Test and Management Ports

The AirCheck G3 has two USB Type A ports; a single USB Type C port for charging and On-the-Go; and two Wi-Fi radio ports.

The Wi-Fi ports give the AirCheck G3 two network interfaces: 1) Wireless Test and 2) Wireless Management.

See the sections below for more information on the ports. Also see Buttons and Ports and the technical Specifications as needed.

Test Ports

Wi-Fi Test Port: The internal Wi-Fi test adapter is a 2x2 Tri-band 802.11ax wireless radio. (To disable, see General Settings in the testing apps' left-side navigation drawer.)

AirCheck G3 runs Wi-Fi AutoTests, Captures, Discovery, and other comprehensive network analysis apps over the test . The Wi-Fi test radio is primarily controlled by the settings in applications, especially AutoTest.

You can use the AutoTest app to set up and run an AutoTest Wi-Fi Profile to establish a link on the Wi-Fi test port. (By default, the AirCheck G3 starts in the Wi-Fi App passive scanning mode).

Note that the General Settings affect how you can use the test port. (The General Settings are accessible from the left-side navigation drawer from most NetAlly testing apps.)

The Use Wi-Fi test port option must be enabled for the test port to function. (Enabled is the default setting.)

NetAlly also recommends that you enable all Wi-Fi Bands and Channels before setting up Wi-Fi Test Profiles:

1. Tap the Wi-Fi Bands and Channels option to open the Wi-Fi Bands and Channels screen.

2. Tap the Wi-Fi band(s) option to open a selection screen, and then enable all available bands.

3. Tap the option for each frequency band to open a selection screen, and then enable all available channels for each band.

This process makes it easier to set up the Wi-Fi Test Profiles, which you can limit to specific channels, APs, SSIDs, etc. See AutoTest Wi-Fi Profile for more information.

See General Settings for more information about all General Settings options.

Management Port

Wi-Fi Management Port: The internal Wi-Fi management port runs on the main system's 1x1 Dual-band 802.11ac + Bluetooth 5.0 wireless adapter, which is configured in the system Device Settings. See Connecting to Wi-Fi to configure this connection.

The Wi-Fi management radio is set up by the system network settings. The radio provides full Internet access and a more stable network connection than the Test Port, which may frequently drop links and reconnect or resume scanning.

AirCheck G3 can run Discovery, Ping/TCP Connect tests, Path Analysis, and iPerf tests on the management port, but not AutoTests or packet captures.

Wired Management Port: The wired management port is the RJ-45 port on the of the unit.

USB Wired Management Port: You can use a USB-to-Ethernet adapter to run an alternative wired management port for your AirCheck G3. This option allows you to set up a stable wired connection for system updates, updating software, communicating with Link-Live, AP uplinks, and for running basic wired tests that can help diagnose problems that may affect Wi-Fi devices.

NOTE:  NetAlly has tested many but not all USB-to-Ethernet adapters for compliance with the AirCheck G3. The following adapters are supported:

  • j5create model JUE130 (USB 3.0)

  • StarTech.com model USB21000S

For additional information, see Ethernet Adapters and Cameras.

Contact NetAlly support for more details if needed.

To set up the adapter interface:

  1. Plug the adapter into one of the USB Type A ports on your device.

  2. Connect the adapter to a network RJ-45 cable.

  3. Verify that the LEDs on the adapter are on. This indicates that the connection is active.

  4. Verify that the USB Wired Management Port is now listed as a management port in the Test and Port Status Notifications.

You can now use the USB Wired Interface in the following applications:

  • Discovery (Active Discovery Ports and TCP Port Scan)
  • Ping
  • Path Analysis

See Selecting Ports below for more information.

Selecting Ports

Some of the individual NetAlly testing apps let you select which port interface to use for tests or analysis.

  • You may want to verify that you are getting a reliable connection to the Internet and the Link-Live cloud service while you are actively using the Wi-Fi Test port to perform an AirMapper survey. To check connectivity, you can configure the Ping/TCP app to use the Wi-Fi Management port to run a continuous background ping to the Internet.

  • Each port can connect to different networks. For example, an organization might have one network for visitors and another for staff. You can use the management and the test port to check connectivity on each network without the need to link and relink through a single interface.

To change the port, tap an app's settings icon to display the settings screen. Then tap Interface to select the port from a dialog.

  • The top Wi-Fi Port refers to the test port.

  • The Wired Management Port (USB) option refers to the optional USB-to-Ethernet interface for the management port.

  • An AutoTest Wi-Fi Profile must run to establish test port links.

  • The last listed Wi-Fi Profile runs automatically when a Wi-Fi connection is available.