AirMagnet Applications - Internet connection not found error

I recently had an issue with my Fluke AirMagnet toolset that I would like to share.

I was going to do a site survey Friday afternoon. I had not used my survey laptop in several months when I pulled it out of the survey kit that morning, and decided now would be a good time put the latest versions of WiFi Analyzer and Survey Pro on it.

I downloaded the latest builds and licenses and installed both packages, and copied the licenses into the appropriate folder.  I tested both builds – I fired up WiFi Analyzer and it worked just fine with my Orinoco 8494 USB adapter; I opened the last project in Survey Pro and it worked as expected.  I did not use control panel à Add or Remove Programs first, however.  I just ran the executables.

I put my laptop back into my kit and went out to the site several hours later.  The site did not have any internet access when I arrived.  I got everything ready to do the work I was going to do and tried to start my AirMagnet Survey software.  I was surprised when I received this message:

Needless to say I was not amused.  I then tried my AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer, and got the same exact message:

Now I was doubly not amused.  I packed everything back up and went back to the office.  When I arrived, I booted up my laptop and both software packages worked – presumably because I was back on the network.

I then turned off my Wi-Fi adapter and tried to start Wi-Fi Analyzer.  Within milliseconds, I got the same error as before when launching the application.  I'll spare you the jpeg this time.

I called on a few WLAN Engineer friends and we all agreed that this was not something Fluke was doing on purpose, and it must be something on my machine.  To prove this point, several of my friends tried their machines (with similar builds) while not connected to a network and their applications started without issue.

I decided to start over.  I went to the Control Panel à Add or Remove Programs, and removed both apps and reinstalled them.  I got the same results as before – when on the network, my apps started, and when not on the network, they would not start.

I let the machine rest (and me) overnight, and in the morning I reached out to my friends again for sympathy, sanity checks, and advice.  One friend in particular (THANK YOU JH!!!) stated that she has always had to not only remove the software via the Control Panel, but to also nuke the C:\Program Files\AirMagnet Inc\AirMagnet Laptop folder after removing the software.

Since I had nothing else to lose, I went to the Control Panel à Add or Remove Programs, and removed both apps, then blew away the folders and then reinstalled the applications.  Problem solved, lesson learned.  Many thanks go out to everyone who offered up suggestions!