MetaGeek's Wi-Spy 2.4 GHz spectrum analyzer spies interference
By Paul Miller 
posted December 23rd 2005 8:30AM
posted December 23rd 2005 8:30AM
If you're tired of getting your WiFi connection
messed up every time someone microwaves a burrito or takes a call on the cordless, you might be interested in Wi-Spy, a
2.4 GHz spectrum analyzer for scoping out WiFi networks and related interference and viewing it all in a graphical
interface. That way you can know which channel is optimum as opposed to just guessing a number from 1 to 11. Created by
MetaGeek, they claim it's the cheapest device under $2500 with it's capabilities, and at a mere $99 for the USB dongle
we think they might just be on to something.[Thanks, Neil]
Looks pretty neat, but why can't a normal 802.11b/g card do this? It can already send and receive on the frequencies and can get signal noise from each frequency.
A regular card CAN do it, it all depends on the software. There are companies developing software that will "sniff" and give a spectral analysis of a/b/g! That is much better solution. They can find unbroadcasted SSID's, and give the connectivity rates of every device to the AP. Installers use them the most right now.
A normal 802.11abg card may do this inherently, but the interface to this data is not necessarily exposed, and may be part of the "black box" functionality. Abstraction.
I got my wireless analyzer for under $50 on ebay. It is an older rangelan2 card from proxim with the Snoop software. Only runs on Windows 95...but I have a laptop dedicated to it...
Pictures of what I found out about microwaves, bluetooth, 2.4GHz phones, etc.
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.asp?g=security&SeqNum=83
"If you're tired of getting your WiFi connection messed up every time someone microwaves a burrito or takes a call on the cordless" ... or rings you or your neighbors wireless doorbell, someone starts playing a console game with a wireless controller, someone turns on their PSP wireless interface, someone fires up a Nintendo DS and uses its wifi, or any of HUNDREDS of other gadgets that are clogging the 2.4GHz spectrum...
Manufacturers need to man up and move on to another spectrum. Yes, 2.4GHz is cheap and easy to develop. It's also getting closer and closer to uselessness as such wireless devices explode in popularity.
Oh, and with a nice hacked router, you can usually run your home network on Channel 14. Sure, it's technically illegal, but theres far less chance you'll interfere with anything than if you pick 1, 6, or 11, which are the same choices everyone in your neighborhood has and is already using.
I'd love to see a link to a program that will do this with a regular WiFi card if anyone knows of one.
I would like to check it.It looks very well.
Netstumbler
http://www.stumbler.net/
"Created by MetaGeek, they claim it's the cheapest device under $2500 with it's capabilities, and at a mere $99 for the USB dongle we think they might just be on to something."
with ITS capabilities.
no apostrophe.
Regular cards cannot directly see RF engery, they can only speak its 802.11 flavor. Netstumlber can't even see raw frames much less spectrum activity. For details look at a tool such as Airmagnet Spectrum Analyzer http://tinyurl.com/9j55n It can tell when your microwave is on. No software will make your wi-fi card a spectrum analyzer.
#9 is correct; regular Wi-Fi cards do not directly expose the RF energy. The AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer is a great tool; the TomsNetworking review that you linked to has good information about the uses for tools like the AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer and Wi-Spy.
Personally, I think NetStumbler is a great tool, but it won't tell you everything going on in your 2.4 GHz spectrum; NetStumbler + Wi-Spy (or other spectrum analyzer) is a good combination to understand all the Wi-Fi and non Wi-Fi traffic.