SeeedStudio WifiMETRIX User Manual Download | Manualshive

Page: 1 / 30

background image

WifiMETRIX

HANDHELD CHANNEL ANALYZER

USER MANUAL

Last Updated: December 2017

1
2
3
...
»

Summary of Contents for WifiMETRIX

Page 1: ...WifiMETRIX HANDHELD CHANNEL ANALYZER USER MANUAL Last Updated December 2017 ...

Page 2: ...ld Channel Analyzer 2 Main Features 3 Menus 5 Short cut Keys 6 Operational Modes 7 Additional Features And Notes 12 Interpreting Results 15 Calibration 20 Firmware Updates 22 Diagnostics 26 Acknowledgements 27 FCC and CE Regulation 28 Licensing 29 ...

Page 3: ...g Wi Fi antennas RF shields and wireless networks The WifiPROBE function traverses each channel and measures the available transmit time When the goal is to choose the best channel the one with the highest available throughput then WifiPROBE is the tool of choice WifiMETRIX operates in stand alone mode and does not need to associate with an access point in order to perform its functions It is a tr...

Page 4: ...s micro USB cable for recharging Includes 50 ohm SMA terminator to protect antenna connection SMA terminator dummy load also used for calibrating the device By far the most important feature on this list is the dual band 802 11 chip no other tool uses an 802 11 chip to perform Wi Fi diagnostics This is a huge advantage because it frees the user from having to interpret RF data or metrics Instead W...

Page 5: ...dard male SMA connector When a compatible micro USB cable is connected then the unit will begin charging regardless of the position of the power switch With the micro USB cable attached then the device s power will come from that USB connection When the micro USB cable is not attached then the device draws power from its internal lithium battery When storing or transporting the unit we recommend a...

Page 6: ... the top level main menu by pressing the MENU key When the device is powered on it will display the main menu Use the UP DOWN arrow keys to highlight an option and then press the ENTER key to move to the next screen You can always return to this top level menu by pressing the MENU key This is the primary menu for AirHORN Here you can select which Wi Fi band to use output power and which AirHORN mo...

Page 7: ...e keyboard s layout MENU Key Return to the main menu i e OPERATIONAL MODE ENTER Key Depending on the context used to select highlighted menu option or toggle between ACTIVE and PAUSED RETURN Key Depending on the context used to toggle between 2 4x and 5x GHz bands or return to previous menu UP and DOWN Keys Depending on the context used to cycle through power output LEFT and RIGHT Keys Depending o...

Page 8: ...iPROBE mode the device provides unprecedented visibility into the performance of a wireless network The information collected and displayed helps to simplify troubleshooting of interference related problems and predicts the throughput performance of each 802 11 channel AirHORN Mode Channel Signal Generator When the device is powered on it will display the main menu Use the UP DOWN arrow keys to hi...

Page 9: ...ither the 2 4x or 5x GHz band and achieve close to 100 duty cycle on that channel at the normal 22 MHz wide channel width When using the 2 4x GHz radio module you can choose from Wi Fi channels 1 13 When using the 5x GHz radio module you can choose from Wi Fi channels 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 149 153 157 161 165 There is also a TX mode option the radio can transmit either 802 11 packets or raw RF e...

Page 10: ...t channel When Fast is selected then AirHORN will transmit for 5 seconds before moving on to the next channel After specifying the Speed NEXT and press ENTER As with Single mode the next screen displays the current band channel and output power Pressing the ENTER key toggles transmission between PAUSED and ACTIVE Pulse Mode Here is an example of using Pulse mode where you burst on a specific chann...

Page 11: ...Traverse Channel Table and Selected Channels Select one of the analysis modes and press the ENTER key Traverse Channel Bars Here is an example of using Traverse Channel Bars pressing the ENTER key toggles scanning between PAUSED and ACTIVE When using the 2 4x GHz radio module then WifiPROBE will traverse Wi Fi channels 1 13 When using the 5x GHz radio module WifiPROBE will traverse Wi Fi channels ...

Page 12: ...ample of using Selected Channels This mode differs from Traverse Channel Bars and Traverse Channel Table in that you specify which channels to traverse It takes approximately 2 seconds to compute the Available TX Time metric for each channel i e close to 30 seconds to scan an entire band But suppose you are really only interested in channels 1 6 11 then specifying only these 3 channels can signifi...

Page 13: ...n adjacent overlapping channel again causes your Wi Fi device to back off This is referred to as Adjacent Channel Interference or ACI and is similar to 1 By the way ACI occurs in the 2 4 GHz ISM band since adjacent channels overlap but not in the 5 x GHz ISM band since channels do not overlap ACI differs from RAW in that the Wi Fi chip knows the interference comes from packets on an adjacent chann...

Page 14: ... other performing channel analysis in WifiPROBE mode The image above comes from the WifiPROBE screen It shows Co Channel Congestion CCC on channel 6 and Adjacent Channel Interference ACI on adjacent channels This helps a lot because now we know that channel 6 is affected by another 802 11 device as opposed to a non 802 11 device ...

Page 15: ...r Decorations When WifiPROBE cycles through all the channels the channel that is currently being measured is filled in e g channel 2 in this case Also the High and Low values are shown for each bar for the current session ...

Page 16: ...11 packets or RAW energy a modulated continuous 22 MHz wide channel shape When transmitting in Traverse and Pulse modes the transmission is always in the form of 802 11 packets Below we show examples of what the Single Traverse and Pulse mode transmissions look like when monitored by an RF spectrum analyzer The above image shows AirHORN transmitting in Single Mode where TX Mode is PACKETS The abov...

Page 17: ...PAGE 16 The above image shows AirHORN transmitting in Traverse Mode The above image shows AirHORN transmitting in Pulse Mode where Duration is 5 seconds and Interval is 10 seconds ...

Page 18: ...available 40 Mbps then it is perfectly fine to continue using that channel because it still has plenty of capacity to handle your current traffic load Only when your traffic load begins to approach the bandwidth ceiling is it then necessary to consider a different channel WifiPROBE can tell you what that ceiling is but it does not tell you the current traffic load When monitoring the 2 4x GHz band...

Page 19: ... would then be best to use either channel 1 or 11 In the image above we ve again used another WifiMETRIX in AirHORN mode transmitting on channel 6 In this table view you can again see that channel 6 and adjacent channels are severely affected Furthermore the CCC and ACI tags give you a clue that the problem is caused by an 802 11 device i e AirHORN If we didn t see those tags then the problem prob...

Page 20: ...hat channel 6 is severely affected by the congestion caused by AirHORN transmitting on channel 6 In the image above we ve used an RF signal generator transmitting at frequency 2440 MHz which is near the center of channel 6 2437 MHz As you can see even though this is a very narrow band interferer it affects not only channel 6 but also neighboring channels ...

Page 21: ...O NOT use the microwave oven during this period The microwave oven serves as a poor man s Faraday cage The combination of using the SMA terminator plus microwave oven closely approximates an RF environment with no RF interference which will define our baseline of 100 Available TX During the calibration procedure the unit will traverse all the 2 4x and 5x GHz Wi Fi channels and record a baseline va...

Page 22: ...p is to approximate 100 Available TX time and the combination of dummy load plus microwave oven serves as a poor man s Faraday cage Once you press the UP key there is a delay of 5 seconds before the calibration process begins This allows a few seconds to place the device in a microwave oven before the calibration procedure begins traversing channels and recording their baseline reference values On...

Page 23: ...X Firmware Update Loader tool which can be downloaded from here WifiMETRIX Firmware Update Loader http nutsaboutnets downloads s3 amazonaws com WifiMetrix_FirmwareUpdateLoader exe The latest firmware file bin that will be used for the update available here Firmware Binary File http nutsaboutnets downloads s3 amazonaws com WifiMetrix_Firmware_v1_05 bin Your WifiMETRIX device and a micro USB cable A...

Page 24: ...d CheckBox that begins In WifiMetrix press buttons 4 With the power switch in the OFF position use the micro USB cable to attach the device to your Windows PC 5 This is the important step press and hold the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys and at the same time switch the power ON You should see the screen below ...

Page 25: ...tant because a similar updater tool is used to update RF Explorer devices Click the button that says Device OK Click to Upgrade 7 Using WifiMETRIX s keyboard press the UP arrow key to begin the update You should see the message Writing block and the block numbers increasing 8 When the update is done you will briefly see a screen that reports the update is Done and the device is resetting ...

Page 26: ...updating the firmware and resetting the device it is necessary to run the calibration procedure again Performing the calibration is a simple process here is the link Calibration http wifimetrix com document calibration wifimetrix ...

Page 27: ...n accessing this hidden screen but the results are intended solely for the technical support team To enable the diagnostics screen power on the unit and while the splash screen displays then press and hold the RIGHT arrow key When powered on this way a new Diagnostics menu option appears at the bottom of the screen While in Diagnostics mode the following short cut keys are in effect RETURN key Cha...

Page 28: ... WifiMETRIX device is a reality due to the engineering excellence of Ariel Rocholl and his team in Spain As with the development of most products of this complexity there were many pitfalls and unexpected technical hurdles that we encountered along the way We are especially indebted to Mr Rocholl there is no finer engineer on this planet ...

Page 29: ... FCC and CE Regulation WifiMETRIX is a Test and Measurement device compatible with US FCC regulation 47 CFR Part 15 103 c WifiMETRIX is certified for CE compliance under regulations EN IEC61236 and EN IEC61000 ...

Page 30: ...PAGE 29 Licensing WifiMETRIX s embedded firmware is copyrighted by Ariel Rocholl 2010 2017 WifiMETRIX and WifiPROBE are registered trademarks in the USA and all EU Countries ...

Reviews:

No comments

Related manuals for WifiMETRIX

Brand: Parr Instrument Pages: 110

Brand: Quantel Pages: 2

Brand: Hach Pages: 145

Brand: Hach Pages: 358

Polymetron 9582sc

Brand: Hach Pages: 280

Brand: HACH LANGE Pages: 15

Brand: Rayjet Pages: 81

CellaCast PA8 Series

Brand: Keller Pages: 12

Brand: M-system Pages: 18

CoolPoint CP12-V8

Brand: UFM Pages: 14

Nitro-Save NS16

Brand: TDI Pages: 4

Brand: Motortech Pages: 142

Brand: Liquid Controls Pages: 16

Brand: NARDA Pages: 60

Brand: GE Pages: 16

Brand: SAND Pages: 15

Brand: SNV Engineering Pages: 43

Brand: Badger Meter Pages: 12

Brands by name

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Popular brands

Load more brands