Wireless networks are very widespread today and enjoy well-deserved popularity. But due to the fact that almost every apartment building, each apartment has one router installed, a situation may arise that even by placing the device next to the transmitter, the speed and quality of the connection will be much lower than expected.
You can analyze the access point and see its hidden parameters using special applications, including on Android. The most functional of these is faproc's Wi-Fi Analyzer, which will be discussed below.
Main features of the application
The AP Analyzer offers many functions to its users. All of them are aimed at making a person better understand how the access points around him are arranged, what happens to the signal from the nearest router and how to set it up for the most efficient use. It:
- View signal strength compared to other points nearby.
- View free channels for more fine tuning of the transmitter.
- Estimation of the signal level drop with distance from the router.
- Direction finding of all devices that are connected to each of the access points around.
As you can see, this application is very useful for use in areas heavily furnished with wireless routers. Let's dwell on each possibility in more detail.
to the content
Signal intensity map
Once installed, Wi-Fi Analyzer is the first thing the user sees when launching the application.
The graph shows the lines of signal intensity relative to the channels of all access points that are within the range of the phone's antenna. The strongest at its peak tends to go to zero on the intensity scale. The weakest has the smallest negative value and the flatter graph of all. The location relative to the lower scale shows the freest channels on which the communication quality will be the best.
For clarity, the change in intensity, you can switch to a time graph, it shows only the intensity, without breaking into channels:
This is done by clicking on the button with the eye in the upper right corner of the screen. In the menu that opens, select 'Timeline'.
to the content
Estimation of signal intensity by channels
By clicking on the icon with the image of an eye and choosing 'Channel rating', the user enters a window that displays all channels available on the current access point in a convenient and understandable form and assigns them a star rating.
The maximum number of available channels is determined depending on the brand of a particular router, in some models there are fewer, in some more. There is a short hint above the list of all available channels. It includes:
- Access point name and MAC address in brackets.
- The number of the current channel along with the signal strength on it.
- List of the best quality communication channels that are available.
You cannot select them in the application itself. Instead, based on this data, you can open the router's configuration utility (available by the IP address in the browser) and manually prioritize the freest channel available. If there are not too many devices that connect to the access point, this can help to get a better connection with it.
to the content
Signal drop display
A very useful feature that allows you to visually assess the degree of remoteness from a particular access point. All indicators are expressed in signal intensity, and the analyzer is designed as a curved dial with an arrow.
This is how the indicators look when the phone is near the access point:
The arrow in the green area indicates that the intensity is very good and the signal quality will be near perfect.
If you move away from the point at a decent distance (several tens of meters) and make it so that there is one or more walls of the room between the user and the router, you can observe the following picture:
The arrow is in an area critically close to the white zone, which means a very weak signal and, as a result, poor communication quality when using this equipment at the location of the phone.
to the content
View connected devices
If you need to see how many gadgets are already using the current access point, and assess the degree of “occupation” of channels, you can use a tool that shows neighbors on the local network. It is called by tapping on the ellipsis in the upper right corner of the program window and selecting Tools, and then Lan Neighbors. As a result, the user sees the following window:
All connected devices are collected here and the following information about them is displayed:
- The IP address assigned by the DHCP server.
- MAC address of each device.
- A short name, most often the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi module inside the device is indicated, and not the gadget itself.
At the top, summary information about the router itself is provided – the address of its gateway, subnet mask, network and its address coverage.
to the content
Useful settings
The application has quite extensive configuration options. The settings are called by clicking the button with the key in the upper right corner of the screen. The initial content looks like this:
Here you can configure basic parameters:
- Enable or disable automatic scanning.
- Set its interval with five presets.
- Designate the scan range in each frequency region. Separate function for 2.4 and 5 GHz.
- Block the screen while the application is running.
- Mark access points that can be used without a password (an asterisk is displayed next to their names).
- Disable the display of duplicate names of access points (useful if several repeaters of the same point are used in the house, they are shown as one).
- Combine such points into groups.
- Assign your own names to all routers for easier navigation.
- Turn on Wi-Fi automatically. Changes the system setting directly from the application, if it is activated, then the checkbox is already set here.
In addition, you can temporarily disable advertising (for a week) once. After that, it will cease to be displayed only after purchasing the premium version. Paid Wi-Fi Analyzer does not provide any advantages besides this.
Download QR-Code Wifi Analyzer Developer: farproc Price: Free