A WiFi Heatmap is a heatmap showing the strength and coverage of wireless signals in an area. A WiFi Heatmap typically shows the coverage of wireless signals on a real map of a room, floor, or house.
The reason why WiFi Heatmaps are used is that they tell you about the wireless coverage in a specific area and help you to find dead zones. Based on dead zones, you can then optimize your wireless network to achieve full coverage in the area. Without WiFi Heatmap it becomes difficult to achieve the desired coverage and involves a lot of guesswork as you don’t know exactly which place is a dead zone.
With a WiFi Heatmap software, you can create a WiFi Heatmap in just a few minutes by covering the whole area by walking from one place to another and then let the software do its job.
There are different WiFi Heatmap Softwares available but it is difficult to find one that does its job hassle-free. Here are 5 Best WiFi Heatmap Software for Windows & Mac that will get the job done for you.
1. NetSpot
NetSpot is a WiFi Heatmap software that will get the job done for you without any problem. It is available for both Windows and macOS and is available for small homes and large enterprises too.
Creating a heatmap is relatively easy and after you have installed the app, go to the Survey Mode and then follow the instructions to create a heatmap. You can either upload a map of the area for which you are creating a heatmap or use the built-in mapping to tool to create one.
Besides creating a heatmap, it also has some other useful features such as telling you all the information about the nearby wireless network including those that have turned off SSID broadcasting. It can tell you about the SSID of the network, security of the network, broadcasting channel, signal strength and some other things.
2. Ekahau HeatMapper
Ekahau HeatMapper is another software for WiFi heatmapping that is easy to use. It supports 802.11n, as well as a/b/g Wi-Fi networks. It is currently available for Windows but soon it will be available for macOS too. It can automatically discover all the access points nearby and also detect the security settings of nearby wireless networks.
Ekahau HeatMapper is relatively easy to install and use. It just takes about a minute or so to install the software. The user interface is simple and you won’t be confused about which button to click on to do a specific task.
3. Acrylic Wi-Fi Heatmaps
Acrylic Wi-Fi Heatmaps is another software by which you can use your computer to create advanced and detailed WiFi heatmaps. It is available for Windows only. Acrylic Wi-Fi Heatmaps can create WiFi heatmaps based on online Google Maps or the user’s own maps.
It works perfectly with both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency band and generated advanced heatmaps to tell you about all the WiFi problems easily. It can create WiFi coverage detailed reports in different formats such as .DOCX, .CSV, .KMZ, etc.
4. AirMagnet Survey PRO
AirMagnet Survey PRO is also a software that can help you to create detailed and simple WiFi heatmaps. It is available for both Windows and macOS and has support for all the wireless network standards.
It creates a very detailed WiFi heatmap and tells you all about the noise, packet losses, retries rates and interference on every floor. For every access point, it shows the coverage and maximum performance. Though the interface may be a bit outdated but it is simple and easy to use.
5. VisiWave Site Survey
VisiWave Site Survey is another software that has been in the industry for over a decade and you can trust this software to give you a detailed analysis of Wi-Fi connections. It has three different methods for capturing data;
- One point at a time
- Continuous walks through the survey area
- And GPS positioning for outdoor surveys
It has different templates to create reports and present the gathered information in an engaging manner. It also has support for Google Earth and the data gathered can also be viewed on Google Earth. Unfortunately, it is also available for Windows only.