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AirCheck G3 vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AirCheck G3
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetAlly EtherScope nXG
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Network Diagnostics (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of AirCheck G3 is 9.1%, up from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetAlly EtherScope nXG is 9.7%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Troubleshooting Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NetAlly EtherScope nXG9.7%
AirCheck G39.1%
Other81.2%
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

David-Prusynski - PeerSpot reviewer
A portable, rugged device that reduces resolution time and saves thousands of dollars
It would be nice if I could import an AP list with a MAC address. When it looks at access points, it should tell me the AP name instead of the MAC address. When you get a MAC address, you can eventually find out where you want to go. However, a lot of times, if I just have an AP name, I know that's in this area or that's over there. I would like that function because AirMagnet, which is the precursor of this, had that ability where you could basically import a list of APs and MAC addresses, and then it could display those instead of just a MAC address. That'd be a nice function. We should be able to put an AP to MAC address in Excel and export it as a CSV file and then import it. That'd be nice to have because I have that information for all my hospitals. The one I'm doing this weekend has got 550 access points. It is much easier for me to look at an AP name than to get a MAC address. Currently, I have to go to a different spreadsheet and try to find that MAC address. If I had the AP name, it would be like, "Okay. Yep. See it. Done." They are doing spectrum analysis in G3, which I would love to have in G2. That's a nice tool to have, and from what I heard, that's the same price. I'd like to have that. The other function I would love to see is the ability to test fiber. I know the $10,000 version has the ability to test fiber, but I would love this lower-cost device to be able to test fiber.
Chase McGee - PeerSpot reviewer
Reduces troubleshooting from hours to minutes, and increases our security by finding rogue devices
My favorite features, ones that I have used continuously almost every single day, are the Link-Live Cloud Service and the AirMapper Site Survey. The latter is absolutely essential to almost every business I go to. I move around the building and mark where I've been and then, when I get back to my desk, the information is on the dashboard, showing me exactly where devices are. I can see, "Okay, here are printers that shouldn't be there," and I can relocate them better. Or I can check whether the WiFi signal is strong at a given spot and whether I need another access point. The AirMapper Site Survey app is one of the biggest highlights of this product. When somebody asks me, "Why should I use this device?" it's the first thing I show them, and they usually love it. Its ability to gather WiFi site survey data is absolutely amazing. You can collect so many different things including using its spectrum analyzer. You can also use the directional antenna and other features to detect the WiFi signal, its strength and where things are at. If devices are having an issue, you can figure out the cause. Maybe it is behind a wall that is not allowing WiFi signals and you can determine, "Hey, I need another access point here to get my users the internet coverage they need." The AirMapper Site Survey Heat Maps were one of the first things that I used the device for. I wanted to see the WiFi signals, where everything was at, and what was the most used. That was able to help me determine that I needed a new access point inside our center for demos. We were getting a lot of drops there and I figured out that the coverage was not good. We had to get a replacement access point. Overall, the EtherScope nXG is easy to use for less skilled staff but it has deep diagnostics for experts. I had no experience when I first received this device. I had no training and, in less than a week, I was fully proficient with it. When I really wanted to do a deep dive and figure out everything about it through the Link-Live Cloud Service, I had so much data. It made my life a lot easier.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution saves us a factor of 10 in time. If a typical WiFI ticket would cost me two hours with AirCheck, then it would cost me 20 hours without it. At 20 hours, you start to refuse to do tickets because it is just too expensive."
"I like the cloud functionality. That's very useful because somebody can go onsite, someone who is not really skilled, and I can see the test results from the office."
"The ability to push data to Link-Live is really important. On the main screen, you can see all the system parameters, and then you can also go and see all the current systems that are operating. They all have different SSIDs or system identifiers, and you can see all SSIDs that are operating in a certain area. Being able to see that and being able to dive into each one and figure out what frequency it is operating under is valuable."
"The auto-test, channel scanner, packet capture, and Link-Live integration are all crucial features we use regularly. The wired cable tester is also indispensable. We frequently run into problems during cable testing that are hard to pin down. When tracking down a cable problem, you usually need to plug something into the cable and ensure the cable plant is reliable."
"The one-button AutoTest feature is an amazing tool. It works well. It tells you whether or not you have shorts in your network, your PoE+ is running low on voltage, and shows you your link speed."
"The AirMapper Site Survey on the AirCheck G2 is the most valuable feature. It is really nice to be able to upload the maps remotely to the website, and then have the analyst upload the results so we can review the data."
"The information provided by the solution for resolving connectivity and performance problems is very thorough. The reporting functionality is extremely good as I can pass that information on with little input. The device will identify issues and problems, e.g., the diagnostic material. When you have Internet access, it sends the information to your email address, which is very useful."
"It has made our networking staff more productive. We spend less time because the device helps us by identifying the issue and providing a solution for the customer. Prior to not having this device, we would have to guess when an issue arose. Now, we don't have to guess. This can easily save us hours per call."
"The whole product is valuable because it's really a bunch of features that make up the one testing utility. Between auto tests, wireless assessments, its ability to do iPerf speed and traffic testing, as well as packet captures — all of those really contribute to a very successful product and allow me to do my job in a better manner."
"In terms of the solution's full line rate 10-gigabit capability, my other 10 Gb test equipment is much bigger, bulkier, and heavier. One of my ways of assessing the nXG was to compare it with what I knew to be tried and true on 10-gig to make sure that they matched, and they did. It very quickly got my trust. The fact that it can do 10 Gb, without dropping a packet from what I've seen so far — and we used it a lot in that first three months — tells a pretty good story."
"Another good thing I really liked was that it would not only tell me the IP address, but it would tell me more info. It would grab the CDP off of the CDP profile and read all the info it could get, so I knew what I was looking at."
"Being able to do a Wi-Fi walk-around survey with a handheld tool is one of the most valuable features of NetAlly EtherScope nXG."
"My impression of the ease of use is that it definitely is easy to use both the handheld device and the app walking around."
"One of the key measurements that we use out of the device is the channel utilization measurement, how much traffic is on the air in a given channel. That's the most valuable feature for us. The ability to make a very fast measurement of how much traffic is on the air is a key value. Otherwise we'd have to do a packet capture and do some analysis. It speeds up our testing."
"One of the biggest pros of AirMapper is that you just hit upload to the cloud and you can use anything with a web browser to look at it and manipulate it, view it, and even share it. The fact that you can review it now on any computer that has web access is phenomenal, versus using the client. That's been fantastic."
"It cuts the time down in half. You don't need to get a laptop out and do different testing. We can just grab this one tool, bring it, and do all our network testing, surveying, and reviews to figure out what the problems are with just one device, instead of having to use multiple people and devices to do that. You cut down time by 50% because you won't normally need multiple people onsite. A lot of times, you can do everything with one person and one tool."
 

Cons

"We use these out in the field, and because they're not allowed on our network, we usually have to have the person take them home and provide backhaul to them. In other words, they are not allowed through our firewalls to dump the data. So, we have to have them go to a separate wired network to dump the data. There could be an option to put an LTE and have a phone engine in it so that you can buy a SIM card for it and have it use cellular to download the data. That is something that would be nice to have. That's a little kink in this system right now. Other than using the Ethernet port to download data, it'd be nice if we could use either LTE or some other way to get the data that was collected by AirCheck G2 to our Link-Live portal."
"A feature I would like to see is the ability to charge the device via a PoE outlet. Usually, I need to charge it at home. It would be good to leave the device plugged in and charging at a PoE source at the customer site after a quick look at the network when I have moved on to other tasks."
"If it was capable of downloading MIBs onto the device, then we could identify the manufacturer. Sometimes, when I am troubleshooting, there is a Mac address. For example, there is a rogue device and it just gives us a Mac address, which is fine. It gives us something, which is better than nothing. It would be nice if it was able to download a MIB where we could associate it with that Mac address and the manufacturer."
"The only thing that would be an improvement would be the ability to do MPO/MPT testing, which is another mode of fiber, along with more options on the SFP to do that testing."
"The battery life needs improvement. For example, when you are doing an Ethernet test, that seems to drain the battery pretty quickly."
"The solution doesn't have much functional information online."
"The biggest improvement would be an easier upload over wireless to Link-Live. Currently, the device has to be patched into the Ethernet. The wireless upload has been giving us some issues."
"I would like them to modify the interface. The button to change profiles is fairly small. When you have interventions, it is not always possible to have a ballpoint pen or perfect precision touch with it, since sometimes you need to touch it quite a lot when your hands are very dirty. I would like a special pen that is compatible with that responsive screen. That would make it easier."
"I use the NetAlly site and one of the things I don't like about the topology map, something I wish I could fix, is that the map kind of jiggles if you don't adjust any of the settings."
"The one thing that it doesn't do well, when it's doing airtime utilization measurements, is that it will classify things as non-802.11, and that isn't correct. What it could do better is make sure that it classifies all traffic that's in the air correctly."
"There are some inconsistencies in how it uploads the test results to the cloud, but it might just need a minor improvement on the software side. When you don't have an internet connection on the EtherScope when you do the testing, it saves the results into memory. When it has an internet connection, it uploads those results, but it doesn't work all the time. Sometimes, you need to manually push it."
"The user interface could be a little bit more streamlined, a little bit easier. Sometimes it's hard to find a specific thing that you're looking for. In terms of hardware-based improvement, the battery would be the biggest issue. The battery goes out very quickly."
"One point of contention might be that when we were starting it up for the first time, there was a little bit of confusion about registration and getting the proper support plans applied. So, that could be more streamlined, but that's not uncommon in the industry."
"We have had to use a battery pack unit, bringing it with us, when we are doing long testing or a lot of testing. It is like a mini computer, so it does use a lot of battery life."
"NetAlly doesn't have a spectrum analyzer. I have to use other tools to view the spectrum, and this is a problem."
"AirMapper is very quick and easy once everything is on there, but I would like to see an improvement on how you get things on there. Currently, rather than being able to build up buildings or a site of things, every map is an individual piece. We should be able to set up an AirMapper survey easily and more effectively. At the moment, we just have separate floor plans. It'd be great to be able to build a building and tell where different floors are so that if it hears an AP on the floor below, it doesn't put two APs, one on that floor and one on the other floor, and it knows that there are two floors here. One is on top of the other, and it won't put the AP at both places. It would put it on one of the floors where it would be strongest. This would be one of the biggest improvements."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is definitely well worth the price. It is approximately $2,500. It pays for itself since it eliminates troubleshooting costs and labor due to all the money you would spend kind of troubleshooting the device if you didn't have any of these tools with you."
"The overall cost of the solution, compared to the time saved—the number of man-hours devoted to other means of troubleshooting—is incomparable."
"Because I work in a big company, it is a no-brainer. If I were a consultant, I would still buy it, but it would be a huge investment. Overall, it's a good tool to have."
"If you find a feature you need, you have to call them and add it, but you should be able to use the product. You spend money on and invested in multiple devices and can't even use half of the features. They should negotiate with large enterprises who buy large numbers of units to provide NetAlly support for all of them at a nominal fee."
"The upfront cost of the solution is around $4,000."
"It costs $3,000. It would be nice if its cost was less. I could then buy more. Currently, when we buy one, we make sure that where we need it is big enough, or if it is too small, when a person has a job, they have to get a temporary one mailed to them to use, which becomes a little less convenient."
"The price is fairly expensive, if you are a single individual. For me, it's well worth the cost of the unit. Depending on the nature of the work that you're doing, the upfront costs can be expensive. Typically, what happens in an environment is a department might have one device as opposed to technicians having them individually."
"For a few thousand dollars, you save yourself a ton of time. It's a great deal."
"For the average network shop, the cost is a bit high. In a lot of organizations, people don't share test devices between teams. Generally, you need a device for the network team and a device for the system team, the security team, etc. While the cost is a little on the high side, that is offset by the regular updates and continued improvements that NetAlly adds to the device. Those improvements continue to increase the perceived value of the device."
"It's the best 10Gig network tester for the price on the market."
"It is worth it. The cost benefit of Link-Live is massive because it is included with the cost of the device and the licensing. A lot of people miss that part of it. It is not just the device that you get but it is the ability to look at all of that data later on. You're not having to do all of that on the device. You can just be there, use the device, and then look at the data from the comfort of your office or home afterward."
"The pricing is very expensive, but this tool is the best."
"In terms of pricing, EtherScope isn't cheap. It's a significant investment, and not a budget option."
"If you're in the networking world, this product makes great sense very quickly, if you're going to use it more than a few times a week... If you are just looking at a handheld device unit for specific, wireless or wired testing and not much else, the cost may be a little more prohibitive than what you have in your budget."
"If we were to purchase separate meters to do similar things, it would be double or triple the cost for us to have each toolkit available. Being a small business, putting that much money on a single truck is not cost-effective. Instead, we could put the analyzer, network heat map, and cable tester all in one meter. That is why we went for it."
"It's very expensive. I wish I could buy a few more and give them to all the people who could use it, or perhaps send it to a client, given that some of its features are easy to use. But sending something worth $8,000 or $9,000 is nerve-racking. It would be nice that if it were a lot less expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetAlly EtherScope nXG?
In terms of pricing, EtherScope isn't cheap. It's a significant investment, and not a budget option.
What needs improvement with NetAlly EtherScope nXG?
The main area for improvement that stands out is the lack of a microburst dashboard, which some other vendors offer. However, NetAlly has carved out its niche by focusing on comprehensive network a...
What is your primary use case for NetAlly EtherScope nXG?
We mainly use NetAlly EtherScope nXG for troubleshooting. Linksprinter helps us solve problems and understand how things work. For example, SpamTitan is automatic, but beginners might not understan...
 

Also Known As

AirCheck G2, AirCheck
EtherScope nXG, EtherScope, netAlly EtherScope, OptiView XG
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about AirCheck G3 vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.