Troubleshooting Software Tools vs. Professional Test Equipment

LanXPLORER vs. Software Tools and the Winner is... ?

Some examples for common network issues: No physical connection electrical No physical connection optical No functional connection No logical connection on Layer 3 (IP) Poor Network perfomance Poor Speech Quality LanXPLORER vs. Laptop APAP

Loading... READY While a PC is still booting A test device already has tested and displayed Connection Type Switchport Configuration PoE DHCP let's start our testers! A field tester takes Several seconds to Boot up LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Activ Network, WiFi + Passive Cabling + PoE (only U&I) + Bandwith, Load VoIP = A PC takes several minutes to boot up

No physical connection Eletrical Possible Causes Wrong Port on patchpanelsTone Generator Faulty CableWiremap Wrong PinningWiremap Too long Cable (> 100m)Wiremap LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

No physical connection Optical Possible Causes Wrong PortOptical Interface Errors of FibersOptical Interface Power Level is too high/lowStatistics AttenuationStatistics Very quick identification if link can be established. With the Hub Blink function the LEDs of the switchports are flashing Mostly Rx and Tx are twisted. This can easily be tried out. The received an transmitted levels are detected Attenuation can be evaluated when the fiber is looped at the far end LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

No functional connection Possible Causes Wrong Port Settings CPEInline Mode (Customer Premises Equipment) Wrong Port Settings far EndStatistics (mostly on switches) PoE is not delivered / too lowStartscreen, PoE PoE is on the wrong pinsPoE Test Easy scenario to see if the Interface configurations are matching Does show what partner we are connected to, its link capabilities and its autoneg status LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

No logical connection (Layer 3 / IP) Possible Causes No DHCP Adress AssignmentStatistics Duplicated DHCP ServerStatistics Wrong CPE ConfigurationPC-Diagnostics (User Equipment, PC, Phone,...) Does easily show if there are two or more DHCP servers. It happens often due to wrong configuration of network devices Does show if the device (CPE) is getting its correct DHCP informations. CPE is connected inline and is not removed from the network LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

Poor Network Performance Possible Causes Half Duplex due to wrong settingsStatistics Layer 2 Errors (Mac Layer)Statistcs due bad cables / fibers Wrong CPE ConfigurationPC-Diagnostics Properties of the network adaptor. CPE must be removed Easy scenario to see if the Interface configurations are matching (Inline) LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

Bad VoIP Quality Possible Causes Packet Loss, Latency, JitterVoIP Network is utilizedInline Statistics Link is erroredError Counters Only limited options. Laptop can only work in Endpoint mode and replace the phone. A potential error source is therefore removed from the network Very good, as the LanXPLORER is inline connected. It is observing from both directions (network and CPE) LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

ToneGen Wiremap Hub Blink PoE Loop WiFi Scan Netmap: Netverify      Only limited funtionality with a software, e.g. Wireshark. No Top Ten functionality A Laptop can only replace a CPE, but not look for its values requires software and can oly replace a phone. A potential error cause is therefore removed. Troubleshooting is much more difficult. only some things can be done with software. But o bandwith mesurments, Layer 2 Errors, Partner Configurations,... requires additional software   TopTen Ping Traceroute PC-Diag VoIP Statistics Autotest Functional Summary LanXPLORER vs. Laptop

Why we don't use laptops… Most companies do not accept foreign laptops in their network (virus risk) Layer 2 Bandwith evaluation is only calculated from higher layers down to layer 2 and not measured (e.g. freeware "Iperf") Most freeware tools are only free for private usage In many cases the Laptops firewalls have to be turned off (which is mostly forgotten and test are failing. The failed test are guiding us in the wrong direction.) If the firewalls are turned off then many times it is forgotten to switch them on again (virus risk) Laptops can only work with traffic which is arriving at all. They are testing on IP-Layer and can therefore not detect Layer 2 and Layer 1 issues Protocol analysis and monitoring requires manageable switches (port mirroring)

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop 60% of the switches are unmanaged (Source Siemens) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 50% of the managed ones are secured, where the engineers havo no access rights 50% of the engineers do not have sufficient skills for the switchconfiguration Monitoring with a Laptop can be done here: Monitoring with the LanXPLORER can be done here! Monitoring by portmirroring

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Simultaneous monitoring in the same network.105 Packets have been monitored with: LanXPLORER Wireshark

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Simultaneous monitoring in the same network.105 Packets have been monitored with: Wireshark Very detailled inspection of the arrived packets Expert Analysis of protocols, content and applications (its intention) No detection of Layer 2 Network errors. No detection of faulty connections and links.

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Simultaneous monitoring in the same network.105 Packets have been monitored with: LanXPLORER Overview of the most spoken protocols No inspection of packets Very quick and easy overview about the network status (its intention) ARP on place two >>> misconfiguration in the network 105 Packets are monitored 46 Packets are lost due to FCS errors FCS errors are mainly caused by faulty cables or interfaces (Layer 1) 151 Packets were reveived in summary The lost traffic can not be detected by a Laptop

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Simultaneous monitoring in the same network.105 Packets have been monitored with: LanXPLORER Wireshark Not comparable

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Good for its job Troubleshooting: Good for its job network scanning: LanXPLORER Perfect Network Scanner Detailled netmap (enhanced in new release) and other important things on layer 1 and 2:

LanXPLORER vs. Laptop Good for its job Troubleshooting: Good for its job pinging LanXPLORER Ping Plotter Ping Test and other important things on layer 1 and 2:

1.Time Saving Find network issues fast and easy 2.Cost Saving Reduce the network dowtime Minimize the man-hours for fault finding 3.Easy to use This product does not even require a manual 4.Clear readings Definitive answers to network issues Main Product Benefits

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