Wireless LAN test gear vendors Azimuth Systems Inc. and WildPackets Inc. have got together to fill each other's product holes, pardon the expression.

At first glance, the companies may seem slightly mismatched bedfellows.

Azimuth has developed a test system for the lab that plays on the benefits of removing unpredictable radio signals when testing the networking performance of wireless LAN clients and access points (see 802.11 Startup Targets Testing).

Meanwhile, WildPacket's AiroPeek, pardon the expression, is used by administrators to sniff out and analyze 802.11 packets from radio traffic sent over enterprise wireless LAN networks in the field (see WildPackets Takes Second Peek).

Put 'em together and what do you get? A system that can analyze the performance of individual 802.11 data packets while maintaining a consistent hardwired (via RF cable) connection that eliminates the inevitable signal variations of a radio link.

Graham Celine, VP of marketing for Azimuth, says the firm's WLA-202 plug-in module -- which incorporates the AiroPeek analyzer technology -- can sniff single and multiple connections between WiFi clients and access points.

The new module will allow typical Azimuth users -- like chip vendors and kit makers -- to grab 802.11 traffic and examine the separate elements that make up a packet, such as the control frames. This should enable testers to find out more about how the system is handling things like cueing and timing data transmissions and so further fine tune hardware performance.

— Dan "Careful With That Packet Sniffer" Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung