Find the problem.
Troubleshooting tools. Services to capture and analyze syslog messages, packets and other data streams. A way to turn the evidence in front of you into a useful next step.
The idea behind the tools · By Tom Hardy
Field Operations
eXpanded.
A suite of tools to make a field engineer’s job easier. Built from the work, the frustrations and the ideas of a 30-year career.
Here’s where it comes from ↓01 / The honest version
30 yearsin the making.
FOX is an idea.
Now it has some real tools.
Over the years, I’ve built dozens of prototypes and chased just as many ideas. Some were good. Some were terrible. They all came from the same place: wanting a better way to get the job done.
FOX stands for Field Operations eXpanded. The idea is a suite of tools a field engineer can reach for when something needs troubleshooting, installing, configuring or understanding.
AirWitness and FOX Relay are the first real tools I’ve been able to build out of that collection of experiments. They’re the beginning of the toolkit I’ve had in my head for years.
After a 30-year career, I finally have the ability to build the tools I’ve always wanted.
That’s what you’re seeing here. Years of field experience turning into something you can actually use, with room for your experience to help shape what comes next.
02 / The bigger idea
What belongs
in that toolbox?
The things that make field work easier. Some are taking shape in the current tools. Others are still prototypes, ideas or jobs waiting for the right approach.
Get it installed.
Installation helpers and practical scripts. The kind of tools that could help configure dozens or hundreds of access points without making you repeat the same work on every one.
Work with the kit.
Configuration tools for wireless controllers, firewalls and switches. DSLAMs, CMTS equipment and GPON, too. Field operations covers a lot of ground; the toolkit should have room to grow with it.
This is the direction of FOX, not a list of released features or a promise that every device is already supported.
03 / The first tools
Two places to start.
These are the tools you can explore today. Both are in private testing; public availability is targeted for mid-November 2026, depending on how testing goes.
AirWitness · Private testing
The client’s side of the story.
Wireless conditions, network diagnostics and packet evidence, with projects, notes and reports to keep the investigation together.
FOX Relay · Invitation-only testing
The other end of the connection.
Device sessions, saved sites, file transfers and focused network plugins in one workspace. Relay is not available for public download yet.
04 / Your work belongs in the conversation
If it doesn’t fit your mold,
let’s chat.
AirWitness and the FOX family are made with you in mind. If a tool misses the way you work, tell me. If your kit isn’t covered, a sanitized show tech and a detailed CLI guide give me something useful to work with. I’ll see where I can squeeze it in.
You’ll see what’s working, what’s being tested and what’s still an idea. I want you to know who’s building these tools and why.
Tell me what would help →Tom HardyField engineer. Tool builder.
CEO of keeping it real.
CEO of keeping it real.