The article discusses free software (software) running Microsoft Windows, which allows for a preliminary analysis of the radio coverage of the territory for the presence of third-party equipment operating in the 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi band. A comparison of the technical features of the considered software is made.
Introduction
In wireless networks, the communication channel between the transmitter and receiver is open, which greatly complicates the analysis of radio signal propagation in the territory of the network being designed. And even more annoying is that neighboring wireless equipment through this "open" channel can have a negative impact on your network. Therefore, radio survey of the territory plays a very important role in the design of a Wi-Fi network. Some experts claim that a radio survey is a completely unnecessary stage, referring to the fact that surrounding networks are also constantly appearing, developing, modernizing, transferring, etc. But you must admit, it’s better to know in advance that a giant network of points lives near you access to a neighboring office, and take appropriate measures (for example, move to other non-overlapping frequency channels), than later encounter radio wave interference problems and, as a result, the low bandwidth of your "open" communication channel.
To date, there is a sufficient amount of software that allows you to assess the level of the ambient electromagnetic background in the 2.4/5 GHz bands. This article discusses programs running under OS Windows.
1.Acrylic WiFi
Acrylic Wi-Fi is the newest free network scanner that displays available wireless networks, their technical characteristics (protocol, channel, maximum speed, etc.) as well as information about their level of protection. The program even provides a list of Wi-Fi passwords that are used by default access points.
Acrylic has a paid professional version with advanced features to detect wireless security issues. Also in this version, the program performs a radio survey of the territory and offers to select the optimal channels in the network to ensure the most correct operation. The appearance of the program is shown in Figure 1:
Figure 1 - Appearance of the Acrylic Wi-Fi program
In the free version of the program, its capabilities remain rather scarce, limited to the output of the information shown in the screenshot above (Figure 1), namely: transmitted access point - SSID; her MAC address; RSSI - signal level; Chan - number of the channel used for transmission; 802.11x - Wi-Fi transmission standard; Max Speed - maximum speed; WEP/WPA/PWA2 - Encryption type. An excellent feature is that the program shows on which access points WPS 1.0 / 2.0 is enabled, because it is no secret to anyone that this WPS 1.0 has long been a kind of "back door" for any network. It also displays related information about the manufacturer (Vendor) and the type of network in which the access point operates (Type), or in other words: does it have access to the Internet, or does it make no sense to break it (just kidding). For more pathos, a graph is displayed showing changes in the signal level from various access points over time (lower right in Figure 1).
In general, the listed set of functions is limited to the free version of Acrylic Wi-Fi. Pretty meager, given that long before this program, software appeared that could do more.
It’s hard to find fault with the professional version of the program; quite a lot of useful functions have been stuffed there, for example, the program itself will indicate access points that negatively affect your network. Acrylic allows you to generate reports on the status of Wi-Fi networks with detailed characteristics of access points and send them to the communicator or administrator's computer.
Resume on acrylic wifi: when working with this program, I got the feeling that it was made entirely on the Kali Linux platform, with the only difference being that the graphical shell was added to work from under Windows. The paid version is complemented by the fact that it allows you to generate reports in HTML format and helps the user make decisions about network settings without going into technical nuances. Thus, I would rate the free version of the program at three points on a five-point scale, it can be classified as software for "beginners", the paid version of the program deserves a slightly higher rating of three plus (due to report generation). However, in general, the program remains weak in terms of its technical capabilities. In addition, it contains a bunch of distracting links leading to the developer's website and profiles on google+, Facebook, twitter, etc. Which in general gives the impression not of a technical application, but of a program for entertainment, when, having nothing to do, I decided to "monitor" neighboring Wi-Fi access points.
2. WiFi Scanner
This software can show detailed information about 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac networks near you, as well as access point parameters and signal strength. The program also has a paid and free version, unlike the previous software, they do not differ in functionality. After installing the program, you can use it for 30 days, after which you need to register it - free of charge for personal use, or buy it - in case of commercial use of the software. The appearance of the program is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 - Appearance of the Wi-Fi Scanner program
As in the previous software, information about available networks is displayed in the main column, but the information is more extended. The presence of additional columns: Achievable rate - the actually achievable data transfer rate, Channel Width - the channel width used, Spatial stream - spatial streams (here we are talking about MIMO technology), Channel Utilization - how busy the data transfer channel is, and more extended information about the security protocols used , and specifically - the type of encryption: CCMP / TKIP / WEP / or a combination of them.
In the free version of this program, all the functions listed in the professional version of Acrylic Wi-Fi are available. In particular: Figure 3 shows a graph of the signal strength from available Wi-Fi networks. Very convenient and intuitive.
Figure 3
Figure 4 provides extended information about one of the surrounding networks. In this case, this network with the same name Rostelecom.
Figure 4
Resume on WiFi Scanner: In my opinion, the design of this program is quite "light" in terms of the perception of the displayed information, and the location of all buttons and tabs is intuitive. This program is an excellent solution for private use, and for commercial use, the prices are reasonable. The program deserves an excellent rating.
3. Homedale
Belongs to the class of "weak". From a technical point of view, the program has glitches and shortcomings, but it works on the latest versions of Windows. The program is easy to use, but only allows you to evaluate the signal level coming from the access point, and some information already listed in previous software products. The program does not see hardware manufacturers and does not always determine the model of the access point whose network it has detected. Moreover, the signal strength from the access point is also not always able to determine. The appearance of the main program window is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5
The program does not provide filters in any way, therefore, for example, on the power distribution graph of available access points by channels, it is impossible to remove connections that are “uninteresting” for us, so it simply shows such uninformative stuffing (Figure 6):
Figure 6
Given the incomplete performance of this program, it is assessed, to put it mildly, "unsatisfactorily." The program is rather weak compared to other similar free software distributed throughout the Internet.
4. Outdated monitoring programs
The list of obsolete programs includes those that either do not support "modern" Wi-Fi standards - IEEE 802.11n/ac, or no longer work under Windows 7/8/8.1/10. And the appearance of these programs is rather depressing, which is not pleasing to the eye.
Network Stumbler is a lightweight wireless network monitoring tool for Windows. Its development stopped at the support of 802.11 a / b / g standards, that is, it monitors the network only in the 2.4 range, excluding five gigahertz. The software works on Microsoft Windows systems up to XP inclusive.
WirelessNetView was once a great tool for monitoring Wi-Fi networks, but is now somewhat outdated.
Wireless Network Watcher - originally created to detect and analyze Wi-Fi networks. I myself once used it, the utility scanned local networks, including wireless ones. The program displays a list of all devices currently connected to the scanned network. The device information output table contains such information as: IP, MAC address, device name and adapter manufacturer. The list can be exported to HTML. On the issue of analyzing Wi-Fi networks, her attitude is rather mediocre, because in order to get information about a Wi-Fi network, you need to connect to it. In this review, she got in fact simply because of her specific name.
Instead of a conclusion
The Acrylic Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Scanner programs listed above belong to the class of those free programs that keep up with the times and are able to monitor access points operating on the relatively recent IEEE 802.11ac. In addition to the programs considered, there are also no less famous ones that were not included in this review, among which inSSIDer is a completely and completely paid software recently. In addition, a large number of programs running Os Android, Mac Os and Linux are available on the network. But that is another story.
Users who live in high-rise buildings are surrounded by many Wi-Fi networks, the number of which in some examples can reach several dozen. Another thing is that the signal level of both available and unavailable Wi-Fi networks can differ significantly. And how to check the level of wifi signal?
Today we will look at such an interesting program for scanning Wi-Fi networks as Wi-Fi Alanyzer. You can download the wifi analyzer app for android for free from the Play Market.
As you can see, graphs open immediately on the main screen. This is all around the Wi-Fi network, and in the middle is my Room3 network (marked in red). The graph shows the dependence of the dBm signal strength depending on the channel. Channels are needed so that Wi-Fi networks are located on them. And the more networks on one channel, the more it will be clogged and the less speed, inconvenience, freezes, the Internet will disappear. So you should try to set your Wi-Fi so that it does not intersect with other networks. Therefore, you can sit on 10, 11 or 12 channel. In principle, now the Room3 network is on channel 4 and does not intersect with others. Channel 14 is in the very bottom right corner and is not used. Its use is prohibited by law, since the channel is allocated for military needs. Changing the channel number is done by configuring the router and will be shown in the next article.
The scale on the left is the signal strength. It is constantly changing, as there are various interferences.
A decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit for measuring the ratio of something. Often used to measure power.
But there is another dimension.
Power decibel (dBm) - signal level in decibels. A standard of 1 mW was chosen as the zero level, and the power is measured relative to it.
In accordance with the IEEE 802.11 local area network standard, as well as the standard GSM-900 and GSM-1800 mobile networks, a specific unit is used, called the received signal strength indicator RSSI (received signal strength indicator). This indicator is measured by a special receiver in dBm. At the same time, most devices based on the Android operating system use the ASU indicator. Below is a table of correspondence between these two indicators, as well as an assessment of the level of the received signal.
The android wifi signal level in my Room3 network is -40 dBm. At the same time, I am near the Wi-Fi router at the time of measurement. The levels of other Wi-Fi networks do not exceed -80 dBm, but you can still connect to them. Strengthen the Wi-fi signal in the apartment will allow a special device WI-FI Repeater.
Let's see what other graphs are in the WiFi Analyzer program. To do this, click on the button with the image of the eye.
The first item is our channel chart, where we can see the strength of the channel and the name of the channels. And also how they overlap. The second point is the timing. It shows all the networks, divided by color. It shows the dependence of the signal level of a particular network on time. And so the signal strength changes over time.
Next comes the channel rating. Here advice is given on which channel it is better to sit, which channels are more busy and so on. As you can see, I have an exclamation mark, since the current channel is 6 + 2, and channels 6 + 10, 7 + 11, 8 + 12 advise me. This tab also shows the name of the router and its MAC address. If you click on the top, a list of all nearby routers and their MAC addresses will appear.
The next tab is the AP (Access Point) list. Shows a list of all networks open or password-encrypted. You can view the type of encryption (WPA, WPA2), signal strength in dBm, connection speed, IP address, equipment manufacturer, channel and frequency.
And the very last tab is the signal meter. Here, in the form of a scale and an arrow, the strength of the Wi-Fi signal is shown. Green indicates ideal levels, yellow indicates acceptable levels, and gray indicates low levels. If you turn on the sound, then the smartphone will start to “beep” and, moreover, the closer to the maximum, the more it “beeps”.
Let's take a look at the settings:
- Automatic scanning - updating information in real time. If the checkbox is unchecked, then the signal level will be scanned manually when you click the “Update” button
- Scan interval - the lower you set, the faster the signal level data will be updated. The more - the more pause will be between updates
- Channel settings - allows you to select all available channels
- Immersive mode - if you check the box, the application interface will change
- Always on - prevents the screen from turning off automatically
- Open networks indicator - an asterisk will be displayed for those networks where Wi-Fi is not encrypted
- Filling the channel chart - there will be a transparent filling
- Colors - allows you to select a color for identifying networks
- Merge Duplicate APs - Merges APs that have the same BSSID, SSID, channel, and security
- Group Mode for List - Shows APs with the same SSID and security as groups in the AP list
- Show full encryption level - instead of WAP2, show (WPA2-PSK-TKIP, etc.)
- Ebabke alias - for testing Wi-Fi
Thus, armed with the wifi analyzer program for android, you can easily check the level of the wifi signal in your apartment. In order to find out the speed of the Wi-Fi connection, I advise you to read the article
For Windows, there are dozens, but such as WiFi SiStr unique in its kind. This is an extremely simple application that will allow you, as a user, to find out the signal strength of any Wi-Fi point. Of course, if it is within the range of the sensor.
Interestingly, the strength of the wireless signal is shown digitally on the screen. After you click downloadWiFi SiStr and install the program, a small panel will appear on the desktop. You can place it anywhere on the screen: at the bottom, at the top, or even in the middle. It will show the digital and graphic values of the signal level.
It often happens that the user cannot access the site for unknown reasons - especially if you are connected via Wi-Fi. There is another situation: the client for messaging periodically interrupts the connection - you have to constantly reconnect. To solve this problem, just look at the signal status bar and make sure that it is quite enough for a stable and fast Internet. If you have the WiFi SiStr program, then doing this is quite simple.
WiFi SiStr Features:
- Flexible in setting. Despite the panel's simple interface, you can even customize it. It is enough to right-click on the status bar - and you will see a menu with settings.
- Comfortable. You can monitor the signal level directly on the desktop of your PC or laptop.
- It does not consume a lot of system resources, it is not just small - it has a miniature size.
- For WiFi SiStr to work correctly, you need .NETFramework version 1.1 and higher.
- At startup, it always minimizes to tray and does not interfere with the work at the computer at all.
Often, the owners of Wi-Fi transmitters face the question of how to check the signal strength. Since not everyone wants to buy a device specifically for these purposes, one author came up with a solution on how to make such a device on their own. The device is very simple to manufacture and use, but its accuracy is much lower than specialized devices.
The idea of the device is very simple, you need to make an antenna that would receive a Wi-Fi signal and then translate it into an EMF, and then, based on the current strength readings, you can draw a conclusion about the signal strength. A wire square is used as an oscillatory circuit, to which a tuning capacitor is connected. As for the load, a millivoltmeter acts as it.
Materials and tools:
- microwave diode in a ceramic case (suitable for D405 or D603);
- ceramic capacitor (1 nF);
- tuning capacitor (5-15 pF);
- soldering iron;
- multimeter;
- Soviet fork;
- grindstone;
- copper wire;
- a piece of textolite.
Manufacturing process:
Step one. Fork preparation
To conveniently connect the device to the multimeter, the author decided to use a regular Soviet plug. To do this, remove its casing and then grind off all the protruding parts with a sharpener. Next, you need to take two pieces of copper wire and screw them to the plug contacts. A nanofarad capacitor must be soldered between the pins of the plug.
Step two. Creating and installing an antenna
Now you need to take a piece of textolite of a suitable size and drill two holes, they are drilled approximately opposite the plug contacts. Further, the previously installed copper wires are inserted into these holes. To fix the wire, you need to solder it to the textolite, then the design will be reliable.
Now you can start creating the antenna. One of the soldered copper wires must be separated from the common contact of the entire plate. This is where the receiving frame will be. To create the antenna frame, you need to follow the drawing, all you need to do is bend 3 squares of wire. The height of the first square should be 30 mm, the second 33 mm (it will act as an active vibrator). The third square will play the role of a reflector, it has a height of 34.5 mm. Of course, it is difficult to achieve such accuracy, but the more accurately the squares are curved, the better the device will work. To create squares, notches are made on the wire, and then it is bent with pliers.
After the contacts are ready, they can be soldered to the board. The most extreme squares just need to be soldered to the plate itself, it is important to keep the distance. As for the central square, it must be soldered to the contact that was previously separated from the general conductive layer of the textolite.
Step three. Device check
To check the device, you need a phone with bluetooth. The manufactured device is inserted into the multimeter and the voltage measurement mode is turned on. When you bring the phone to the antenna, numbers should appear on the multimeter. By moving the antenna, you need to achieve the highest voltage. Further, the phone is gradually taken away, if the numbers fall, then the device is working correctly, and the frequency of 2.4 GHz was caught.
Of course, this device is not suitable for accurate measurements, but it will not be difficult to approximately determine the signal strength and find its source with it. In the future, it is planned to equip the device with an additional amplifier, for example, it can be a microcontroller, which will allow even more thorough analysis of the signal.
Step 1Download study range map
Download a map of the range you are about to scan, or use NetSpot's tools to draw a map (macOS version only), then click Continue.
Step 2
Unbroadcast SSIDs
Next, don't forget to include your network in the scanned list if it has a hidden SSID (if it doesn't broadcast its name). You will need to do this even if you are currently connected to your network but it is still hidden. This feature is only available in NetSpot PRO and Enterprise editions. If you have launched the free version of NetSpot, you can temporarily make the Wi-Fi network you want to monitor visible to other users. In any case, a hidden SSID is not a very reliable method of protection. Then click "Continue".
Step 3
Active Scan
To analyze the actual Internet connection speed of your network, you can optionally turn on Active Scan on the screen. Do this or continue by clicking "Continue".
Step 4You are now ready to monitor your wireless network. Go to all corners of the area you want to monitor. Mark points on the map that correspond to where you are now standing. NetSpot will now capture the first metrics (or data sample). Hold the point until the end of the scan.
Step 5End Scan
Walk to the next point and click on the map again to record the next indicators. Once you have scanned at least three points, the Stop Scan option is enabled because you have collected the required minimum data samples to build the report.
Step 6
Keep moving and crawling
Continue moving and scanning until the entire area of the map is covered, then click the "Stop Scanning" button.
Step 7Find your WLAN in the list of networks
Find your WLAN in the list of networks on the left side of the window. Uncheck other wireless networks, leaving only your tested network.
Step 8
Exploring heat maps
Examine the heat maps shown for your wireless network. Use the dropdown menu on the bottom toolbar to select the Wi-Fi monitoring visualization: Signal Strength, Signal to Noise Ratio (macOS version only), and more. You can export and save heatmaps.
