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We've all seen some painfully slow wireless networks.
You've probably tried using free tools like Netstumbler, inSSIDer or maybe even WireShark
to try and understand what's going on with the wireless network.
These tools are great because they allow you to see when and where
your network began to perform poorly. But these tools also have limitations.
They can show you information about Wi-Fi traffic, but are blind to physical RF issues,
which cause a large percentage of wireless networking problems.
Without a tool to examine the physical RF layer you will know when things go bad, but never why.
This is why Popular Science nominated the Wi-Spy as a "Must Have Gadget."
Wi-Spy is a portable spectrum analyzer that displays all RF activity around you,
such as: wireless networks, microwaves, cordless phones,
and anything else that could interfere with your network.
The ability to see all the radio activity helps you choose the clearest channel for your Wi-Fi.
Wi-Spy makes troubleshooting wireless networks simple and effective.
Let me show you how easy it is to use Wi-Spy and its powerful software companion: Chanalyzer.
First we'll plug Wi-Spy into the USB port of our laptop and then we'll fire up Chanalyzer.
The main window of Chanalyzer is comprised of three views:
The Planar view shows RF activity in real time. It also tracks the average and max in a given period of time.
The Density View uses a color scale to show how often a RF signal is detected at each
frequency-amplitude point. Comparing the colors and shapes in the Density View
to MetaGeek's "signatures" of common devices, helps us to identify what types of devices are transmitting.
The Spectral View shows frequency and amplitude changes over time allowing us to see exactly
when that pesky microwave turned on and off.
We can also watch the RF activity in 3-D, just like the movies!
Okay, not quite like the movies... but the 3-D view is useful for getting
a quick overview of our wireless landscape.
Let's look at a real-world example...
Here is our access point which is currently working fine.
However, if I turn on this cordless phone I can disrupt the connection.
Watch how the views in Chanalyzer change when the cordless phone is turned on
and starts emitting interference. Let's look at the 3D view that we mentioned earlier.
This spike is the cordless phone activity, and it happens to be on the same
frequency range where my wireless network is.
See how the cordless phone overpowers the wireless network located on channel 3?
This kind of interference causes connectivity issues to a wireless network.
If we look at the graphs in Chanalyzer Lite we can see a spike in the Wi-Fi channel activity,
which caused the signal strength of the access point to drop simultaneously.
MetaGeek continues to add to their library of device recordings
that bring down wireless networks. As a Wi-Spy owner you can download
these and compare them to the radio activity you see around your own wireless network.
When you experience random wireless connectivity, Wi-Spy quickly shows you the clearest channel for your access point.
With better installations and quicker troubleshooting, you can get more done in less time.
Find the right Wi-Spy for you at MetaGeek.net.