![]() Some like the Wi-Spy combine basic protocol analyzer and spectrum analyzer in the same device.WiFi connectivity is not always the piece of cake, be it at office or at home. Update: here is a very good comparison review of the various affordable spectrum analyzers on the market: IOS locks down the WiFi completely from apps because it can be abused to infringe privacy, that's why the only (basic) protocol analyzer apps are for Android, which is more permissive. ![]() We ended up installing an Ethernet switch with USB Ethernet adapters because it was a lost cause.Ī spectrum analyzer can also tell you how much a signal is attenuated by walls and other obstructions, but you don't need one for that, every WiFi card can tell you the signal strength (RSSI or RCPI).Ī protocol analyzer is a smarter device that understands the WiFi protocol and can report on things like authentication failures, resets or the like, and that complexity can make it quite expensive. Using a RF Explorer, we were able to confirm that it was indeed coming from the highway, most likely traffic radar or radar jammers. My old office was right next to the US-101 highway in San Francisco and in addition to the Mad-Max like WiFi interference from other offices in the same building, we had interference in the rooms closer to the highway like our meeting room. Unfortunately, the 2.4GHz band is extremely crowded and you have a lot of interference. Most digital signals are bursty, however, and a spectrum analyzer will only catch sustained interference from the likes of microwaves or poorly shielded electronics, so that limits the usefulness of one. ![]() A spectrum analyzer has no knowledge of the 802.11 protocols, it just measures electrical forces in specific frequency bands and plots it as a graph. Since those are not WiFi protocols at all, a network card will not be able to identify them, other than as noise measurements. ![]() It will identify things like interference from microwave ovens, radar, wireless PA systems, Bluetooth, wireless cordless phones (e.g. ![]() To elaborate on the difference, a spectrum analyzer tells you how much radio energy is being received as a function of radio frequency. ![]()
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