Forum

I'm personally a bit partial to the AirMagnet Enterprise solution. I've done many consulting gig installs/configurations with this and have found it to be a very robust solution for WIPS. But in my opinion most people purchase such a solution with 'security' money, and it does a great job there. But the real ROI comes from the performance improvements it can find to help make your Wireless LAN more efficient.

I've also worked with AirDefense and AirTight and think they are also very good solutions.

In my opinion any of the 'overlay' WIPS solutions will always be a better solution than any of the 'time-slice' solutions the AP vendors try to sell. (read up on the Joanie Wexler WIPS series)

Cost wise an Overlay solution needs dedicated sensors, and a time-slice solution needs additional APs put into 'monitor' mode. For my money (and these both cost about the same) I'd go with a device that had been designed and dedicated to specifically doing one job well.

I know the AP Vendor sales folks would much rather sell you 'spare' Access Points... but dedicated sensors can do a far superior job of 'watching' your network.

You can also install an Overlay WIPS in a 'no-wireless' policy area where/when you have no Access Points in the area.

Just one man's opinion,

Keith

keith@wlanpros.com
http://wirelesslanprofessionals.com