WIFI Analyzer

I use the following which also works really well.

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

After watching the video.It looks good.

If I remember right most routers are set up on channel 10 or 11. Go into your router setup and change the channel manually to " 6". Less used usually.

I use this program too and it works very well plus basic version is free.

I use both programs mentioned. They are both very good and the best part is that they are FREE.

Yep, and they have one for Android as well: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.metageek

Great app!

It is important to understand how wifi channels overlap. In the U.S. There are really only 3 good choices, 1, 6, or 11. The other channels overlap with these (so that 4, for example, will compete with both 1 and 6 for some frequency space). The tools make it handy to visualize where all the local wifi signals are, but you can often find the channel information in your connecting device's existing wifi setup pages.

Similarly, channel 3 might look empty, but if there is a lot of strong traffic on channel 6 and you see that channel 1 has only one weak signal on it, then 1 could be your better choice.

Unfortunately, these tools don't show you conflicts with other devices in the same spectrum (including some cordless phones). So don't trust them blindly. They might show that Channel 1 is empty, but there could still be other devices on the same frequency that will cause more conflicts than another router on the same higher channel would.

I bought a 5 GHz router, and said to heck with all the interference from neighbours. I'm the only one who has one so far.

I use it on my iPhone, it works great

That works fine as long as all of the equipment that you will use it with also supports the higher band. Sadly, that is not the case for most people so they still need to be concerned about crowding on the lower band. Also, when buying a dual band router it is important to know that some will work on both bands simultaneously while others will only work on one band at a tine. If you get a dual band unit that only works on one band at a time you can create more extreme conflicts than a whole neighborhood of other wireless users.

It does work on dual bands, but I just use the 5GHz. Nice and quiet!

If you insist on finding who is who in your hood, this is a FREE program for your PC. Maybe Mac too?????
Detects 2.4 and 5 Ghz

InSSIder: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

You're very late to the party... Look up. Waaay up!^^^^

Oh well, I have an excuse. I have sometimers disease.
Sometimes I remember and sometimes I forget.

Just don't forget the anniversary. I'd hate to see your obit here.

I'm flying solo!!!

I have both and find that InSSIder detects far more networks than WiFi Analyzer. Sitting in my living room WiFi Analyzer finds the 3 network in my house. InSSIder finds those three plus 4 others with marginal signal.

WiFi Analyzer is fine for most uses but, if you want more in-depth analysis (plus the ability to locate 5 GHz networks) go with InSSIder.

I worked for a number of years in the Wi-Fi racket.

On 2.4 GHz, as folks have pointed out, the three non-overlapping channels are 1, 6, and 11 in the U.S.

In other than rural environments, chances are these (and most other) 2.4 GHz channels are crowded. There are also other devices operating on the 2.4 GHz band, such as microwave ovens and myriad cordless devices including cordless phones, Bluetooth, and audio/video links. Some of the newer whole-house wireless audio systems can blanket Wi-Fi channels really well!

So folks are moving to the 5 GHz band. This is a great idea, particularly if you can fully support 11n connection speeds.

But to get those speeds, you need to plan. You need to do surveys, both physical and spectrum-wise to find the best place to put your Wi-Fi gear, again, both in terms of physical location, and channel use.

You should also have a gigabit wired Ethernet connection to your servers and Internet connection to make use of 11N and simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi operation.

In our home, the Internet cable box goes to a router which feeds a managed gigabit switch. The dual-band router, file servers, and computers all connect to the gigabit switch. This kind of configuration means the Internet link can run at full speed while the rest of the network is also handling traffic, for example from a server to a laptop, desktop to a printer, kids streaming music from the server or Internet, and so on.

Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi lets you segregate devices. Devices capable of supporting both 5GHz and 2.4 GHz bands should prefer 5, particularly if they can take advantage of 11n transfer rates. That leaves the older, slower devices on 2.4, out of the way of the high-speed devices on 5. That way everyone is happy.

Except maybe the neighbors in a dense environment, as now you're using 2 channels on 2 bands rather than just 1 channel. But there's a lot more room on 5, and its shorter range allows for more channel re-use than on 2.4.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it's like building anything you want to last -- the planning pays off.

I worked for a number of years in the Wi-Fi racket.

On 2.4 GHz, as folks have pointed out, the three non-overlapping channels are 1, 6, and 11 in the U.S.

In other than rural environments, chances are these (and most other) 2.4 GHz channels are crowded. There are also other devices operating on the 2.4 GHz band, such as microwave ovens and myriad cordless devices including cordless phones, Bluetooth, and audio/video links. Some of the newer whole-house wireless audio systems can blanket Wi-Fi channels really well!

So folks are moving to the 5 GHz band. This is a great idea, particularly if you can fully support 11n connection speeds.

But to get those speeds, you need to plan. You need to do surveys, both physical and spectrum-wise to find the best place to put your Wi-Fi gear, again, both in terms of physical location, and channel use.

You should also have a gigabit wired Ethernet connection to your servers and Internet connection to make use of 11N and simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi operation.

In our home, the Internet cable box goes to a router which feeds a managed gigabit switch. The dual-band router, file servers, and computers all connect to the gigabit switch. This kind of configuration means the Internet link can run at full speed while the rest of the network is also handling traffic, for example from a server to a laptop, desktop to a printer, kids streaming music from the server or Internet, and so on.

Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi lets you segregate devices. Devices capable of supporting both 5GHz and 2.4 GHz bands should prefer 5, particularly if they can take advantage of 11n transfer rates. That leaves the older, slower devices on 2.4, out of the way of the high-speed devices on 5. That way everyone is happy.

Except maybe the neighbors in a dense environment, as now you're using 2 channels on 2 bands rather than just 1 channel. But there's a lot more room on 5, and its shorter range allows for more channel re-use than on 2.4.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it's like building anything you want to last -- the planning pays off.

On, never mind. You did.