There is a large variety of WLAN analysis tools available in today’s market – many expensive and complicated. The Wireless Adjuster course is designed for WLAN engineers and technicians and focuses on WLAN best practice assessment/remediation and the first 80% of troubleshooting tasks. How many times have you been asked, “can you just take a quick look at my WLAN to see if any obvious problems stand out?” That process is an assessment. Of course, if you find problems during an assessment, a network adjustment may be needed to remedy the deficiency. Hence the name “Wireless Adjuster.” If you have solved a WLAN problem with a WLAN scanner, not needing to use protocol analyzers, spectrum analyzers, RF site survey/design software, or other sophisticated tools, then you already know what this course is about. The difference is that this course includes advanced discussions and uses of WLAN scanners and others tool that directly integrate with them. This course includes in-depth discussions and advanced-level uses of WLAN scanners and tools integrated with them. The Wireless Adjuster course will take your practical WLAN troubleshooting skills to an entirely new level of efficiency and accuracy. 

There is a significant gap between the theory of IEEE 802.11 protocol analysis and its practical application in WLAN best practice assessment/remediation and troubleshooting. Analyzing millions of 802.11 frames is unnecessary in 80% (or more!) of WLAN troubleshooting scenarios. A more practical tool, the WLAN scanner, is not only sufficient, but far more efficient at sorting, filtering, and finding needles in haystacks. This course also teaches when using a WLAN scanner is most appropriate, verses using other WLAN analysis tools. Industry-leading tools from vendors such as Ekahau, iBwave, Tamosoft, AirMagnet, NetAlly, MetaGeek, NutsAboutNets, and others are valuable and important, but their use may often be 20% or less of the overall assessment/remediation and troubleshooting process. Don’t misunderstand – it’s not an “either-or,” but rather a “both-and” when it comes to these tools. However, engineers reach for the “Swiss Army Knife” WLAN scanner far more than they reach for their chainsaw in assessment/remediation and troubleshooting processes. If you want to understand a WLAN’s health in seconds, the WLAN scanner is the first (and sometimes the only) tool to pull out of your tool bag. 

Learning to effectively use a WLAN scanner can save you many thousands of dollars on complicated, unnecessary WLAN monitoring platforms. The Wireless Adjuster course ensures that engineers maximize the value of their WLAN scanner, enabling them to quickly assess WLAN deployments and to take the most appropriate security and performance remediation steps.

The Wireless Adjuster course also focuses on minority use cases for WLAN scanners, such as how they can act as a low-end Wireless Intrusion Detection System (WIDS) or WLAN performance monitoring system. This is true for a single location or a distributed enterprise, and WLAN scanners may also be used to do on-going best-practice and change-management monitoring across enterprises. You will learn all of these approaches in this course.

LEARN: Best practice assessment, appropriate and expedient remediation steps, and efficient troubleshooting across three WLAN knowledge domains: 1) connectivity, 2) performance, and 3) security. This course will sharply hone students’ observation, analysis, and optimization skills.

DO: There will be a short presentation and lab prep work at the beginning of the course. This will be followed by WLAN scanner (and integrated tools) familiarization labs (including 802.11 protocol analysis within the WLAN scanner). The next step is a series of “canned” labs that help the student get more familiar with the WLAN scanner and its use in the troubleshooting process. Finally, there will be a series of LIVE LABS where the instructor configures a variety of “Bad-Fi” scenarios, and students are tasked find the WLAN deficiencies. This will be the most useful WLAN class you have ever attended – guaranteed!

While WLAN scanners are considered “low-end” WLAN troubleshooting and assessment tools, they are anything but low-end. Most technicians and engineers who own a good WLAN scanner know very little about:

1. optimal use of the WLAN scanner in best-practice assessment/remediation and troubleshooting
2. the entire feature set of the WLAN scanner (and how those features can help in specific scenarios)
3. alternative uses of the WLAN scanner, and 4) integration of various other low-cost tools (e.g. WLANpi, MetaGeek DBx, etc.) with the WLAN scanner.

No. The Wireless Adjuster course and certification fill a large educational gap in practical knowledge of troubleshooting process, best-practice assessment/remediation, and protocol analysis in the Wi-Fi industry. The Wireless Adjuster program is complimentary with other existing WLAN training and certification programs.

The recommended prerequisite knowledge for this course is on-par with the CWNA certification, though the certification is certainly not required for attendance. Recommended reading may be found here.