Live View (Beta)
Learn how to use the Live View in Hamina Network Planner Plus.
The Live View leverages API endpoints from leading cloud-based infrastructure vendors to give you a real-time look at the network, running in Hamina Network Planner Plus.
The Live View is currently offered as a beta, which is an upcoming feature that we are still working on, but want to make available to Hamina Network Planner Plus users for testing. It isn't complete, is subject to change, and is highly likely to break or have major bugs. Needless to say, we don't recommend using the Live View for production work, or promising customer deliverables that rely on it. Still, we hope you enjoy getting an early look at the Live View!
Setup Overview
To use the Live View, you will need:
A subscription to Hamina Network Planner Plus.
API credentials for your network infrastructure vendor.
The exact setup steps vary between network infrastructure vendors, but the overall steps are the same.
Make sure the Live View beta feature is enabled in Preferences in the Beta Features tab.
To set up the Live View for an existing network, begin by creating a new project in Hamina Network Planner.
Click the Live tab at the top center to switch to the Live View.
Select your infrastructure vendor.
Input the necessary information to connect Hamina Network Planner to your network infrastructure. This usually involves selecting a Region and entering an API key, but can include other components depending on the network infrastructure vendor.
Select the Organization and Site to connect the project to. Note: The options and terminology will vary, depending on the network infrastructure vendor. Choose what floor plans to connect, and click the Import button.
Hamina Network Planner will import the floor plans, access points, and switches from the network infrastructure.
Usage Overview
The Live View is similar in function to the Simulation View, with the key difference being that instead of planning and configuring simulated access points, the Live View is populated with data directly from your network infrastructure, particularly the access point models, transmit power, and channels. This data is used to build a heatmap (itself a predictive model), but unlike the Simulation View, the Live View simulation is informed by the current operation of the network.
As a result, all of the heatmaps that are available in the Simulation View are available in the Live View, with the addition of the Channel Utilization heatmap in most cases.
Access Points
To view the current configuration, status, and statistics for each access point, select an individual access point on the map. The Access Point Details Window will appear, and it can be moved by clicking and dragging from the title area.
Additionally, the Access Point Details Pane will appear on the right, presenting some information such as the status of each radio, what SSIDs each radio are broadcasting, and which switch the access point is connected to.
Switches
If a switch has been assigned x/y coordinates in the network infrastructure, it will be precisely located on the map in the Live View. If the existence of the switch is known, but there are no x/y coordinates for it, then the switch will be placed in the center of all of the access points that are connected to it.
To precisely place the switch on the map, check your network infrastructure vendor's map configuration to see if switch placement is possible.
To view the details about a switch, select it. The Switch Details Pane will appear on the right. Additionally, any current heatmap will only show results from access points that are connected to the selected switch.
Clients
The Live View is also aware of client devices on the network. To view the client list, select the Live Clients tool.
The View Clients pane will appear on the left, listing all of the clients on the site. Selecting a client from the list will cause the Client Details window to appear, which can be repositioned by clicking and dragging on the title bar.
Supported Features Per Vendor
Hamina Network Planner leverages APIs from infrastructures vendors for Import, Export, and the Live View.
If a specific feature is missing, it might be because the network infrastructure vendor doesn't offer enough API coverage to implement the feature, or simply because Hamina Network Planner doesn't have that feature implemented yet.
Import
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Export
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Live View (Beta)
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Import AP Transmit Powers
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GPS Coordinates
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Map Scale
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Map Name
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SSID selection
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Switch Placement
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AP Status Colors
Hamina Network Planner Plus changes the color of the access point to indicate its status.
🔴 Red
Disconnected
🟠 Orange
Alerting
Grey
Dormant or Unknown
Ping
When a client device is selected, the Wi-Fi infrastructure (probably the access point) starts a ping test. How the ping test is handled depends on the vendor. Meraki has some documentation that describes their ping tool.
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