Is there a Wifi interference testing app?

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quickymart

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#277338 8-Oct-2020 15:50

My wifi has been going flawlessly over my fibre connection for the better part of 2 years. Just in the last week, I've noticed buffering over wifi - which has never happened before.

Before I start going through diagnostics on the router (which has not had any settings changed at all), is there an app I can download to my Android smartphone, to see if a neighbour is on the same wifi channel as me? Some new people just moved in to one of the nearby properties, but before I make any changes I'd like to check/confirm first.

Thanks in advance :)

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#2581480 8-Oct-2020 16:01

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en&gl=US - Mileage may vary, abandoned so some devices don't like the permissions

There was another with similar name that out of the blue he turned on push adverts - even when app was closed! And started peeving off people at 3am, including myself and really hurt his reviews. So that got removed. Now I look again they claim to have fixed it.. but not risking.

This appears to have some rave reviews too

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vrem.wifianalyzer&hl=en&gl=US

scuwp

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#2581489 8-Oct-2020 16:21

I use Netspot.
Seems pretty good and good reviews. It was recommended on a top 10 list somewhere from recollection.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

quickymart

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#2581521 8-Oct-2020 17:04

Thanks, I'll give those a try.

I may be barking up the wrong tree but just want to check the wifi before I start diving into other settings, as it seems fine via a network cable.

Edit: With Netspot, what does "Channel 1 (3)" mean? My wifi is on channel 1 - does that mean I have three devices connected? Some neighbouring networks have a number in brackets too but most don't.

Oblivian

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#2581535 8-Oct-2020 17:38

More likely to be telling the numbers of ssids using that channel, or suggesting to use 3 as a different channel (don't do that)

Find the least used of 1, 6, 11

and if your neighbours are like mine they will have an auto switching one that jumps onto 2, 3,5,7 and 8 and causes noise

Generally lots of IDs on the same channel aren't a problem once established because it will ignore others packets. it's crossing over channels and microwaves you worry about

quickymart

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#2581678 8-Oct-2020 23:10

I'm trying channel 6 to see if that helps; note the app shows it as "Channel 6 (8)". Will see how it goes.

K8Toledo

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#2581681 8-Oct-2020 23:56

Ubiquiti WiFiMan is another simple survey app. Works well on Android phones (the Windows version is buggy).

WiFiMan

The one I prefer though is WiFiInfoView from Nirsoft. Free to download.

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Jase2985

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#2581705 9-Oct-2020 06:50

quickymart:

Edit: With Netspot, what does "Channel 1 (3)" mean? My wifi is on channel 1 - does that mean I have three devices connected? Some neighboring networks have a number in brackets too but most don't.

im guessing you are looking at a 40mhz channel. channel 1 is the lowest channel and channel 3 is the center channel

Spyware

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#2581707 9-Oct-2020 07:00

How about centre channel and top edge. 20 MHz wide as 5 MHz spacing

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Jase2985

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#2581721 9-Oct-2020 07:16

Spyware:

How about centre channel and top edge. 20 MHz wide as 5 MHz spacing

net spot only shows a single number for a 20mhz channel

sbiddle

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#2581736 9-Oct-2020 08:05

Oblivian:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en&gl=US - Mileage may vary, abandoned so some devices don't like the permissions

There was another with similar name that out of the blue he turned on push adverts - even when app was closed! And started peeving off people at 3am, including myself and really hurt his reviews. So that got removed. Now I look again they claim to have fixed it.. but not risking.

This appears to have some rave reviews too

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vrem.wifianalyzer&hl=en&gl=US

Part of the problem is that Android Pie broke every WiFi scanner app with it's throttling so nobody could really do a lot with their apps. At least this issue has been resolved with Android 10.

Analiti is probably the best app for Android, but most of the good features are not free.

jamesrt

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#2581744 9-Oct-2020 08:36

Worth pointing out that NONE of those apps will detect or report on interference caused by other things apart from WiFi - so other radio spectrum noise that causes degredation of signal and bandwidth won't show up, for example.

2.4GHz is "open", so potentially lots of other things (DECT phones, for example) can cause issues...

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1101

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#2581769 9-Oct-2020 09:22

jamesrt:

2.4GHz is "open", so potentially lots of other things (DECT phones, for example) can cause issues...

5.8Ghz is also "open" .
could also be video senders , security cams , faulty routers , RC gear , fpv gear ,microwave oven, illegally overpowered devices flooding the wifi spektrum

As above, you need specialized gear to test for interference , you ph/laptop/pc app will only show wifi devices , not other hardware using 2.4/5.8
best test is to connect via ethernet cable & see if that solves the issue.

quickymart

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#2581813 9-Oct-2020 10:52

Thanks for all the tips so far. I've had the wifi on channel 6 since last night and doesn't seem to be any issues so far, so...🤞

Also I saw someone mention 40Mhz, and that's what my router is running on - should that be 20? It's always been on 40 with no issues (until now).

sbiddle

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#2581870 9-Oct-2020 12:22

quickymart:

Thanks for all the tips so far. I've had the wifi on channel 6 since last night and doesn't seem to be any issues so far, so...🤞

Also I saw someone mention 40Mhz, and that's what my router is running on - should that be 20? It's always been on 40 with no issues (until now).

You should never never never never never never never ever run 2.4GHz WiFi on 40MHz channels. I don't even know vendors include this as an option. 2.4GHz should only ever use 20MHz channels.

nztim

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#2581872 9-Oct-2020 12:35

What about iPhone apps?

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