I’m a pretty competent home networker who has volunteered to help a friend figure out some persistent networking problems. I think there may be an issue of signal loss due to the positioning of the router, and I want to be able to demonstrate that with data.
Does anyone know of a network surveying tool that would display, at a minimum, signal strength at various sample points? Ideally I’d like to be able to use this on iOS, but I can also use it on MacOS. I’m very comfortable with the command line if there are tools you would suggest using there.
Thanks!
Not sure if there’s an iOS version, but WiFiMan from Ubiquiti should be able to do what you need, and more.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubnt.usurvey
On the Android version, you go to Signal at the bottom, and select Floor Plan at the top, and it uses your camera and wifi to map the signal strength around your house.
There is indeed a free iOS version and this seems like a great fit for what I need, thanks!
EDIT: Alas, it seems that, at least on iOS, you can’t do that without buying a $99 WiFiMan Wizard device.
How disappointing. The android version is great for informal stuff, simpler environments.
No worries, hope it helps :)
Honestly, though it may be overkill, go get kismet.
It’s going to require some minor configuration, and there is no iOS support for sure - but if you’re going through the effort of investigating and need data - this will serve you, and set you up with skills for future investigations.
You may require a usb wifi dongle, depending on what support for your mac’s wifi card is like. Look for one that is known to work. Hoping it’s a macbook!
I have personally used kismet to prove that a device was too far away from an AP because it shows which packets were retransmissions, and can correlate that with signal strength of both device and AP over time.
Also, I was able to prove that a bank’s CFO was getting dropped zoom calls because he’d joined two separate SSIDs on different and very locked down networks (broadcast from the same APs, and kept roaming between both of them every time he went for a coffee or to the meeting room
It’ll definitely do what you need, and I’m happy to assist if needed - though my mac skills stop in 2019.
Ps. Most of the iOS options suck, because of how locked down the wifi stack is. Basically everything is a worse, subscription-model, glorified version of speedtest.net
Pps. Kismet is designed to be both client and server - i.e. it’s capable of being a wireless probe and a data collection point for other probes. You can just use it stand alone and display the data you captured locally.
If you need simultanious data capture from multiple points for correlation, I’d suggest another laptop or raspberry pi - but because it takes over the interface in monitor mode when it’s running, you can’t also use it to be your network link.
This looks like it could be a good option, thanks for the info.
It’s not free but it’s a damn good app and will do what you want and so much more. The part I like the most is that it doesn’t just show signal strength but it also shows noise and SNR. Super helpful.
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/wifi-explorer-scanner/id494803304?mt=12
This looks like a great fit and $20 is very reasonable. Thanks!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ua.com.wifisolutions.wifiheatmap&hl=en
Its android, but its also free. A lot of the mac/iphone stuff is not free. Borrowing an android from a friend is probably easier?
Otherwise, use the ping command and keep an eye on latency and packet drops. If there are spikes in either, you have a problem area
I’m happy to pay for something if it works. Like, not $100 but I’d pay $20 or so for a piece of software that meets this need.
I haven’t found a great survey tool for iOS since my phone was jailbroken back in the day. Now adays I use Acrylic WiFi on windows, but they may have a Mac version.
There’s also airport utility on iOS, but it really can only give you basic RSSI per SSID, which in many cases is enough.
