inSSIDer

Genuine geeks, whether professional or casual, need Wi-Fi tools that help troubleshoot WLAN networks. With inSSIDer, MetaGeek has created a gift that keeps on giving. Our award-winning, open-source Wi-Fi scanner software, inSSIDer, is an alternative to network scanners like NetStumbler. One big difference: inSSIDer actually works with Windows Vista, Windows 7, and 64-bit PCs.

Did we mention that it's FREE? you can download inSSIDer today for free and level-up your network scanning and troubleshooting capabilities. Once you give inSSIDer a try, please help us spread the word to the farthest reaches of Geekdom by telling your friends about MetaGeek's free Wi-Fi scanner software that works with the current generation of Windows operating systems.

Watch Tekzilla's review.

inSSIDer scans networks within reach of your computer's Wi-Fi antenna, tracks signal strength over time, and determines their security settings (including whether or not they're password-protected). Previously mentioned NetStumbler has long been a favorite for this sort of functionality, but it doesn't work well with Vista or 64-bit XP. inSSIDer, on the other hand, works like a charm on both Vista and XP, and it's open-source to boot. - LifeHacker

"I really like inSSIDer, which is open source and available to download from MetaGeek. ItÕs a simple tool that graphically displays all the networks visible in your area, along with their relative signal strength.

It also records signal strength over a five-minute period, which is particularly useful in an office environment as laptops pop on and off the network, and intelligent access points adjust their transmission power to match.

IÕve fired up a copy of inSSIDer in several different home and SME environments where the owners were complaining of poor wireless speeds and frequent drops, only to find their wireless router working on exactly the same channel as several of their neighbours, and so all of them were competing for a time-slice of the same frequency.

ItÕs so easy to spot these kinds of problems with a tool such as this, and with a quick change of channel the wireless network suddenly starts working properly again." - PC Pro

Open Source

InSSIDer is open-source software and FREE to download. It's licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. The source code is freely available from our public Subversion repository at http://www.metageek.net/svn/Inssider/trunk/.

We encourage all serious network geeks to contribute their ideas and code to make inSSIDer even better. If you would like to contribute changes to InSSIDer please contact support@metageek.net.

The inSSIDer project was inspired by Charles Putney's Wi-Fi scanner. Norman Rasmussen modified the project to use the the ManagedWifi C# wrapper for the Windows Native WLAN API.

The ManagedWifi Library is licensed under the Lesser GNU Public License, Version 2.1. Source for this library, as modified for use in InSSIDer, is included in the InSSIDer public Subversion repository described above.

Many thanks to Charles and Norman, as well as the ManagedWifi team for getting this project off the ground.

Tyler Adkisson, Joel Carpenter, Philip Smith and Jeff Goff submitted changes to the latest edition of inSSIDer! These changes include GPS support and Netstumbler output.

inSSIDer is FREE, open-source Wi-Fi scanning software. And yet you want to know more. Wow. you truly are our type of geek. Take a look at the features below to see what makes inSSIDer special.

What's Unique about inSSIDer?

  • Compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7 (32 and 64-bit)
  • Uses the Native Wi-Fi API and your current Wireless network card
  • Sort results by Mac Address, SSID, Channel, RSSI and "Time Last Seen"
  • Compatible with most GPS devices (NMEA v2.3 and higher)

How can inSSIDer help me?

  • Inspect your WLAN and surrounding networks to troubleshoot competing access points
  • Track the strength of received signal in dBm over time
  • Filter access points in an easy-to-use format
  • Highlight access points for areas with high Wi-Fi concentration
  • Export Wi-Fi and GPS data to a KML file to view in Google Earth.

 

buy now

Add some bling to your ride with our custom Pimp My inSSIDer Kit. No, the kit won't turn your 1987 AMC Eagle into a 2010 Mercedes S-Class. But it will turn your FREE inSSIDer Wi-Fi scanner software into a Wi-Fi mapping beast.

Everything You Need

We've assembled the perfect tools for the Pimp My inSSIDer Kit, including an antenna, USB wireless adapter and USB GPS. Now you can track more access points even faster, without sacrificing your own wireless connection. Plus, you can export your inSSIDer data into Google Earth quicker and easier.

See how inSSIDer looks in Google Earth

Antenna

  • Magnet mount for external mobile signal reception
  • RP-SMA connection

USB GPS

  • Compatible with inSSIDer and VisiWave
  • USB powered
  • NMEA 0813 V2.2 Protocol
  • WAAS Capable
  • Built-in magnet and non-skid backing

USB Wireless Adapter (Ralink RT3370)

  • 802.11b/g/n Compliant
  • Compatible with All Windows
  • RP-SMA connection for external antennas.

Driver - download the first link

Wi-Spy for Wi-Fi Interference

Sure, our FREE inSSIDer Wi-Fi scanner software can show you information about Wi-Fi traffic, but it's blind to any physical RF issues. And it's those bad-boys that are causing a large percentage of wireless networking problems. Without a robust Wi-Fi tool to examine the physical RF layer, you will only know WHEN things go bad, but never WHY.

That's why MetaGeek developed it's line of Wi-Spy products. These full-featured and award-winning portable spectrum analyzers display all RF activity around you, picking-up wireless networks, microwaves, cordless phones, and anything else that could potentially interfere with your network.

Wi-Spy spectrum analyzers make troubleshooting wireless simple and effective. So while you're here poaching our FREE inSSIDer software, why don't you check out our complete line-up of Wi-Spy tools. We've developed one to cover every possible level of network geek.