NetSpot is a highly polished WiFi scanner Windows app that’s so easy to use and comes. The app detects surrounding wireless connections and also assesses the bandwidth availability of each wireless channel that is available to you so you can get a faster connection. Wifi Analyzer and Scanner. Available for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, WiFi Analyzer and Scanner is a popular free app. It has been installed more than a million. HP Easy Scan is designed specifically for use with your HP scanner or multifunction printer. With features such as automatic photo detection, multi-page document processing, text recognition (OCR)1, and PDF file output, HP Easy Scan will help you get the most value from your HP product. If you’re a Mac user who’s looking for a tool which automates the scanning of IP addresses, you’re at the right place. We’ve done much of the searching for you and we’re about to review some of the best IP scanners for the Mac OS X operating system. We’ll begin by discussing IP address scanning in general.
A WiFi network introduces a variety of issues that can negatively impact your ability to connect and stay connected. These factors can also lead to network speed and security concerns that you will not face with a wired connection. Here are some of the configuration and installation concerns that you may experience when you employ a WiFi network.
- WiFi router location – Where you place your WiFi router can have a tremendous impact on the ability of your wireless network to serve all of its intended users. You need to strive for a centralized location that is free from physical obstructions which can affect the reach of the WiFi signal. Incorrect placement will lead to a proliferation of dead spots where your devices cannot connect to the network.
- Security – You need to ensure that your WiFI network is protected by at least WPA2 level encryption and a strong password, preferably one of at least twelve characters. This will minimize the possibility of your network falling victim to a brute force attack that can compromise your password and allow unauthorized access.
- Slow and dropped connections – This is one of the most common issues with WiFi networks. It can often be traced to overuse of specific WiFI channels. Modifying the channel that your router uses can greatly reduce or eliminate these types of problems. Use of a WiFi scanner is a great way to monitor and analyze your current WiFi channel usage and make informed decisions that can drastically improve the utility of your network.
What Exactly is a WiFi Channel?
WiFi routers can use two different frequency bands to produce their signal: 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Some routers are dual-band and can deliver their signal using whichever frequency you choose to employ. Each frequency contains a number of smaller frequency bands used for signal transmission. These smaller bands are referred to as WiFi channels.
There are differences in how the two frequencies perform when providing their signal to connected devices, according to lifewire.com. These differences may impact which type of router is best for your particular situation. Let’s take a quick look at what makes each frequency distinctive.
2.4 GHz frequency
Slower data transmission speed.
Larger network coverage area due to extended range.
More susceptible to interference from other household devices that use the same frequency.
The number of available channels is 11.
5GHz frequency
Greater data transmission speed.
Reduced network coverage area due to a shorter range and an inability to penetrate solid objects.
Free Wifi Scanner Mac
Less interference as not many other devices use the 5GHz frequency band.
The number of available channels is 45.
Why do Certain Channels Incur More Interference?
The reason that certain WiFi channels may offer better performance for your connected devices is related to the interference that a particular channel may be experiencing. Interference in the work of WiFi channels comes in two flavors.
Co-channel interference – This type of interference, also known as crowding, occurs when a number of devices are competing for bandwidth on the same channel. This can cause slower than expected data transmission and dropped connections.
Adjacent-channel interference – When devices from overlapping channels are attempting to talk over each other, adjacent-channel interference can occur. The bandwidth and number of channels associated with 2.4GHz routers make these devices susceptible to this type of interference.
Why You Should Use a WiFi Channel Scanner
If you are experiencing slow data transmission speeds or dropped connections, a likely cause is interference that is impacting the channel that your router is using. Through the use of a WiFi channel scanner app, you can monitor the channels that you and neighboring routers are using and perhaps change channels.
Many users never change their router channel, leaving it at the manufacturer’s default setting. This may not be the best channel for optimal performance of your WiFi network. Logging into your router lets you change the channel that it will use to transmit its signal. Changing it randomly may solve your issues, but you are far more likely to succeed with the information gleaned from scanning the channels.
In areas where there are a number of routers with overlapping ranges, moving to an unused channel can dramatically improve the reliability and speed of your WiFi network. Apartment dwellers are particularly prone to having their networks impacted by other routers. Let’s find out how to use a WiFi scanner app to locate the best channel for you to use.
Using KisMAC to Scan Your WiFi Channels
KisMAC is an open-source, freeware WiFi channel scanning tool that can help you tune your router and find the appropriate channel for your network. It is designed for the Mac and is designed for use by experienced network security professionals. The tool has powerful capabilities beyond that of channel scanning, and its use is prohibited in some European countries.
You may need to use an additional network card as KisMAC does not support some of the cards installed on newer Macs. Once you have KisMAC up and running, initiate a scan of all nearby WiFi networks. Detailed information regarding each network will be displayed in the application’s window, including the channel that the router is using. You can use this information to make an informed decision about which channel you should configure your router to use.
The Best WiFi Channel Scanners for macOS
Here are some other WiFi channel scanners that you can run on your macOS system.
NetSpot
NetSpot is a full-featured WiFi tool that runs on the Mac and Windows platforms. You can conduct surveys on your own and nearby wireless networks in order to ascertain the channels that are overloaded. The app offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to scan your WiFi channels and you can save reports in a variety of formats for later analysis. It is available as a free trial download that should be sufficient for channel scanning purposes.
WiFi Scanner
This tool is available at the iTunes App Store and provides all the features that you need to successfully scan WiFi channels in your quest for optimal network performance. Data can be exported to CSV files making future analysis a simple task.
WiFi Signal
Here is another iTunes app that will enable you to scan your WiFi channels as well as display other information about any nearby networks, including your own. It is a simple and inexpensive tool that can easily show you if you are using an overloaded WiFi channel.
Now you know more about WiFI channels and how they can impact your network than the average computer user. Proper use of this knowledge can lead to improved WiFi network performance, and that’s never a bad thing.
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As the number of Wi-Fi networks rapidly explodes, detecting, managing, and maintaining your Wi-Fi can become problematic. When everyone around you is blasting their own Wi-Fi signals—particularly if in large apartment buildings or business complexes with lots of other large companies—you’re more likely to experience problems with Wi-Fi signals dropping out, poor connectivity, and slow performance.
Even within your own Wi-Fi network, several optimizations could help ensure your network is functioning appropriately, including router placement, appropriate channel, and security measures. And of course, analyzing and understanding your wireless network is key.
One of my favorite tools for discovering and solving these problems is SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM). It includes high-performance network monitoring and insights and troubleshooting features to ensure your network starts working again as soon as possible after a problem arises. In particular, the SolarWinds heat map feature allows you to see where Wi-Fi signal is strong, and “dead zones” with low connectivity.
Best Wifi Scanner App For Mac Computer
What Does a Wi-Fi Analyzer Do?
Most Wi-Fi network analyzers work in a similar way, in which you can choose a wireless spectrum to examine, such as 2.4GHz or 5GHz. The analyzer then examines that spectrum to view networks, their channels, and signal strength.
Free Wifi Device Scanner Software
In simple terms, a Wi-Fi analyzer gathers information about access points and channels on your network and displays it in an easy-to-understand, visually accessible way. A wireless network analyzer can help you maintain connection quality, which can be vital for numerous business needs and performance metrics. Wi-Fi signals are constantly changing, and small changes in the network can have massive effects on the overall connection uptime.
Using a Wi-Fi network analyzer can collect data and help you identify problems, or it can indicate potential solutions such as switching to another channel to reduce congestion. You can also use this type of tool to discover areas in your facility with a weak Wi-Fi signal.
Best Wi-Fi Network Analyzer Software in 2020
In my opinion, using Wi-Fi analyzer software can be an excellent tool for optimizing business and even at-home Wi-Fi performance. This kind of software is usually easy-to-use and can provide great benefits in terms of connection reliability, signal strength, and download speeds.
Network Performance Monitor
Of the different tools available on the market, the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, with its Wi-Fi analyzer, is the most comprehensive. Despite its extensive list of features, it remains simple for both beginner and advanced users.
The relevant feature here is the heatmapping capability allowing you to create multiple color-coded maps of your facilities using real device data to display signal strength. You can automatically update these maps for a real-time understanding of your wireless network. Having at-a-glance insights into your Wi-Fi can really help with troubleshooting (especially when end users come knocking with complaints about connectivity).
Beyond heatmapping, NPM offers a range of useful network management features. For instance, its proprietary NetPath™ tool lets you detect and display network pathways with a visual traceroute. This allows you to simply determine where slowdowns and issues exist, as you can see the performance and information between individual nodes. Furthermore, with the PerfStack™ feature, you can compare the performance of different metrics side-by-side, so you can correlate multiple types of data across a common timeline.
Best Wifi Scanner App For Mac Os
Overall, SolarWinds NPM has an impressive suite of tools, and each has clean and beautiful visualizations and displays. Furthermore, NPM scales well and includes the ability to hook in with the SolarWinds High Availability platform, to ensure even fewer network drops, with strong failover protection.
NetSpot
Mac Wifi Channel Scanner
NetSpot has a beautiful, easy-to-use interface, and is suitable for both beginners and experienced network administrators. It uses two different modes: discovery mode and survey mode. The first mode looks at a snapshot of the Wi-Fi networks near you, while survey mode can provide more detailed heat maps of Wi-Fi strength.
NetSpot is easy to install and includes several other visual representations of the wireless spectrum and the data it can collect. There are four different versions: free, home, commercial, and enterprise. The difference between them is the number of zones you can look at, how many access points you can scan, and the number of data points you can collect with a scan.
InSSIDer
Another product to consider is InSSIDer. This established Wi-Fi analyzer tool for Windows is very reliable. The InSSIDer tool is generally intended for enterprise and business use, rather than for home users. Despite being geared toward admins, it’s still relatively easy to use.
It gathers the data you would expect: channel, signal strength, MAC addresses, and encryption type for each access point on the network. InSSIDer then provides you with a “link score” for each connection. The higher the score, the better. The software is easy to install, with comprehensive guides and links to free webinars if you need more assistance.
NetCut
Consider NetCut if you’re looking for a solution for professional or enterprise use. It was originally created to be a back-end solution, but it can be used by anyone for network investigating and debugging.
NetCut allows you to monitor LAN activity and can display all the IP and MAC addresses and data of devices that are connected or have ever connected to your network.
With NetCut, you can kick someone off your network or restore their access at will. The main issue with NetCut for beginner users is that it has a lot of machine-translated documentation that may be hard to understand for someone who is not a network administrator, and a slightly more complex interface.
NetCut includes an extra layer of protection called NetCut Defender, which protects your computer from ARP and MAC address spoofing.
WiFi Analyzer
Unlike NetSpot and NetCut, WiFi Analyzer is intended primarily for home or temporary use. It is an app for Windows 10, available on the Microsoft Store. It comes in basic and pro versions, and the basic version includes everything you need to analyze your Wi-Fi network. The app takes your network and turns the data into easy-to-understand visualizations, suggesting which channel you should use to reduce congestion.
For someone new to Wi-Fi analyzer tools, this would be a potential choice. For enterprise needs or larger networks, it’s probably much too limited.
Vistumbler
Like most other Wi-Fi analyzers, Vistumbler scans nearby networks for access points and can map your Wi-Fi network and connectivity strength while showing you detailed information about each network. It provides network status, MAC address, SSID, signal strength, channel number, and network type.
Vistumbler is set apart by its GPS support, which can integrate with Google Earth to display Wi-Fi networks. This feature is for people who may be driving, walking, or cycling around to try to find Wi-Fi networks to use. When Vistumbler discovers a Wi-Fi network with this feature, the app can show you where the network is on a map and other network information.
The main downside is that Vistumbler is not easy to use, and the user interface can be difficult to navigate. Again, it’s not a full enterprise solution for Wi-Fi analysis.
WiFi Commander
With good-looking graphics and sophisticated UI, WiFi Commander is one of the more attractive Wi-Fi analyzer tools. You can scan and filter nearby Wi-Fi networks and create 3-D graphs of the results. If your laptop has touchscreen capabilities, you can use touch to move and interact with the 3-D visualization.
The WiFi Commander app shows Wi-Fi signal strength and displays it in real-time so you can use the most recent data to join the strongest or most stable Wi-Fi network.
Wireshark
If you need a free or open-source Wi-Fi analyzer tool, check out Wireshark. Its purpose is to analyze and troubleshoot different communications protocols, and it includes the ability to look at Wi-Fi. Wireshark is very complicated to use, and you’ll need some training to use it. As such, it’s normally only used by networking and Wi-Fi professionals. In addition, there are obvious disadvantages for relying on open-source tools for business use, so you may want something with a bit more built-up functionality.
If you’re looking for something a little more basic when it comes to Wireshark, SolarWinds has a free tool called Response Time Viewer for Wireshark designed to help you analyze packet capture files as well as visualize response time in Wireshark.
Wi-Fi Analysis Solutions
In general, there’s no shortage of tools and software to help you monitor and organize your Wi-Fi networks, whether you’re a casual user or an enterprise professional. With the inclusion of high-reward tools such as heatmaps, visualizations, and performance metric graphs, the best Wi-Fi analysis tools and network management tools can revolutionize how you get the most out of your connection.
I recommend SolarWinds NPM due to its more robust suite of offerings and simple learning curve for new users. It’s much more robust than some of the limited-scope tools I mentioned above. Even so, I find the SolarWinds platform both intuitive and efficient.
Related Reading
How to Tame—and Redefine—Your Network Now – If you’re interested in considering how networks are changing and evolving, as well as the ways in which you may need to adapt your network management, read this article on how to prepare for tomorrow’s network topography.