3Com AirProtect RF Planning Tool

3Com AirProtect RF Planning Tool ... Screen displays show the RF spillage from the wireless LAN outside the building. Placement models help ensure the right level of coverage for a given security risk profile, and provide a plan for improved security coverage.

The RF Planning Tool provides an integrated suite of easy-to-use tools for superior modeling accuracy, using a complete library of IEEE 802.11a, b and g protocols, and providing channel allocation and interference simulation for best performance. The extensive and customizable knowledgebase of 3Com and 3rd party access points, WLAN cards and antennas and built-in comprehensive catalog of building materials (with RF characteristics) can be applied to floor plans when modeling the RF environment.

Change access points, modify the layout of the office or add additional WLAN infrastructure, and the 3Com AirProtect RF Planning Tool can provide immediate insight into the effect of those changes on WLAN performance. Simply enter the modifications into your floor plan - for example, drag-and-drop access points - or make equipment parameter changes and the RF Planning Tool will automatically update the coverage. Powerful "what-if" analysis delivers results for AP vendor, antenna type, technology choice (802.11a, b and/or g) and power level changes.

After deployment, the AirProtect RF Planning Tool continues to help network performance. The tool will suggest a small set of calibration points at several locations that can be fed back into the original model, providing correlation of the actual results with those from the prediction in an even more precise model for further what-if analyzes. This self-calibrating process checks actual performance in real time, to assist troubleshooting.