General information about WiFiMon
WiFiMon is a GÉANT service and an open-source toolset that provides methods for evaluating Wi-Fi performance. WiFiMon combines two kinds of measurements, crowdsourced-based and from hardware probes. Crowdsourced measurements are received from users of the Wi-Fi network and are utilized to evaluate their direct experience of the network performance from their current location, without requiring installation of additional applications. Therefore, WiFiMon leverages on crowdsourced measurements to estimate end-user Quality of Experience (QoE). Hardware probes complement crowdsourced measurements by monitoring performance from fixed points of the network, thus providing baseline performance results. Moreover, hardware probes provide additional data about the Wi-Fi network, e.g. signal strength, link quality and perform latency and bandwidth estimations via Two Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP).
In IEEE 802.1X networks, such as eduroam, WiFiMon provides additional capabilities to network administrators. Specifically, WiFiMon correlates performance results collected from Wi-Fi network end devices with information available from RADIUS and DHCP logs. Therefore, more accurate Wi-Fi performance evaluation is possible, such as throughput estimation per access point within the monitored network.
WiFiMon consists of the following components:
- WiFiMon Software Probes (WSP's): WSP's are Wi-Fi enabled end-user devices, e.g. smartphones and laptops. These devices trigger crowdsourced measurements, therefore enabling administrators to monitor Wi-Fi performance as experienced by users roaming the network.
- WiFiMon Hardware Probes (WHP's): WHP's monitor Wi-Fi performance from fixed points within the network. Wi-Fi administrators may rely on WHP's to obtain baseline measurements and form a complete network performance landscape in combination with the crowdsourced results delivered from WSP's.
- WiFiMon Test Server (WTS): The WTS included the software and test data that are necessary for performnace measurements triggered by WSP's and WHP's. Moreover, the WTS acts as the server endpoint for TWAMP measurements performed by WHP's. The WTS is typically placed close to the monitored Wi-Fi networks to decrease the distance from end devices, hence reducing the effect of RTT that is added on reported measurements.
- WiFiMon Analysis Server (WAS): This is the central component of WiFiMon that receives measurement results from WSP's and WHP's as well as information available from RADIUS and DHCP servers. Obtained data are then processed, correlated and stored. Finally, the WAS provides appropriate result visualizations.
Complete WiFiMon setups depend on all four components described in the previous section. Among these components, the WAS comprises of multiple software packages, thus being the most complex component. Contemplating on the time-consuming and error-prone nature of manual installation methods, a fully automated procedure has been developed to reduce administrator effort.
Administrators may utilize the NMaaS platform to outsource WAS deployment as a containerized service within a cloud environment. This solution is suitable for organizations that want to test WiFiMon, before performing any installation within their infrastructure, and institutions lacking necessary resources or expertise. Notably, the other components of WiFiMon are straightforward to install and are, typically, required to close to the monitored Wi-Fi networks. Therefore NMaaS containerization was considered unnecessary for them.
Current state
Active
Maintenance
- WiFiMon team members
- NMaaS team members
WiFiMon developers contact NMaaS team members whenever a new WiFiMon software version is available. NMaaS team members deploy WAS instances in a test environment. These instances are subsequently tested by the WiFiMon developers who verify their normal operation and appropriately inform NMaaS team. Afterwards, the new containers are available from the NMaaS platform.
Access
Through regular NMaaS access using federated login credentials.
Support
- WP6T3 WiFiMon team can be reached at wifimon-ops@lists.geant.org
- NMaaS Support
Services
- TODO
Resources
- TODO
Data
All WiFiMon data are stored within an Elasticsearch cluster provided by the NMaaS platform.
APIs
- TODO