1
00:00:06,750 --> 00:00:09,390
- [Instructor] Wifi analyzers are tools

2
00:00:09,390 --> 00:00:12,270
that can identify wireless networks

3
00:00:12,270 --> 00:00:17,270
on the 2.4 gigahertz and
5 gigahertz frequencies.

4
00:00:18,540 --> 00:00:23,220
These tools can show things
such as the channels being used

5
00:00:23,220 --> 00:00:25,590
by your current access points

6
00:00:25,590 --> 00:00:29,040
and also neighboring wireless networks,

7
00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,710
the signal strength of access points

8
00:00:31,710 --> 00:00:33,753
usually measured in dBm,

9
00:00:34,620 --> 00:00:37,080
any overlapping that might be occurring

10
00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,590
between neighboring networks and yours,

11
00:00:40,590 --> 00:00:43,080
and also the best channels to use

12
00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,033
for your new access points.

13
00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:47,910
They come in two types.

14
00:00:47,910 --> 00:00:51,750
You have the handheld all-in-one devices

15
00:00:51,750 --> 00:00:55,680
with built-in wifi antenna, a touchscreen,

16
00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,710
and incorporated analysis programs

17
00:00:58,710 --> 00:01:00,150
like the one that we see here.

18
00:01:00,150 --> 00:01:05,150
This is just one example and
these are much more expensive.

19
00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,310
And then there are the various apps.

20
00:01:08,310 --> 00:01:12,000
You have them for Windows,
for Android, and for iOS.

21
00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,840
Whatever device you run the app on

22
00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,583
has to have a properly setup
wireless network adapter.

23
00:01:21,750 --> 00:01:24,360
So let's take a look at a basic wifi app

24
00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,283
running on a smartphone now.

25
00:01:27,570 --> 00:01:28,530
And what we have here,

26
00:01:28,530 --> 00:01:33,180
this is displaying the 2.4
gigahertz frequency range

27
00:01:33,180 --> 00:01:36,810
and the wifi networks
in the general vicinity.

28
00:01:36,810 --> 00:01:39,660
As you can see, the lower channels,

29
00:01:39,660 --> 00:01:43,470
one through five are being used much more

30
00:01:43,470 --> 00:01:45,780
than the upper channels.

31
00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:47,670
This type of data should play

32
00:01:47,670 --> 00:01:49,830
into your decision-making process

33
00:01:49,830 --> 00:01:52,980
when you're setting up a new wifi network

34
00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:55,590
or when you're selecting an access point

35
00:01:55,590 --> 00:01:59,910
to connect a client to
if there's more than one.

36
00:01:59,910 --> 00:02:01,890
So here you can see this information

37
00:02:01,890 --> 00:02:06,600
and it's changing
slightly as time goes by,

38
00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,270
but we have a lot of networks

39
00:02:09,270 --> 00:02:10,860
on the channels one through five

40
00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:13,920
and only two between 6 and 11.

41
00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:16,410
Now that's the 2.4 gigahertz frequency.

42
00:02:16,410 --> 00:02:21,410
We can also select the 5
gigahertz frequency range

43
00:02:21,690 --> 00:02:23,550
to see what's running there.

44
00:02:23,550 --> 00:02:25,740
And you can see that
there's really nothing.

45
00:02:25,740 --> 00:02:30,450
There's only one in the lower
frequency range for that,

46
00:02:30,450 --> 00:02:31,290
so that should play

47
00:02:31,290 --> 00:02:33,360
into your decision-making
process for this.

48
00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,420
But 2.4 is a lot more crowded.

49
00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:41,420
It has a smaller channel
width for each channel.

50
00:02:41,820 --> 00:02:45,060
So that's quite often what
we're paying more attention to

51
00:02:45,060 --> 00:02:47,793
'cause there's a lot more
of a chance for overlap.

52
00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:51,363
So on the bottom, you
see the channel numbers.

53
00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:53,910
And in the United States,

54
00:02:53,910 --> 00:02:56,670
we use 1 through 11 for 2.4 gigahertz.

55
00:02:56,670 --> 00:03:01,320
And on the left, you see the dBm rating.

56
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,793
The lower the number, the
better the connectivity.

57
00:03:07,980 --> 00:03:09,420
And we have other options here.

58
00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:13,983
We can see these in
different graphical formats.

59
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,100
We can take a look at what this app thinks

60
00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:19,060
are the best channels to use

61
00:03:20,220 --> 00:03:22,590
and it's saying right now 10 and 11

62
00:03:22,590 --> 00:03:25,740
and five, six, and seven
are the best to use.

63
00:03:25,740 --> 00:03:28,890
And then you can look
at the actual dBm rating

64
00:03:28,890 --> 00:03:30,750
for each of these networks

65
00:03:30,750 --> 00:03:33,280
and see the frequency they are using

66
00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:37,530
which corresponds to the channel

67
00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:40,500
and what type of encryption
they're using as well

68
00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:44,940
and the MAC address of that
device, which is pretty cool.

69
00:03:44,940 --> 00:03:48,330
And it also gives you estimated distances

70
00:03:48,330 --> 00:03:52,740
to these access points, but
that's usually gonna be,

71
00:03:52,740 --> 00:03:56,430
that's not gonna be very
accurate with most of these apps

72
00:03:56,430 --> 00:03:59,280
and that'll also depend on what device

73
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:00,543
you're running this on.

74
00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:03,840
So that's an example of a wifi analyzer,

75
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,173
definitely something that
you want to take a look at.

76
00:04:08,550 --> 00:04:11,760
You wanna kinda stay away
from other wireless networks

77
00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,130
that are nearby channel wise,

78
00:04:14,130 --> 00:04:18,570
but also look for the ones
that have the strongest signal.

79
00:04:18,570 --> 00:04:19,403
Those are the ones

80
00:04:19,403 --> 00:04:21,300
you're gonna wanna stay away from as well.

81
00:04:21,300 --> 00:04:26,300
And again, that's for the 2.4
and for 5 gigahertz as well

82
00:04:26,460 --> 00:04:29,820
because the 5 gigahertz
we use that all the time

83
00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:33,423
with 802.11ac and other technologies.

84
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,740
All right, so a little
bit about wifi analyzers

85
00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:39,363
and that's it for this video.