer 5 Chanalyzer by MetaGeek USER GUIDE page 1
Chanalyzer 5® spectrum analysis software Table of Contents Installation Connect to a Cisco Access Point (Requires Cisco CleanAir Accessory) Wi-Spy Mode: Choose a Wireless Network Interface Card (NIC) Navigation Pane Overview Pane Details Pane (CleanAir AP Mode) Device Interferers Table Details Pane (Wi-Spy Mode) Report Builder (Accessory) Automatic Classification (Wi-Spy Mode) Lab (Accessory) Chanalyzer by MetaGeek USER GUIDE page 2
Visualize and Troubleshoot Wi-Fi Interference with Chanalyzer 5 Chanalyzer 5 turns RF spectrum data collected from Wi-Spy or a Cisco CleanAir-enabled access point (with accessory purchase) into highly interactive charts and graphs, allowing you to visualize your wireless landscape. Chanalyzer displays wireless access points and other transmitters as they appear in the spectrum, giving quick insight into whether interference is Wi-Fi or non-Wi-Fi related.
System Requirements OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft® Windows 8, 7, Vista * * support for XP (SP3) to be announced Mac OS X VIRTUALIZATION: VMware Fusion, Parallels NOTE: Virtual machines require an external USB Wi-Fi adapter to view Wi-Fi information DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 1024 x 600 (or better) FRAMEWORK: .NET Framework 4 USB PORT: 1.1 (or better) RAM: 4 GB (recommended) MetaGeek Wi-Spy Mode HARDWARE: Wi-Spy 2.4x or Wi-Spy DBx Built-In Wi-Fi card (802.
CleanAir® AP Mode: Connect to a Cisco Access Point (Requires Cisco CleanAir Accessory) The three different operating modes of a Cisco CleanAir access point determine which types of data are available to Chanalyzer. Local Each Cisco CleanAir-enabled access point radio provides air quality and interference detection reports for the current operating channel only. Local mode does not disrupt client connections.
to enter the IP address and NSI Key, and you can assign it a friendly name. If the AP has a WSSI monitor module, select the checkbox. Chanalyzer will keep a list of your recent connections so you can quickly toggle between multiple APs. Wi-Spy Mode: Choose a Wireless Network Interface Card (NIC) Select a built-in or connected wireless network card in the main menu to access additional WLAN information about SSIDs, RSSI, MAC address and data rate.
See Wi-Fi Channel labels on the Density View In the main menu select View > Wi-Fi Channels. This will change the x-axis to display the Wi-Fi channels instead of the corresponding spectrum frequencies.
Navigation Pane The Navigation pane provides controls for browsing Wi-Spy / Wi-Fi capture sessions or recordings. Within the Navigation Pane, you'll find: Device Selector (Wi-Spy Mode) Chanalyzer continuously logs data from multiple sources when connected to your computer. To change which band you’re currently analyzing and recording, select an option from the Wi-Spy menu.
Timespan Controls The Timespan controls adjust the length of time users see in the Overview and Details panes. Timespan adjustments allow users to narrow in on anomalies and moments in time when WLAN performance suffered. The playback buttons are used to Play, Pause, Rewind, and Fast Forward while viewing a capture. The playback controls can also aid in selecting smaller time spans in the waterfall navigation.
Overview Pane This pane, located at the top right of the Navigation pane, contains the Waterfall and Density views. Density View The Density View displays how often a signal is detected at a specific amplitude. After a short time of gathering data, patterns begin to emerge in the Density View. A density map view enables the user to quickly identify packet-based and analog patterns that may be interfering with your network. Display Options The Density View has several view options.
Max The maximum display option represents the maximum values received from the Wi-Spy across the band in the selected time span. Density This view emphasizes how constant noise is across the spectrum. At any given point, Chanalyzer assigns a color based on how much of the energy in a range of time is above that point. If 50% of all the activity is above an amplitude point, Chanalyzer colors it red.
Transmitters Wi-Spy Mode: Chanalyzer will attempt to automatically identify transmitters from the Signatures tab. This display option will toggle on the drawing of detected transmitters within the threshold settings. CleanAir Mode: When connected to a CleanAir AP, Chanalyzer will draw overlays around the channels that an interfering device is affecting. Simply check the box in the “Interfering Devices” tab next to the devices you are interested in.
Inspector This creates a hovering box above the cursor that displays specific numbers regarding a particular frequency amplitude point. Waterfall View This view graphs amplitude over time for each frequency in the selected ISM band. The Waterfall View uses a color scale to represent amplitude levels – low levels are dark blue, while high amplitudes are bright red. This emphasizes instances where wireless devices like cordless phones or microwaves may have changed the spectrum.
Clicking the checkbox next to an interferer will display a visual indicator in the density view that spans the channels where the device is active. The spanning area will be filled in depending on the severity of the interference-- The higher the severity, the more opaque the overlay will be (and the more impact your users are likely to experience). Channels Table Average - The average signal strength (in dBm) of devices on a channel.
Utilization Utilization (also called Duty Cycle in some applications) is a relative score that helps determine how usable a channel is. It measures the percentage of time a signal was at or above the Utilization Threshold. This threshold can be adjusted in the top left corner of the Utilization tab. The selected time span in the waterfall navigation is used in the Utilization calculation.
The SSID or Vendor filter begins with a “+” or “-” option. This will determine whether the filter includes or excludes the following text entered. For example, if you do not want to see any wireless networks named “MetaGeek”, select the - radio button and enter “MetaGeek” in the SSID or Vendor field. Press enter to apply the filter. Chanalyzer will then show every network that doesn’t have “MetaGeek” in the SSID or hardware field.
Networks Graph Click the Networks Graph to show signal strength over time, drawing the rows selected in the Networks Table. Drops in signal strength indicate poor signal coverage and can be referenced against the Waterfall and Density views to determine if interference is to blame. Please note, this data comes from the wireless network card and not the Wi-Spy.
Utilization Utilization (also called Duty Cycle in some applications) is a relative score that helps determine how usable a channel is. It measures the percentage of time a signal was at or above the Utilization Threshold. This threshold can be adjusted in the top left corner of the Utilization tab. The selected time span in the waterfall navigation is used in the Utilization calculation.
Report Builder (Accessory) With the Report Builder accessory for Chanalyzer, users can highlight and visually explain how bad interference was when it occurred in an easy, professional manner. Start a New or Open an Existing Report Project Chanalyzer can start with a previously built report project (.wsxr file) or build a new one. Add Block to the Report Each of these menu items will add a different graph block from Chanalyzer to your report.
displayed in the application. Make sure the correct networks are selected at the time the snapshot is taken so it will be entered in the report correctly. There are several block types like graph, table, text or image. Each of these can be added from the menu at the top of the report builder. Refresh a Block If you are not satisfied with the captured image or table results, you can easily update it. Move the time span in the navigation pane and adjust any display options you would like.
title section to drag them up and down the list to rearrange. Report Builder Settings Settings for the report builder can be found by clicking the Settings menu on the right of the menu bar. Automatic Classification (Wi-Spy Mode) Chanalyzer will automatically identify a transmission once a signature has been created. Devices with separate center frequencies will need separate classifiers created. Chanalyzer uses the outline view to match classifier patterns in a spectrum recording.
Disabling Classification Classification can be turned off as a display option above the density view by clicking the “Interferers” button. Individually each device in the signature tab can also be checked, enabling or disabling it as a possible device to be classified. Deleting a Classifier To permanently remove a classifier from the signatures tab, click the garbage can icon in the top right of the classifier. Create a New Interferer Identifier 1. Turn on the outline view. 2.
Lab (Accessory) This guide is specific to the Lab Accessory for Chanalyzer, and should be viewed as a supplement to the main Chanalyzer user guide. For more information, please visit our knowledgebase at http://support.metageek.net. After unlocking the Lab accessory in Chanalyzer, the “Lab” tab will be added to the Details Pane. Wi-Spy Configuration Presets There are two locations to choose frequency presets.
To remove a preset, select it from the drop down menu and click the trash can icon. Manual Hardware Configuration There are two methods in manually selecting the frequency range for the Wi-Spy configuration. You can enter a center frequency and select the frequency span or step width. For example, if you entered “5775” into the Center Field and “20” for the span, it would leave 10 MHz on both sides of the center frequency. Alternatively, you can enter the start and stop frequencies.
Dwell Time To control the amount of time the Wi-Spy spends at each step, increase or decrease the value in the Dwell field.
Resolution Bandwidth Resolution Bandwidth is closely tied to the step size of the spectrum analyzer. The filter bandwidth resolution determines how wide the spectrum analyzer will listen at each step. If the resolution bandwidth is the same width as the step size, some transmissions will be omitted from the capture. By default, Chanalyzer Lab will keep the resolution bandwidth to 125% of the step size.
Markers Chanalyzer Lab can measure current, average and maximum values for specific frequencies selected by the user. To create a marker right click in the overview pane and select “Create New Frequency Marker.” Chanalyzer will build a table to the right of the Hardware Configuration options. Each entry will display measurements for the current, average, and max for each frequency marker. These values are dependent on the time span selected.
LEARN MORE You can learn more about Chanalyzer at our website http://www.metageek.
