Wireless Access

Has Clarity Synthetic been pulled since Airwave 8.2.6?

On the download page for the latest releases of Airwave there is no mention of it. In the latest Airwave version the option to add a clarity engine seems to have disappeared.

What is the status of Clarity Synthetic? And if it's no longer available, is there an alternative we can use to catch client issues in real time?

Hi, yes this has been removed and it was always on beta status. We have a new product with way more capabilities than Clarity Synthetics.

It is called User Experience Insight - have a look here - https://www.arubanetworks.com/products/networking/analytics-and-assurance/user-experience-insight/

I was afraid this would be the response.

Unfortunately, physical sensors require sending someone on-site and require additional investments. And then the question remains: where exactly do we deploy them? A sensor right next to every AP?

Converting an AP on-the-fly to act as a sensor when new issues are being reported, in a specific location, would be much preferable.

I hope Aruba will reconsider this move.

There is no need to send somebody onsite. This is done by Zero Touch deployment. The sensor gets powered by PoE or external PWR Supply and connects initial via celluar network to the dashboard. From here it will get all its configuration like:

- LAN configs (802.1X, ...)

- WLAN Configs (EAP-XXX, PSK, Open Networks or Captive Portal, Band, SSID(s),...)

- You can configure tests on Wired and Wireless to internal or external services (VoIP, Skype, Office365, HTTP, iPerf, etc.)

This solution gives you way more flexibility and permanent testing of you network connectivity (base test will be Authentication, DHCP, DNS and Gateway connectivity). The sensor acts like a client and send you automatic warnings when a service is not working within you defined parameters.

Therfore in comparsion to clarity synthetics you will benefit by permanet testing, way more and granular tests and testresults, easy to use dashboard, too much to list...

The downsite of converting an AP into a sensor was that you losse coverage at testing time. With the sensor you have a dedicated piece of client to test with.

You do not need to place a UXI Sensor next to every AP. Best Practise will be to place them in critical locations. I guess the rule of thumb will be per 5 APs one Senor, but is is up to you how many you will place.

For me it makes more sense to place them where people complaining about bad WiFi or LAN experience. Here you can see on one view if the WiFi or LAN will be the cause or network services like DHCP, DNS or an application will be the source of the issue.

Best would be to contact your Aruba Sales Representive and get a Evaluation of UXI (User Experience Insight) to test within your own environment.

It may be ZTP, but it still requires sending it on-site and having it mounted somewhere, by some guy. Our offices are wireless only, so someone still needs to pull a physical cable for every sensor. If we want to compare wired and wireless connectivity, at least.

And all things considered: purchasing a sensor, which in the end simply seems to prove the suspicion that it is actually an environmental or wireless issue, is hard to defend.

We already evaluated the sensors, and they have merit. But now that we have a pressing issue on our hands, it would be great if we could simply convert one AP to act as a client, and give us some basic metrics we can work with to check if the issue is client/driver-related, infra-related or environmental.

My concern with the sensors is the large pricetag with only a 90day warranty!! I have spare 305's that would be great sensors if Clarity Synthetic was released.  Now I need to buy a bunch of $790 sensors that each come with a $900 a year subscription cost. 

Aruba User Experience Insight

Instead I should be able to use Airwave that I've already paid for.