It works with the internal AirPort adapter, or an external USB adapter if using Apple Airport hardware and drivers. ![]() The application runs on Mac OS X 10.7 and later. It provides a fully functional trial for 15 days. AirRadar 3ĪirRadar 3 is a basic Wi-Fi stumbler sold by Koingo Software, which also develops other apps for Windows and Mac. On the other hand, it is the only one reviewed that’s supposed to fully support hidden SSIDs. The only one we’d caution against is KisMAC2 because it lacks some basic functionality and documentation. Each product in this review has pros and cons, depending on your particular needs. There’s no big winner or loser in this review, but we did like WiFi Explorer as a basic stumbler. Though we reviewed KisMAC2, we were only able to utilize the internal AirPort card of the MacBook, thus unable to test out the hidden SSID capability. This is why I’d caution against using solely a Mac-based stumbler when surveying, troubleshooting and auditing Wi-Fi networks.įrom what we could gather, it appears some Wi-Fi tools that support non-AirPort drivers will recognize and even reveal hidden SSIDs, such as KisMAC2 and Kismet. However, this doesn’t help when you don’t know if they exist. By contrast, most Windows-based stumblers would typically list it with a blank/unknown SSID.īut there’s an exception some Mac-based stumblers will show the hidden SSID and its details after you connect to the SSID. This means a hidden SSID usually won’t appear on the network list at all. Hidden SSIDs and Mac OS Xĭue to the current limitations of Apple’s CoreWLAN API, most Wi-Fi stumblers for Mac OS X don’t fully support hidden SSIDs. The Mac Edition of inSSIDer Office was still in beta, but it looks nearly identical to the Windows Edition, which we recently reviewed. A free edition is available for download.We also wanted to include AirGrab WiFi Radar, inSSIDer Office and Kismet, but AirGrab and the popular open source Kismet program wouldn’t work on our MacBook Air (13-inch, early 2014) running OS X 10.10. If you’re serious about networking, NetSpot is worth a download.Ī copy of NetSpot Pro edition was provided for this review. It’s quite a bit more fun to evaluate performance over a time and distance visually rather than digging into ping records. I’m particularly impressed with its survey feature. It’s accessible yet robust, providing information in but a glance. NetSpot is an excellent piece of a software for gauging the health of a Wi-Fi network. The only downside to surveying is that you need to be mobile, meaning carting around a desktop from room to room isn’t very practical. ![]() These “snapshots” are renamable and lined up in tabs in an open project. Furthermore, you can create multiple copies of a zone to re-survey and build a baseline of network behavior. As you move around scanning additional points, you’ll build a visualization of your network displaying locations of strength and weakness. Clicking on the map then scans that point and places a circular heat map around it. I didn’t find the ability to draw a blueprint within the Windows version, but it’s possible to specify dimensions using blank zone or load an image. Surveys used to map a Wi-Fi network’s coverage of an area. The second mode is used for more thorough planning and troubleshooting. The User Guide option opens a help page that I found incredibly handy to refresh myself on various terms, as well as how to use the application’s more advanced offerings. Networking knowledge assists to understand what’s being shown, but NetSpot doesn’t leave the unfamiliar wholly blind. Discover mode was a wonderful way to determine whether my neighbors were occupying the same channels – think of them like lanes on a highway – or to confirm whether the microwave was indeed the culprit of my disconnects. You can even dive into several graphs to see how the strength of your network changes over time. Information is listed horizontally in a table, such as SSID, MAC address, signal strength, the current frequency band and channel, router vendor, security, and more. Discover mode provides a quick view of accessible networks. NetSpot features two modes of operation, both of which are relatively easy to use. NetSpot is a user-friendly program that not only cleanly presents Wi-Fi statistics without being obtuse but can survey a location to display incredibly useful heat maps of network performance. However, the process doesn’t have to be so difficult. ![]() And moving hardware around a room to solve slow speeds or disconnects is often a frustrating, trial-and-error experience. Managing a wireless network can be a tedious affair.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |