Air Console the cable free serial adapter

Most networkers even when they are only do consulting have in their pocket for travelling at least one RS232 serial adapter. Back in the days I had a big pack with many different adapters, crossover serial cables und gender changers always in my bag. On most modern laptops you will not find an RS232 jack anymore. I used for quit some time a serial to USB adapter. With an OTA cable it was also possible to connect the Serial USB adapter to my Android Tablet or Smartphone. But at the end of the day you are in a very unconfortable position in the hot aile inside of a datacenter and the cable is not long enough to reach the phone wich is two racks awy from you.  So I was searching after a wireless solution that works with a Laptop, Smartphone and Tablet as well. “One to rule them all”. At XMAs arrived the Air Console from getconsole. It is a very clever device that has everything I was looking for.

Features:

-Access Serial Ports over WLAN

-Access Serial over Bluethooth

-Bridge Ethernet wireless to Wired interface

-OS Support for Android, Apple IOS, Windows, Linux

-12+ hours of battery life (device is charged over USB so it is even possible to charge it on one of the modern switches with USB interface)

I tested it with several devices from diffrent vendors and so far I got to all of them a connection without any issues. I also like that I have my small air console in the pocket and for a short configuration like e.g. a reboot I simple use my smartphone and there is no need for a full sized laptop. I admit that I would not like to do a 200 lines MPLS configuration with my smartphone, but for that I can also use my Laptop with the airconsole. Another additional feature is that you can use the air console for charging , so e.g. get some extra juice for your smartphone when your battery is nearly dead. For Android you get the SerialBot app for free in the playstore. As always in the apple world it will cost you some extra cash to get the app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.cloudstore.serialbot

For Android devices I also recommand the Hacker´s Keyboard App wich brings you a full size Keyboard with TAP, CTRL, ESC and all the keys that are not included in the standard android keyboard.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard

The air console wireless serial adapter is available in 3 version std, pro and XL. The XL version has 12 hours bettery life and the Std and pro 5 hours.

Here is an overview of all the available versions:

http://www.get-console.com/shop/en/16-airconsole

After one month of using the air console I am still very happy with it and would not like to go back to a wired serial connection. The gretest benefit is the flexebilty when you are on the run to connect nearly with any device you have available at that moment.

What is in your network combat back when you travel around ? Please leave a comment.