AirMagnet Survey PRO vs Observer GigaStor comparison

NetAlly and Viavi Solutions are both solutions in the Network Troubleshooting category. NetAlly is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.0, while Viavi Solutions is ranked #13. NetAlly holds a 9.1% mindshare in NT, compared to Viavi Solutions’s 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of NetAlly users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Viavi Solutions users who would recommend it.

AirMagnet Survey PRO

Read 39 AirMagnet Survey PRO reviews

4,654 Views
1,629 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Observer GigaStor

Read 7 Observer GigaStor reviews

2,385 Views
453 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AirMagnet Survey PRO

Observer GigaStor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

AirMagnet Survey PRO and Observer GigaStor compete in the network analysis space. AirMagnet Survey PRO leads with pricing and support, while Observer GigaStor is favored for its extensive features.

Features: AirMagnet Survey PRO supports wireless network design and optimization, facilitating detailed WLAN analysis, visualization, and planning. Observer GigaStor emphasizes network traffic storage, real-time data insights, and retrospective analysis, suited for comprehensive network performance assessment.

Room for Improvement: AirMagnet Survey PRO could enhance its adapter support and streamline its CAD drawing integration. Improving spectrum analysis features would improve its troubleshooting capabilities. Observer GigaStor could benefit from a simplified setup process and enhanced real-time traffic analysis tools. Adding more user-friendly interfaces would further extend its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AirMagnet Survey PRO provides quick deployment and is designed for IT professionals, with a focus on efficient customer support. Observer GigaStor has a more complex installation process but offers dedicated support for handling large-scale networks, making it ideal for complex environments.

Pricing and ROI: AirMagnet Survey PRO is a cost-effective choice, with lower initial setup costs, promoting faster ROI for budget-conscious users. Observer GigaStor requires a higher initial investment but justifies its price with extensive features that deliver long-term value in larger network settings.

To learn more, read our detailed AirMagnet Survey PRO vs. Observer GigaStor Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

AirMagnet Survey PRO vs. Observer GigaStor

June 2026

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Helped 902,417 peers since 2012

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

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Modeling and Simulation (2nd)

Observer GigaStor

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (84th), Network Packet Broker (NPB) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of AirMagnet Survey PRO is 9.1%, up from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Observer GigaStor is 3.8%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Troubleshooting Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
AirMagnet Survey PRO	9.1%
Observer GigaStor	3.8%
Other	87.1%

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

Mark Witherspoon

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.

Read full review

Jeroen-Dubbelman

Director at Bitrate

Aids significantly in the threat-hunting process and provides a score-based evaluation of user experience

There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies. The retrospective network analysis capability of Observer GigaStor has been beneficial. It's a pivotal feature for network performance solutions. However, I prefer to consider the entire solution suite - GigaStor, along with GigaFlow and Apex - for comprehensive network visibility and monitoring. So, I prefer to integrate all three solutions to provide the best visibility. They complement each other well, with Apex aggregating and correlating data from both GigaStor and GigaFlow to enhance environmental understanding and troubleshooting efficiency.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You will find out quickly that the AirMagnet survey tool is the most versatile tool out there."

"The stability of the application now is probably the best it's been, from my point of view."

"AirMagnet is a one-stop shop for everything."

"The predictive survey creates heat maps which are accurate and save a lot of time."

"It has helped us to survey coverage after implementation."

"The program did seem to work well with multiple floors as well as multiple surveys within a particular floor."

"Overall, the majority of their support engineers are exceptional, especially when it comes to being able to react or assist us on something that's extremely critical through an ongoing project for us."

"AirMagnet is a very stable and time-tested product, as proved by the fact that the world's leading IT companies use AirMagnet Survey and if we look at the release notes we can see a lot of new features instead of bug fixes as in the Ekahau Site Survey."

More AirMagnet Survey PRO pros

"I also have the ability to see an application's performance, to see what's going on, why a network is slow, why this program for this user is experiencing a delay or some network issue"

"Enables us to go back in time to capture an issue and analyze it for a solution, and this after the fact analysis is key to overcoming the bump in the night issues."

"The ability to capture packets. It is not only for monitoring. That is very important for a company that wants to keep an eye on the packets, the transactions, the flows..."

"It's able to capture packets and, after a long time, you can come and use that information; to check, to analyze - everything you would want to do. So it's very good and helpful if you want to protect your data. It is stored in a certain place where you can access it every time you want to analyze it."

"This solution allows us to see exactly what is going on in the network and we can very quickly solve issues with users."

"There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies."

"Go take a look at it. It's a great product and has great capabilities."

"Industry-leading line rates, packet-capture technology and data-mining capabilities are the most valuable features."

More Observer GigaStor pros

Cons

"Without creating a custom adjustment, there can be at times a 5 to 10dBm RSSI difference between what the AirMagnet adapter indicates during the survey and what the Cisco 8821 indicates in the same location as shown below."

"But it's definitely a more expensive solution than other ones."

"I would like to see a clearer representation of different power readings/levels when the survey tool renders heat maps."

"Since it crashes 1 out of 20 times, it would be great if they could make it more stable."

"I would just like to see integration of more wireless cards to have a broader group of cards you could use, instead of just a couple of specific ones."

"AirMagnet itself is a little clunkier than Ekahau or the simpler NetSpot program that we use."

"Printouts are JPEG printouts. The AirMagnet software is proprietary. I can't send my customers a file, because it is AirMagnet file, even for building projects. I can only send JPEGs or screenshots of heat maps."

"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."

More AirMagnet Survey PRO cons

"Graphics need improvement. Because a lot of the information there you have to input first in some case to have full potential. It could be more automated."

"The Observer Console UI is consistent and stable, but could use some updating to be more modern."

"I would like to have more than 4TB of storage available in the portable version of this solution."

"There are some issues, in our environment that puts processing restraints on the Gigastor when turning on trending data to be sent to APEX."

"Maybe the graphical user interface could be simplified to allow people to use it more easily. It's already good, but they can work more on it to make it even easier."

"The interface is pretty complex, so for the average user, it takes a while to get up to speed with it. I would like it to be more user-friendly."

"GigaStor feeds into Apex. So, the area where there could be improvement would be in artificial intelligence. For example, the incorporation of more advanced machine learning or AI capabilities could enhance its functionality."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is very expensive."

"The tool's pricing is medium."

"The pricing needs improvement."

"There is an annual cost of the solution. There are some additional charges, such as support and maintenance."

"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."

"For technical support, you need an annual license, but it is not worth it."

"The moment we began needing more of the vendor's support, the cost became very high; we switched to another solution."

"It depends on the requirements you have. There are three types of license. There's the updates license, the work group license, and the workstation license."

"It's quite expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Government

University

Construction Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AirMagnet Survey?

AirMagnet Survey needs to support Wi-Fi 6E otherwise they can lose to the competition. They also need to allow better grouping of SSIDs to one AP, removing the need to filter manually. At the momen...

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What is your primary use case for AirMagnet Survey?

We use AirMagnet Survey, for site verifications after the wireless system has been installed. We conduct pre and post-install surveys with it. We have reduced the use since now our customers requir...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering AirMagnet Survey?

The AI simulation capabilities, especially the predictive feature in AirMagnet, have been somewhat helpful for network planning. However, both AirMagnet and other tools like Ekahau have accuracy is...

See all answers

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Comparisons

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

AirCheck G3 vs AirMagnet Survey PRO

Compared 7% of the time

iBwave Unity vs AirMagnet Survey PRO

Compared 6% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs AirMagnet Survey PRO

Compared 6% of the time

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Wireshark vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 15% of the time

IxChariot vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

Viavi Observer Platform vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiSIEM vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 3% of the time

More Observer GigaStor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AirMagnet Survey PRO

June 2026

Download AirMagnet Survey PRO product report

Buyer's Guide

Observer GigaStor

June 2026

Download Observer GigaStor product report

Overview

AirMagnet Survey PRO provides efficient wireless network surveying and design capabilities, optimizing access point placement with dual passive-active surveys, spectrum integration, and real-time analysis.

AirMagnet Survey PRO offers comprehensive tools for wireless coverage optimization. It facilitates accurate SNR/RSSI data collection and features multi-floor planning with robust reporting capabilities. The software enables efficient spectrum analysis, predictive mapping, and simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz surveys, saving significant time. Users appreciate its intuitive interface, which aids technical assessments and visual displays. However, they suggest improvements in multi-floor integration, file import options, and a more dynamic license system. Enhanced cloud storage support, improved auto-placement features, and better device compatibility are also on the wishlist.

What are the key features of AirMagnet Survey PRO?

Dual Passive-Active Surveys: Streamline access point placement with dual survey types.
Antenna Customization: Tailor antenna parameters for optimal performance.
Predictive Mapping: Visualize potential coverage areas before deployment.
Spectrum Integration: Analyze interference and optimize signal paths.
Simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Surveys: Conduct faster, comprehensive surveys across frequency bands.

What benefits should users look for in reviews of AirMagnet Survey PRO?

Accurate Data Collection: Highly precise SNR/RSSI measurements improve network assessments.
Time Efficiency: Reduce survey duration with dual-band simultaneous assessments.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies complex tasks with intuitive visual tools.
Comprehensive Reporting: Offers detailed analysis and insights into network performance.
Cost Savings: Efficient planning and troubleshooting lead to reduced deployment costs.

In industries like hospitality, education, and healthcare, AirMagnet Survey PRO is instrumental in wireless network surveying and design. These sectors rely on the software for precise Wi-Fi coverage assessments, spectrum analysis, and real-time signal checks, using heat maps to identify dead zones for pre and post-installation verifications. Some opt for alternatives to support newer technologies like Wi-Fi 6E.

NetAlly

Observer GigaStor provides detailed network visibility and data capture for efficient troubleshooting and analysis. It's a robust tool designed to manage today’s complex network environments, offering reliability and performance insights.

Observer GigaStor specializes in long-term network traffic capture, delivering comprehensive forensic analysis capabilities. It stands as a trusted resource for IT departments aiming to resolve network performance issues swiftly. By capturing and storing packets with high precision, it aids in identifying both current and past anomalies, ensuring network health and performance continuity through proactive monitoring.

What are the key features of Observer GigaStor?

Long-term Data Capture: Enables storage of vast amounts of data for extensive historical analysis.
Comprehensive Protocol Support: Offers support for diverse protocols, enhancing troubleshooting accuracy.
Retrospective Analysis: Provides the ability to trace issues back to their origin point, improving issue resolution speed.
Scalability: Adapts to network growth without sacrificing performance capabilities.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from reviews?

Increased Troubleshooting Efficiency: Provides quicker resolution times, reducing network downtime.
Enhanced Network Visibility: Improves understanding of network performance and traffic patterns.
Reduced Operational Costs: Limits the need for manual troubleshooting, saving on labor costs.
Improved Decision Making: Data insights aid in strategic planning for infrastructure improvements.

Observer GigaStor's implementation spans across various industries, from telecommunications to finance, where maintaining robust and secure network performance is crucial. Its ability to analyze and retrieve historical network data supports compliance and operational stability demands in these sectors.

Viavi Solutions

Sample Customers

Houston Methodist Hospital, Love's Travel Stops

Cisco Systems, Hawaiian Telecom, Renown Health, State of Nevada, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Allstate Insurance, Jack Henry & Associates, United States Airforce, US Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Chicago Board Options Exchange

Buyer's Guide

AirMagnet Survey PRO vs. Observer GigaStor

June 2026

Free Report: AirMagnet Survey PRO vs. Observer GigaStor

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