Wifi site survey hardware / software? Metageek chanalyzer?

[sth]

I want to debug an odd wifi connectivity issue and was recommended to look into a Metageek wi-spy + chanalyzer package which retails at $800; clearly pricey for home use. I wondered if the STH experts knew of any more cost effective solutions which would enable me to monitor for interference etc.

 

[William]

I am not sure if it will meat your needs, Passmark has WirelessMon which works pretty good. I use it here and its not bad.
PassMark WirelessMon - Wireless 802.11 WiFi monitoring software

 

[Evan]

Do you have access to the access points ? If so did you check if the supplier has software as most have some tools and can approach it from that side also.

 

[sth]

yes I do - UBNT Unifi AP's.

 

[sporker]

I'm not sure how this would compare feature-wise, but I have been meaning to give this a try: Free Wi-Fi heatmap coverage mapping software for homes and small offices - HeatMapper | Ekahau

Looks like it may be similar to the Passmark tool. The version with all the goodies is quite pricey of course.

 

[Evan]

yes I do - UBNT Unifi AP's.

Does the unifi controller list any alerts ? Statistics for the client ? I assume you already did the basic check like power Budget for the client. Are you moving it around or stationary ?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

I want to debug an odd wifi connectivity issue and was recommended to look into a Metageek wi-spy + chanalyzer package which retails at $800; clearly pricey for home use. I wondered if the STH experts knew of any more cost effective solutions which would enable me to monitor for interference etc.

It depends on what you mean by "interference". If you are just talking about competing access points, something like inSSIDer (the last free version was 3.1.3.1) for Windows, or WiFi Analyzer for Android will show you what other APs are broadcasting.

If you're looking for non-AP interference like badly-shielded microwave ovens, you need dedicated hardware as the radios in regular WiFi don't see that as a signal.

Someone may have built something out of GNU Radio and one of the RF evaluation boards. uhd_fft should be able to show you what's active in the spectrum.

 

[voxadam]

If you need to do non-wifi spectrum analysis (2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz) on the cheap the AR92xx and AR93xx chipsets from Atheros have the requisite silicon. It may not be the most user friendly approach but it's nearly free.

en:users:drivers:ath9k:spectral_scan [Linux Wireless]