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AirMagnet Survey PRO vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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

AirMagnet Survey PRO
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Network Modeling and Simulation (4th)
NetAlly EtherScope nXG
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Network Diagnostics (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of AirMagnet Survey PRO is 7.8%, up from 7.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetAlly EtherScope nXG is 5.7%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Troubleshooting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
AirMagnet Survey PRO7.8%
NetAlly EtherScope nXG5.7%
Other86.5%
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

Mark Witherspoon - PeerSpot reviewer
Wireless Services Manager at Veritas Managed Solutions
A solution for site verifications and enhanced with adapters that provide more realistic readings, but needs to support Wi-Fi 6E
Ekahau and AirMagnet Survey have their own pros and cons, in my opinion. For example, the APs are not visible in Ekahau but AirMagnet Survey allows us to see what APs and channels are being used in a live view, which Ekahau lacks. In Ekahau, the signal from the AP it's capturing at that time is visible which is a bit of an inconvenience. The predictive planner of AirMagnet's is better. However, Ekahau has advantages over AirMagnet because it groups all the SSIDs into one AP, whereas with AirMagnet, one needs to group them manually. Ekahau also supports Wi-Fi 6E, but its licensing is restrictive and more costly.
BA
CEO at COMCERT BV
We gain valuable time by not having to use a laptop to do testing, especially with complex connection profiles
The small screen is a little bit of a handicap. It would be nice if we could, for instance, connect a larger screen to the device, but it's very user-friendly. You're only limited by the size of the screen. That's the only negative aspect of doing surveys with this device. Also, in the first releases, I wasn't very happy about the WiFi function, but I have to say that they listened very well because, in the latest release, all my concerns were resolved. It is an Android device, so it is a little bit of dropdown, left-swipe, right-swipe, and that's not always very clear. Sometimes it's not very clear which screen you're looking at. Am I looking at a device configuration? Am I looking at the test configuration? But I think that comes from the Android operating system more than the EtherScope application itself. In general, I'm pretty happy with the device. It's a light device, a portable device. It doesn't heat up. Some small devices sometimes heat up and it's not really fun to work with them. I don't see a lot of negative points. It evolved, of course. It has been on the market now for several years and I think it is a very mature product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is reliable and easy to use (user-friendly). The heat mapping, passive network surveying, and doing the heat mapping of a building's wireless network allows me to see what level of coverage an area has."
"The reports are amazing and very easy to run."
"Customer service is great."
"If they want a good feel of the network, it has all the tools and information you need to know for problems with coverage and signal strength."
"The predictive survey creates heat maps which are accurate and save a lot of time."
"It has helped us to survey coverage after implementation."
"AirMagnet is a very stable and time-tested product."
"We're happy with both."
"One of the standout features is its ability to serve as an advanced handheld packet analyzer. It excels in discovering both wired and wireless networks and automatically documenting them, which is really valuable. The tool provides insights from the physical layer up to layer seven, including HTTP, which helps diagnose network issues effectively. This automated documentation feature sets NetAlly apart from competitors, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in network management and recommendations. When the EtherScope nXG identifies a problem, it alerts us, allowing us to use more advanced tools for deeper analysis. Regarding PoE testing capabilities, I haven't explored them extensively, but I'm aware of their importance, especially for detecting issues like overloading switches with too many PoE devices. Integrators are becoming more cautious about these issues, but specialized tools like those from other vendors may offer features like microburst dashboards, which EtherScope nXG currently doesn't provide."
"This single unit can provide me the troubleshooting and analysis capabilities of five or six tools that I would've had to carry before and it fits in my backpack."
"It is a game changer for us; it has one meter to validate network changes, troubleshoot connectivity, and detect performance issues, reducing our onsite time by at least tenfold and allowing even entry-level technicians to be highly effective in the field."
"In terms of the cost of the device versus its ability to save you time or solve problems faster, it's a good value."
"This product has definitely reduced our troubleshooting time."
"The wireless aspect of it has been super valuable. The AirMagnet Survey feature is very useful for site surveys. For a long time, it used to be done on laptops, and now, we can do this simply on a handheld with one technician. The data automatically gets uploaded to the cloud so that our more experienced technicians can review the data and pull it into AirMagnet. This feature has saved tons of time. It's not easy to approximate the time saved, but for each survey, I'm taking a junior technician and getting him to do a role that a senior technician used to do. So, there is a cost-saving of at least 50%."
"When it comes to that remote troubleshooting perspective of being able to survey an area to see if there are problems, make adjustments, and then have that same individual resurvey that same area, I don't have to send people to a week long class on how to use the device. I know I am getting consistent results, which can verify near real-time, and whether or not the changes that I have implemented solve the problem."
"I like EtherScope's WiFi scanning, heat map, and load testing. It's an excellent tool that sets you straight, so you don't need to beat around the bush or wait for other people. It's easy to share the reports with other people."
 

Cons

"The surveying features are in need of improvement, along with general usability."
"Since it crashes 1 out of 20 times, it would be great if they could make it more stable."
"It has not been entirely stable."
"I would like to see a clearer representation of different power readings/levels when the survey tool renders heat maps."
"My biggest complaint is their training shouldn't be so expensive."
"The worst thing that is built into AirMagnet is, if your laptop crashes in the middle, all of the work you have done is gone."
"We have had a problem with the reporting module, as it can't put the full size picture of a floor plan in the report."
"Often, AirMagnet will crash and you will have to reboot your laptop or tablet to start it again. Data will be lost if you haven’t saved it."
"The only issue that I have ever had is the battery life. It does drain a little bit quickly."
"For the average network shop, the cost is a bit high."
"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 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."
"If I could reset it remotely, meaning reboot the unit, that would be helpful."
"On a hardware spec, it'd be nice to have something above 10-Gigs."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing needs improvement."
"The moment we began needing more of the vendor's support, the cost became very high; we switched to another solution."
"The licensing of AirMagnet Survey is different when compared to Ekahu. It is a third of the cost of Ekahau but there are no dedicated laptops to the Sidekick. AirMagnet allows you to license an adapter and share that adapter."
"This product is very expensive."
"For technical support, you need an annual license, but it is not worth it."
"There is an annual cost of the solution. There are some additional charges, such as support and maintenance."
"The tool's pricing is medium."
"The pricing can be a little bit high for a handheld tool, mostly because, potentially, people do not understand what's in the package. However, NetAlly offers great bundled deals. We got a significantly good deal by ordering a package of these devices that had a whole test kit together. So, while it's very high, the value is certainly there, and the vendor does offer value-added features to offset that cost."
"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."
"It's a pricey device, but I see value in it from a business perspective."
"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 is relatively high-priced and it should certainly not get any more expensive. I would like it to be $1,000 less, and I think everyone would say that. And of course, maintenance is also a recurring cost."
"It's the best 10Gig network tester for the price on the market."
"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."
"NetAlly EtherScope nXG is priced too much and needs to come down by about 15 percent of its current price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise11
 

Also Known As

No data available
EtherScope nXG, EtherScope, netAlly EtherScope, OptiView XG
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Houston Methodist Hospital, Love's Travel Stops
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AirMagnet Survey PRO vs. NetAlly EtherScope nXG and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.