Xirrus has announced the release of the latest addition to its family of Wi-Fi utilities for Windows clients. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is a standalone application for managing and troubleshooting a laptop's Wi-Fi connection in addition to scanning and monitoring the Wi-Fi environment.

• The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is ideal for:
• Searching for and locating Wi-Fi networks
• Managing laptop Wi-Fi connections
• Troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity issues
• Verifying Wi-Fi coverage
• Detecting and locating rogue APs

One of the primary applications for the Wi-Fi Inspector is analyzing wireless user problems. IT managers or help desk staffers can direct users to run the utility - readily available as a free download over the Internet - to assist troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity and performance issues. The Wi-Fi Inspector can be made part of the default image installed on corporate-managed laptops to be available when needed.

The Wi-Fi Inspector facilitates a 4-step process for analyzing a laptop's Wi-Fi and network connection that can be easily executed by the end user:

1. Wireless Configuration - The Inspector displays whether the laptop is successfully connected wirelessly.

2. Network Configuration - The Inspector displays detailed IP addressing data indicating if the laptop is appropriately configured to communicate to the network and Internet.

3. Network Connectivity - The Inspector determines the state of the network connection by running a series of Ping tests to identify connectivity issues.

4. Network Performance - The Inspector determines the performance of the overall wireless and network connection by running a throughput test against an external Internet server.

Similar to the Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor utilities, the Wi-Fi Inspector scans the surrounding environment for Wi-Fi networks using the client's Wi-Fi adapter. The Wi-Fi network information is displayed in real-time graphically on a radar-like display as well as in a table format. Detailed information about each network is provided, including signal level, security level, Wi-Fi channel, AP equipment vendor, etc. From this display, Wi-Fi networks can be selected to connect to or disconnect from, or selected for more detailed analysis via signal level graphing and location functions.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector - as well as all Wi-Fi Monitor gadget/widget tools - are available for download for free from the Xirrus website at www.xirrus.com/library/wifitools.php. The Wi-Fi Inspector runs on Windows Vista and XP. The Wi-Fi Monitor is available for Windows Vista, Windows XP, MacOS, and Linux.