There must be something about summertime that triggers interest in software tools to manage Wi-Fi networks, because in the last couple of months we’ve seen several articles on this topic. We’ve cited four of these articles in today’s 4cast, all of them dealing with Wi-Fi analysis tools that are free. You will see a lot of these tools mentioned in more than one article, of course, but the descriptions and discussion of what each tool is good for may help you decide which ones to put in your Wi-Fi toolbox. And in some cases, these may be tools you hope someone else does not have in their toolbox.
- 8 free WiFi analyzers (Network Computing | Ericka Chickowski) “There are additional, lesser known free options, and we’ve assembled the best of them here. Check them out if you’re interested in delving into a specific aspect of wireless performance, planning access point placement, seeking out rogue networks, or you just want a cool, slick interface.”
- 7 free Wi-Fi stumbling and surveying tools for Windows and Mac (Network World | Eric Geier) “Each of these tools gives you the basic wireless details: SSIDs, signal strength, channels, MAC addresses, and security status. Some can even reveal ‘hidden’ or non-broadcasted SSIDs, display the noise levels, or display statistics on successful and failed packets of your wireless connection. Two of the tools include Wi-Fi password cracking tools as well, useful for educational or penetration testing purposes.”
- Free wireless survey software (TCAT Shelbyville – Technical Blog) “It is important to perform a wi-fi survey so that you can determine not only the perfect place to locate your access point or bridge but to gain an understanding of the channel co-existence challenge you may face. With wireless access points in surrounding neighborhoods and businesses, you will need to perform a survey by walking around and mapping out the BSAs (Basic Service Area) of wireless that surrounds you and your organization.”
- 13 popular wireless hacking tools (InfoSec Institute | Pavitra Shandkhdhar) “Sometimes when you are on a network, you also want to check what is happening on the network. This happens mostly in big organizations, when an employer wants to check who is doing what in the network. For these things, there are a few network hacking tools available that let users analyze packets and see what other users are doing.”
Articles from Ohio Web Library:
- Macro and small cell/Wi-Fi networks: An analysis of deployment options as the solution for the mobile data explosion. (Bell Labs Technical Journal, June 2013, p.59-79 | Perminder Dhawan, Amit Mukhopadhyay, and Carlos Urrutia-Valdés)
- What affects Wi-Fi speed? Fact vs. fiction. (Macworld, Feb. 2014, p.62-64 | James Galbraith and Michael Brown)
- Understanding channel selection dynamics in dense Wi-Fi networks. (IEEE Communications Magazine, Jan. 2015, p.110-117 | Akash Baid and Dipankar Raychaudhuri)
