WildPackets adds Mac networking courses
updated 08:30 pm EST, Thu February 8, 2001
WildPackets Academy, formerly known as AG Group, will add two new courses in Q2 2001 to its existing four courses on network analysis training and the Network Analysis Expert (NAX) Certification Program. The WP-106 "Wireless Network Protocol Analysis" course will cover detailed protocol behavior and troubleshooting methods for wireless implementations while the WP-105 "AppleShare IP and Mac OS/X Protocol Analysis Methods" course will teach internal Apple protocol operations.



Joined:
degradation in Mac...
... parity has been the theme for the past few years at AG Group (now Wild Packets) as mainly only the Etherpeek product is now kept on par between the Windows and Mac versions. Most of the other tools that would add even more value to the Mac as a networking tool like Netsense, Proconvert, and now this new Airopeek are Windows only products. This growing disparity in Wild Packet's Mac/Windows product offerings is rather disappointing considering that those other utilities would add significant value to Mac OS X and its BSD core (and thus, traditional CLI net utilities such as tcpdump). The use of the Mac as a viable networking tool is one area that Apple could make inroads into non-traditional Mac markets such as IT. Mac based network analysis tools are already on the limited side compared to whats available on Wintel. While there are a few other companies that make Mac network analysis products and show promise, they really don't compare to what Etherpeek has to offer in terms of breath. Hopefully this will change with Mac OS X but I'm not holding my breath considering the direction that Wild Packets has continued moving towards over the past few years.
Disclosure: I am currently a Wild Packets customer with a sizable (+$20K investment) in their networking tools (both Windows and Mac versions) and one reason for selecting them was that Etherpeek was cross platform. Over time though, the number of addon tools grew only on the Windows platform.