![]() You can even see the channels at the bottom and where the overlap lies!īe careful if you have a router that also doubles as a hotspot for fellow broadband customers. Once you have everything installed and set up, you can open up inSSIDer and check all the wireless networks in your vicinity. The Lite version is free, but requires an account to be created before use. If you want to see what channels are currently being occupied, you can do so using inSSIDer for Windows and Mac (Linux users can check out LinSSID). However, in the tech world “automatic” comes in two forms: perfect, and so flawed you’re better off doing it manually! The majority of the time devices are programmed to automatically find the best channels and swap to them to keep noise down. This makes it easier to keep the airways clear. There’s a very easy way to achieve this – simply ensure all your devices are on channels 1, 6, or 11, and they naturally won’t overlap with one another. The best way to tackle this problem is to pick channels that don’t overlap with one another. ![]() This can easily make for a crowded Wi-Fi space, even if each device has its own channel. For example, if you put a computer on channel 3, the channel will overlap channels 1 through 5. If you’re using 2.4GHz, you only have eleven channels, and the one you pick will overlap with the channels that are two above and below it. There’s quite a lot of them, so take your pick! If you’re using 5GHz, you can simply look for channels that aren’t being used. When picking a channel, it’s crucial to know if you’re using a 5GHz or 2.4GHz band. As such, it’s a good idea to check your Wi-Fi channels to see what’s going on. Of course, the more devices you have, the more these channels get crowded, and your Wi-Fi quality suffers as a result. You can find out more about what is considered a good signal strength here.įor a more complete guide about all of the functions in inSSIDer free, check out the full inSSIDer free User Guide.In order to ensure devices have as little conflict with each other as possible, channels are used to separate devices from one another and to achieve a better signal connection. 80 is a very low signal strength, and -30 is a super high signal strength. Note: Remember that we are working in negatives, which can be a bit confusing at first. If it dips below -80 dBm, then you have a dead spot. If the signal strength dips below about -70 dBm, then you've got a weak spot. The loudest network that is sharing the channel will be yellow, and the loudest network that is on a partially overlapping channel will be red.Ĥ. Watch the signal strength over time graph, and walk around the desired coverage area Select your desired radio, if applicable.ģ. ![]() Find your network in the SSID list, and click on it.Ģ. This is a good tactic, but with inSSIDer, you can measure whether moving your router made a difference or not.ġ. Every online guide about WiFi ever written says, "move your access point to a better spot!" to fix coverage problems. For more details about security, check out the inSSIDer User Guide.ĭead spots can be very frustrating, and they are one of the most common pain points in WiFi, especially at home. This icon indicates that the selected network has a poor or broken form of security. It lists the type of security in use, but also provides a "lock" icon to show whether the network is open, secure, or using a broken form of security. There are lots of different types of security that you can use on your wireless network, and inSSIDer detects that for you. InSSIDer has tools built-in to evaluate your environment, and pick the best channel for you. This network is on a much better channel, even if it shares with a lot of other networks on channel 6. Sharing a channel is always better than partially overlapping. This access point (in blue) is on a bad channel, because it partially overlaps with a lot of other networks (all colored red). One of the most common uses of a WiFi scanner is to make sure that your router or AP is using the best channel. InSSIDer visualizes what channel each WiFi channel is on, to see how they share channels, and how they partially overlap. If you know what is happening in your wireless environment, you can use that data to fix problems, or just improve the performance of your network. It also visualizes which channel each wireless network is on. It lists out all of the networks that are nearby, as well as some information about them. This article assumes you have already downloaded inSSIDer 5.Ī WiFi scanner uses your computer's WiFi adapter to scan for wireless networks.
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