Aerohive upgrades online Wi-Fi planner

Aerohive is set to offer help for organisations planning to install a wireless LAN. The company has launched a new version of its free Online Wi-Fi Planner enabling organisations to determine the number of access points (AP) they will require.

The latest version of the Planner has an upgraded interface and offers an AP auto placement feature. After uploading a plan of the building, the auto placement feature can be used to position APs in the optimal places. The software also includes a 'what-if' feature that enables users to drag APs around the map to determine coverage impact, claimed Aerohive. In addition, the new tool offers a feature that allows organisations to plan for voice by choosing a minimum signal strength for phones.

Aerohive said that it had also introduced a "Tell a Friend" feature allowing IT Managers to share access to their deployment plans to ensure that layout is correct and that the design supports critical areas and applications.

"With the adoption of 802.11n, wireless is no longer being viewed as a nice to have feature for employees, but as critical business infrastructure," said Adam Conway, vice president of product management at Aerohive. "As more organisations rely on wireless to support voice, video and data networks, ensuring proper AP Density for performance and reliability is essential and must be factored in during the deployment planning stages. Our free Online Wi-Fi Planner with automatic AP placement helps ensure the design of the WLAN architecture meets current and future needs of the wireless network."