Are all spectrum analyzers created equal?

No. Does it matter? Depends.

Industry analysis by expert Joanie Wexler, plus links to the day's wireless news headlines

The past couple of years have seen a rash of spectrum analyzers built into wireless LAN infrastructure equipment, key tools for identifying those pesky sources of interference that screw up our wireless connections and application performance. How important are they in the overall collection of interference-fighting ammo that Wi-Fi vendors have in their arsenals?

That depends on who you ask. Some contend that SA should run 24/7 as a cornerstone to RF network health; others see it as something you pull out for troubleshooting in cases when the automated, self-healing RF management capabilities built into the Wi-Fi system don't do the trick.

Most agree the capabilities are important. But is their level of sophistication a deal-breaker?

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The past couple of years have seen a rash of spectrum analyzers built into wireless LAN infrastructure equipment, key tools for identifying those pesky sources of interference that screw up our wireless connections and application performance. How important are they in the overall collection of interference-fighting ammo that Wi-Fi vendors have in their arsenals?

That depends on who you ask. Some contend that SA should run 24/7 as a cornerstone to RF network health; others see it as something you pull out for troubleshooting in cases when the automated, self-healing RF management capabilities built into the Wi-Fi system don't do the trick.

Most agree the capabilities are important. But is their level of sophistication a deal-breaker?

ANALYZE THIS: Low-cost wireless spectrum analyzers do the trick

Now, for the uninitiated, there's a fine line between the automated RF management capabilities Wi-Fi vendors have been honing for the past eight years or so and spectrum analysis. They all contribute to helping keep the unlicensed airwaves stable enough to deliver the wireless performance we've all come to expect.

However, for purposes of this newsletter (and its sequels), let's define spectrum analysis as the capability to detect sources of interference that are actually impeding your Wi-Fi network performance, identify what kind of device it is, and classify it. Some systems can do it more comprehensively and/or more accurately and/or faster than others with more/less of a performance hit on production traffic. And there's controversy over whether these differences among systems matter.

Cisco contends that it matters a great deal. This isn't surprising, given the fanfare over the company's launch of its CleanAir SA capabilities in April 2010. CleanAir, based on the advanced spectrum capabilities Cisco acquired when it bought Cognio in 2007, has to be one of the most successful Wi-Fi feature launches in history from a publicity standpoint. It could be argued that CleanAir set the standard by which all other integrated Wi-Fi spectrum analyzers are compared.

On the other hand, Cisco has its critics. Particularly at issue is the company's decision to embed the capabilities in a whole new 802.11n access point (the Aironet 3500 Series) that's pricey (about twice the cost of competitive APs), requiring customers to replace their existing APs to get it. And while Cisco's Neil Deiner, technical leader for the office of the CTO in Cisco's wireless networking business unit, describes spectrum analysis as a "critical feature," Cisco chose not to bundle SA into the lower-cost Aironet 1040 802.11n access points that the company shipped this year.

Meanwhile, the other vendors have been rapidly adding SA to their gear, aided by Wi-Fi chipmaker Atheros' move to bundle it into its chipsets. And just in the nick of time, too: More and more wireless stuff is horning in on the unlicensed airwaves, from Bluetooth, wireless bridges, microwaves and surveillance cameras to cordless phones, consumer electronics, wireless game controllers, medical equipment, keyboards and mice ... you get the picture.

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Silicon Valley.