First seen, Last seen, and location of the network if you have GPS enabled.Network type (access point or computer-to-computer).SSID (even if the SSID is set to non-broadcast).Whether the network is secured or not and what security technology is used.It is a tiny wireless networking tool that installs in Windows and provides a ton of wireless network info including: In that article, I learned about inSSIDer and I tried it out.
Recently, I read an article on called Seven Free Networking Tools for the Busy Admin. What is inSSIDer and how can it help you?
Can’t get connected – likely you need to configure the wireless security method (maybe it is WPA2/Personal instead of WPA1/Personal) or you are entering the password incorrectly (passwords are case sensitive).Slow network access – AP is saturated, saturated Internet uplink, low signal strength, or interference.Connected but no network access – usually this means that you don’t really have access to their network.Here are common wireless networking issues that I deal with: Preventing your SSID from broadcasting does nothing for security other than keeping novice users from connecting to it.ĭiagnosing common wireless networking issues.WEP security can be easily hacked and WPA version 1 can be hacked with a dictionary attack so don’t believe that these wireless security methods are really secure.These are commonly created by those who want you to connect to their fake network so that they can fool you into providing your personal information. In public places you will commonly find computer to computer networks with names that sound like a nearby business or wireless provider.Ranges specified with access points are usually much more than in the real world because of various types of interference (walls, EMI from other devices, or channel bleed through).The amount of traffic needed to saturate them varies based on the processing power of the AP. Wireless access points can easily become saturated if enough traffic is run through them.
2.4Ghz networks like these (B, G, and N) offer only 11 channels in the USA (but you may have as many as 14 channels in other countries).3 primary wireless networking types that you will encounter today – B, G, and N.Core wireless networking facts that you need to knowīefore we get into various issues and tools, I want to make sure that we are all on the same page by covering some core wireless networking facts that every Windows Network admin needs to know.
What I will do is to cover some things that you might not know about wireless networking and how to diagnose various wireless networking tools with inSSider and others. Recently, I was watching the new Train Signal Wireless Administrator training video and was working when I had the idea for this article. However, Windows and Network Admins know that there are a lot of conditions that must be met for wireless networking to work and to work well. Wireless networking has become so common that most people just expect it to work no matter where they are and no matter what they do.