A Wi-Fi scanner is a device designed to scan for wireless nodes such as access points and wireless clients in immediate areas around the unit. Detected Wi-Fi connections compile in an Excel file for future references. Graphing of the connection’s signal quality may also be graphed.
Issued under the General Public License (GPL), it works with CISCO (Mobile Access Router) and Prism (Wireless Local Area Network PCI) cards with HOSTAP (driver for wireless cards using the Intersil Prism chipset) or WLAN-NG, Prism54g, Atheros, Hermes/Orinoco, and Centrino drivers.
The Wi-Fi scanner application enables:
- Checking of accessible hotspots
- Data updates of 1-10 per second
- Data log in XLS, text, or CSV format in use with other applications
- Selection of database export items using the Item Option
- Addition of current location text information to the database>/li>
- Graphing of history from saved data
The Wi-Fi scanner requires:
- A PocketPC device with ARM/XScale central processing unit (CPU)
- Windows Media 2003 (or succeeding versions)
- Wi-Fi
How the Wi-Fi Scanner Works:
With the Wi-Fi scanner display, the user can detect Wi-Fi signals and choose a channel for monitoring. When the window appears, click on ‘Start Scanning.’ Scanning is a cyclic process, wherein the utility ‘listens’ for signals on one channel, move to the next, and so on, until it comes to the last , after which a new cycle begins.
The process stops when ‘Stop Scanning’ starts. Click on ‘Reset’ to clear collected data. Click on ‘Save’ to store the scanning report under the HTML format.
When finished with scanning, choose a band from the ‘Band’ drop-down menu. Select the appropriate channel through the ‘Channel’ drop-down menu and then click on ‘Capture’.
