First Review of the AirView 2.4 GHZ (internal antenna)

[WHT]

The UBNT AirView 2 USB spectrum analyzer is impressive.

I'm comparing the $39 Ubiquity AirView 2 (2.4 GHz) (internal antenna) to the $800 Metageek WiSpy dBx (2.4 Ghx & 5.8 GHz(external antenna).

The AirView 2 (external antenna) would be a very close comparison to the $600 Metageek WiSpy 2 with external antenna.

Mike Ford mentioned they used a compromise between frequency resolution and scanning time. I think the scan time is more than fast enough, so if it was tweaked for better resolution, that would be all right.

The spectrum analyzer lines are brighter and sharper than the Metageek.

The AirVeiw has a handle mouse cursor position frequency indicator, but it can't be captured with a screen shot to show you). It also lets you click on a peak of interest and it will capture in a little yellow circle the frequency and signal strength.

It does not have a waterfall trace, but has a general indicator of channel usage instead..which personally I don't find that as useful as the waterfall for tracing interference as a professional consultant and WISP owner.

For $39, it is an exceptional device.

http://telecomanddata.com/first_impression.png

[Frotihngdog.ca]

But the question that I'm sure is on everones minds right now is....Will it make me coffee in the morning?

[WHT]

<shrugz>...haven't seen the SDK yet.

[Frotihngdog.ca]

LOL

[UBNT-Ramin]

Also the waterfall is practically a MUST have for interference tracing etc. I know I won't be buying one until it has it.

I'm just curious as to how that waterfall graph helps you with interference tracing as you mention. We know that graph is available in both MetaGeek's Chanalyzer and Kismet spectool_gtk but frankly we felt that it didn't give us a clear enough (easier to read) picture of channel usage and congestion as the Channel Usage graph in AirView does. You're able to very quickly determine your cleanest, least-used channel(s) without having to spend so much time gathering data.

But nonetheless, if it's really something that everyone feels is a "must", it can definitely find its way into the next release of the app.

Great product so far, just needs a facelift.

Thanks for all your comments. It's constructive feedback like this that will help make AirView an even more useful tool.

[gregpalmer]

Can you use the scanning software in combination with the other Ubiquiti radios? using a bullet and a small omni would be great

[UBNT-Ramin]

The UBNT AirView 2 USB spectrum analyzer is impressive.

Thanks very much for your very informative review.

The AirVeiw has a handle mouse cursor position frequency indicator, but it can't be captured with a screen shot to show you). It also lets you click on a peak of interest and it will capture in a little yellow circle the frequency and signal strength.

Here's a screen snapshot of the trace markers:

http://www.ubnt.com/img/airview-realtime-markers.jpeg

It does not have a waterfall trace, but has a general indicator of channel usage instead..which personally I don't find that as useful as the waterfall for tracing interference as a professional consultant and WISP owner.

I'm also very interested to hear your thoughts on how useful the waterfall graph is.

Thanks.

[WHT]

I'm just curious as to how that waterfall graph helps you with interference tracing as you mention. It allows you to determine the duration of the interference.

Planar view requires constant watching the display. The history is useless as it will show a strong signal that may have only existed for a very, very short duration and would not be considered a long term interference issue. The strong signal eventually gets averaged out and you no longer know it was there.

The topographic view is only a short-term, real-time display.

But the waterfall lets you go back and get a better picture.

No signal display is adequate, you need all three.

[WHT]

Since this thing has the same chipset as the WiSpy, would it be a safe guess that it would work with the Chanalyser software they use? Nope...the Channelyzer brings up a window of options of "What you can do" and suggests buying a WiSpy.


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If you can't fix it with a buttset and peanut crimp connectors, you ain't a phoneman.

[UBNT-Ramin]

The waterfall is a must because it can give you a very clear idea of what you are seeing in a time delay method. I can look at a waterfall and tell you exactly what I'm seeing even if it's only a 2db signal. It's easy enough to say "Ok I've got something here, and it's very quiet, but it's doing an 802.11 beacon, so I know what to look for.

Ok, I understand. It sounds like that feature will be pretty high on the list for the next major release. Thanks for that great feedback.

As a side note, something I've always wanted that I honestly would consider even more valuable than a SA, would be just a simple audio monitor that I could use to "listen" to the band at certain frequencies and bandwidths. But that's probably the phone/buttset/ham side of me coming out. I doubt this chipset would have that ability, but if it did... DAYMN that would be a godsend.

Hmmm... That's a pretty interesting suggestion. I'll have to file that one away for later investigation. And it's not the USB chipset, rather the desktop application, that would enable something like this. So the capabilities of the low-power USB device doesn't enter into it.

[din0]

Hey all!

Just seen some feed back on the AirView2-EXT.

Been bugging my boss to order one!

Not 100% sure if its going to be suitable for my need's - * Antenna alignment *

(nice to see what other traffic is doing in the process)

Is it good enough just using spectrum analyzer for real time measurement?

If not, maybe Possible to interface a dbm signal bar. for example, on a new screen, by clicking on a peek of a carrier from the spectrum analyzer, brings up a new spectrum screen, making it a center frequency with a closer look into the bandwidth. - ( WiSpy has it down as low as 27khz)<comment I read here.

Is that just for that particular carrier, or channel if you want to call it that? wispy is doing @ 27khz?

And make the new viewable reading's below or above the Grey borders of actual +/- freq, Dbm, Average, and not on the green spectrum, i.e on the new screen / from clicked peek).

Seems the sweep function is what I had in mind it might be doing. By looking at the wave form view, getting stat's of peek carrier's.

It would also be nice to have the % use screen as a real time option or is it?

Why are the peek's not shown in the spectrum analyzer as for example freq 2435 had an average of 19% but shows 2440 as the highest peek. Is it off center? and what type of antenna did you use to do this test?

[din0]

(double posted)

[cyberace.cdt]

Hi, Airview works fine, if you connect to an yagi or panel A you can use for alignment measures...but I think there are some progs for wisp's installations that are real time. However this device is fast and real perrformant (69$ for the EXT version :) )... is useful ^^ ... maybe better than wispy... graphs are simple and pointer option is perfect to every day use.

Ace

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Hi, Airview works fine, if you connect to an yagi or panel A you can use for alignment measures...but I think there are some progs for wisp's installations that are real time. However this device is fast and real perrformant (69$ for the EXT version :) )... is useful ^^ ... maybe better than wispy... graphs are simple and pointer option is perfect to every day use.

Ace

Thanks for the review.

Mike

[morsel]

...I know the sound of so many different digital modes and systems...
And therein lies the rub. Unless you know what it sounds like, unless you're practiced, you aren't going to know what you're hearing. The waterfall display gives a git like me an edge until I get up to speed.

An audio feature would be nice, but I would really like a waterfall display.

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Oh I totally agree waterfall is the must have. Sound would be nice but waterfall still beats it hands down in most cases. It's only a personal preference for me to have the sound, I know it wouldn't fit many other user's applications.

But would be another nice thing to have. Just need it to make coffee.

Hey Guys,

Always keep the suggestions coming. As with all products we strive to implement what he user's feel would be most beneficial.

Thanks,

Mike

[that chris kid]

I just ordered my Airview2-EXT and love it.
But I too am kind of missing the waterfall function. It would be great for detecting interference as other people said but i have recently found and interesting use for my airview2, Amateur Radio Astronomy. A waterfall would be endlessly useful for this purpose. also the ability to save that waterfall in some kind of data log file (amplitude, frequency, and time) would be helpful in cross-referencing with az-el data for creating radio-sky images. (and logging wifi interference of course) 8)

This is another reason i cannot wait for a 5ghz version.

Thanks for the awesome product so far.