Wi-Fi Analyzer

Fri Dec 29 19:16:39 UTC 2017

In addition to the other tools already recommended by previous posters, I
recommend buying one of these:

https://www.ubnt.com/airmax/nanobeam-ac-gen2/

It's a directional antenna/radio integrated unit and is intended as a point
to point or point-to-multipoint WISP client radio. The one feature you can
get from it very cheaply is a directional, 2x2 MIMO 5.x GHz band spectrum
analyzer that sees things *which are not 802.11 or wifi based.*

The airview spectrum analyzer tool built into it looks like this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ubiquiti+airview&num=100&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0gtLI9q_YAhUC62MKHbZoAogQ_AUICygC&biw=1744&bih=994&dpr=1.1

Highly useful for tracking down a specific source of non-wifi 5 GHz band
interference. There's all sorts of random consumer grade things people can
buy and introduce into an environment which do not broadcast MAC addresses
or SSIDs, and do not show up on purely 802.11(abgn/ac) based tools.

It will of course also see hidden SSIDs and standard+non-standard
802.11abgn(ac) emitters.

There are also 2.4 GHz versions of similar products which will let you find
non-802.11 emitters in the 2300 to 2500 MHz band. At $79 a lot less
expensive than a "real" spectrum analyzer.

You can get DC PoE injectors for them which will connect to a Makita drill
battery if you want to make it portable and wander around with a laptop.

On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 7:17 AM, Bryan Holloway <bryan at shout.net> wrote:

> Curious if the community has any recommendations and/or positive
> experiences to share for a handheld Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac) analyzer.
>
> Software/laptop-based solutions can be unwieldy in certain environments.
> However, given rave reviews, I'm open to the idea as long as it's
> Mac-compatible.
>
> Should be able to show detailed spectra, help locate sources of
> interference, have mapping capabilities, etc.
>
> Thanks!
>