I was stunned by how well it performed this task in my home. The map also identifies the rough position of each base station. NetSpot could improve on this feature by adding bandwidth tests that would allow some educated guesses about the typical range of Wi-Fi speeds at a given spot. Figuring out such a threshold, however, is beyond the scope of this review. For example, if you want to ensure that you have at least a certain SNR (which essentially means that the network can operate at or above your desired minimum speed), you could set that SNR as the minimum anything below that minimum simply won’t appear on NetSpot’s map. (You can tweak this last option to show only regions in which a minimum number of routers overlap.)īy default, NetSpot shows the entire range of measurable signal for the signal and noise visualizations, but you can choose a higher minimum and/or a lower maximum. Also available is an oddball but useful access-point-counting visualization that lets you view only regions in which base stations’ signals overlap. Instead of SNR, you can view your site’s raw signal-level or noise-level heat map using the Visualize pop-up menu, or choose to see the signal-to-interference ratio, a different measure that can be useful if there are lots of nearby networks. Finally, you mark the region of the map that represents the area you’re going to scan.Ī NetSpot heatmap shows the best, worst, and mediocre areas of wireless coverage, along with base station locations. You give the map a scale in meters or feet by marking the distance between two known points. You start with a map of a single floor, which you either draw using a few primitive graphics tools or load as an image file which is used as the background.
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This free site-survey software is a remarkable aid in laying out even a small-home network, using a Mac laptop as your survey tool. NetSpot bypasses the technical in favor of the visual. Where should I put a base station to get the best coverage and performance? Or multiple base stations? Apple provides some tools to help, including the somewhat hidden Wi-Fi Diagnostics program (buried in /System/Library/CoreServices/), but using them requires some expertise, as well as keeping your eye on ever-changing signal-strength numbers. When you set up a Wi-Fi network, whether using access points (base stations) from Apple or another vendor, you’re usually playing a guessing game.
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