Wi-Fi is a great technology, but how you set it up can have a huge impact on its efficiency. It has become a commonplace and is now used in homes, offices and various establishments. Wi-Fi is now found everywhere and is often free in many parts of America and Europe. There are many programs for Windows and Mac each with their own purposes. They can perform a variety of tasks like network mapping, analysis, signal strength monitoring, encryption and many others. Here are the top Wi-Fi software tools available for Windows. Explore these top Wi-Fi software tools and what they are capable of.
APTools
This is a tool that performs queries content addressable memory (CAM) and ARP tables for MAC addresses. The queries are for addresses in the 802.11b access points range. The Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) will be used if available. Audit of identifiable access points is by HTML parsing.
Wi-Fi Hopper
This is a connection and network discovery app. It helps auditors with connection parameter testing, site surveys and other functions. Users can apply filters so only pertinent info is shown. You also control what configurations are evaluated.
Lucent/Orinoco Registry Encryption/Decryption
This program uses the Windows registry to store WEP keys. The utility can be utilized for encrypting WEP leys to a value in the registry. This program can also be used for value decryption.
Stumbverter
One of the top Wi-Fi software tools around, Stumbverter is a standalone program that permits importation of Network Stumbler into the MapPoint 2004 maps. Small icons indicate the logged WAPs. The shape and colour denote the signal strength and WEP mode. The AP icons produce pushpins and have more data. The balloons can be utilized for noting info about the AP.
OmniPeek
This is a quality wireless analysis application that has the features of EtherPeek and AiroPeek. The software has many features. It can modify capture filters without having a capture restart sequence, view capture details and determine problematic events. It can also access WAN adapters, Gigabit, 10Gigabit and other network interfaces. OmniPeek can assess data traffic and media at the same time. The results can be seen in PDF or HTML format. Even IM clients can be used. Users can see a lot of details.
NetStumbler
This program is a Wi-Fi utility that senses WLANs (wireless local area networks) via 802.11g and 802.11b, 802.11a. NetStumbler can also check if a network is properly set up. Other features include the ability to find locations that are in your WLAN coverage. One of its most important features is being able to sense if there are networks causing interference. Administrators will also appreciate its ability to see the rogue access points that are in the area.
KNSGEM II
KNSGEM II is the software that gets the survey logs of Wi-Fi Hopper, Kismet or NetStumbler generates. The information is combined with those on Google Earth to produce colorized 3D coverage maps.
Wi-Fi Applications for the Mac
Kismet
This is an 802.11 Layer 2 wireless network detector. The software is designed to support any wireless card. It can detect 802.11g, 802.11a and 802.11b traffic. The program checks the networks by gathering packets. It also senses the hidden networks.
KisMAC
This free tool places your user card in monitor mode. Compared with other Mac Wi-Fi apps, this one doesn’t send out probe requests and is not visible. It has support for Cisco Aironet cards, PrismII chipsets, and others.
MacStumbler
This software shows information about 802.11g and 802.11b wireless access points. The software has a utility that checks access points while looking for network issues. MacStumbler can also be used to coordinate a GPS device. These are the top Wi-Fi software tools which are available. If you are setting one up, you might want to take a look at some of these.
Charlie is a free lancer writer and content builder of many Technology sites and is explaining the various Wi-Fi softwares.