Software available for WiFi testing signal available?

Asked By Johnny Thompson 0 points N/A Posted on - 10/14/2012

Is there a software available that I can get for our employees during fieldwork to locate signal strengths or points where signal strength is highest? We do lots of fieldwork and sometimes they have to move around searching where signal strength is strongest to access our routers & I would like to make things easier for the to reduce movement. Anyone familiar with soft test WiFi? 

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Answered By Lorna June 10 points N/A #163557

Software available for WiFi testing signal available?

The software you mentioned sounds a lot like WiFi Analyzer, which is free from Android Market. And very good it is too, but as with most wireless monitors, without calibration or knowing a lot more about the characteristics equipment involved it’s more for show than go and cannot be used for making accurate measurements. Of course Windows 7 has its own built-in WiFi signal strength meter and if you haven’t discovered it yet all you have to do is click on the WiFi connection icon next to the clock in the System and it displays the name and relative signal strengths of all networks in range on simple bar graphs. Admittedly it’s not very dramatic but it does the job.

There are also dozens of third-party signal strength meters for Windows but I’m not aware of any that have an analog meter display similar to WiFi Analyzer. However, if you’re looking  for a more lively and eye-catching indication of the wireless networks in your vicinity I suggest Xirrus WiFi Inspector, available as a stand-alone utility, or a sidebar Gadget. This has a fancy rotating radar type display showing relative strength and distance – but not direction — as well as more in-depth information, including network name and type, encryption, make of equipment, channel frequency, IP address and much more.

To download it free, just follow the link below:

http://www.xirrus.com/Products/Wi-Fi-Inspector.aspx

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Answered By khatz23 0 points N/A #163558

Software available for WiFi testing signal available?

Hi Johnny,

There are various WiFi network finder software utilities available online that you can download for free. But I only want to point out the top three recommended programs – Xirrus WiFi Inspector (https://www.riverbed.com/products/xirrus/inspector.html), inSSIDer (https://www.metageek.com/products/inssider/) and NetSurveyor (http://nutsaboutnets.com/netsurveyor-wifi-scanner/).

Xirrus is the top pick because its interface has a more general approach that does not require too much technicality with a well-presented graphical user interface (GUI). inSSIDer, developed by metageek, requires a more technical user to go through its GUI.

However, the interface is as good as Xirrus. And lastly, Netsurveyor, with a similar layout as inSSIDer, only works in 32-bit environments with a GUI that can still be improved.

You can try download them via the links provided and see for yourself which one suits you.

Thanks.

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• Posted on - 10/15/2012
• Question Category: Wireless Networking