Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent wifi monitoring device I an place in a few spots in my home and office to keep an eye on wifi performance. I use https://www.monitor-io.com/ for monitoring my hardwired internet ISP and it is great. I would love something similar for wifi.
The difficulty that youâd face is that such a device would have to generate WiFi traffic to measure it, and that would only add to your WiFi congestion problems. Alternatively youâd need some sort of WiFi signal analyzer, that is just listening, but not participating, and I suspect those sorts of devices are expensive and need to be configured/trained specifically for any task at hand. WiFi attackers use some software/hardware combo referred as a âpineappleâ but I donât know if those are generally useful or specifically targeted (for interception and the like.) I guess I would suggest you look and see what sort (if any) stats are available from your WiFi router itself. Maybe it can do SNMP or something to report on what itâs up to.
Thank you. I am not worried about wifi load, I am more looking to get real data vs user IT feedback that is subject to human interpretations etc.
You could use a raspberry pi (or even use a laptop / PC) with a WiFi connection and run something like LibreNMS on it to monitor latency to local and online services. This will poll and then create graphs a bit like your monitor-io device.
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Please take this suggestion with a grain of salt, as I cannot test it myself.
Since the Monitor-io is connected via ethernet to your router, wouldnât it be possible to connect a second Monitor-io to an ethernet port on a wifi extender or a satellite unit on a mesh router system? Assuming you get notifications from the Monitor-io, any messages on the âwifiâ unit that are not received from the hardwired unit would indicate problems unique to your wifi connection.
I use a similar setup in my house. I have a Raspberry Pi running constant ping tests connected via ethernet to my router, and I have a Windows PC connected via wifi running a similar ping test monitor app.
Ideally this should happen at the router. Ubiquiti routers do thisâŚ
and a lot more. Asus routers also log client traffic.
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Yes, but that is the difference between professional equipment and home equipment. And the reason I only use professional equipment at home.
I use Ubiquiti Unifi kit as well and I love it.
Obviously, not everybody can do this. But, for me, it is worth the extra money to get good reliable kit that will work reliably and last.
@swaybelly Is it intermittent or is it a general problem? There are good Wi-Fi analyser apps for smartphones, Iâve had several on my Android phones. They can monitor the strength of the signals and what bands are being used in an area.
It is usually either there is a deadspot (caused by reinforced walls, for example, or electrical interference or a neighbouring wi-fi is using bands too close to your own. Good kit, like the Unifi, should be able to detect that and use other frequencies, but you can monitor it yourself with the app and see if the bands are too closely populated and switch to a band that is on its own.
The app solution would certainly be the most effective, if the router canât do it itself.
@Bgeeoz I love your thinkingâŚthank you. Before I do this, I will search for a more packaged solution vs something I rig up.
@big_D The issue is the classic IT problem of users in small business remote small offices reporting Wifi issues and a small network team not having decent telemetry. Layer in covid where most folks were out of the office for extended periods of time so patching etc lapses in offices. I would love to buy a few monitor-io like devices. FedEx them to any office that reports an issue and let it sit for a few days so I can see true telemetry from an end userâs point of view.
@Leo Thank you for the screen shot. Very helpful. I am going to call my CDW rep to get an evaluation unit. More context. I am sure you have dealt with this. IT says Wifi is fin and end users report intermittent problems. So I was thinking of a https://www.monitor-io.com/ type solution where I can fedex a few units out to a remote office and in a few days, get a true sense of performance. Have you come across anything in your past to point me in the right direction. (I really enjoy your podcast btw)
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As I said, traffic is best monitored at the router, but you can easily measure signal with an Android phone or laptop. There are many Wi-Fi analyzer tools on Android. I use Inssider on WindowsâŚ
This wonât reveal problems with individual clients, but it will help you map the signal in your office.
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THank you very much!
If you decide to go ahead with trialing the Ubiquiti hardware, donât forget to run an RF scan on the AP(s). The feature is semi-hidden in menus but will tell you a whole lot about your RF environment. Documented here - UniFi - RF Scan: Suggested Channels Feature â Ubiquiti Support and Help Center
@swaybelly - Your feature set / request matches up really well with what Domotz offers. You can buy their appliance (which is a raspberry pi I think) for $99.
Check it out:
Each âsiteâ that you would want to monitor is only $19/mo for unlimited end-points.
Looks like it might be worth installing on my Synology. Very cool!
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