Contents.
- Introduction and Background
- Features
- Import
- CSV File
- iPerf
- Show all SSID's and BSSID's
- Show Connected SSID's and BSSID's
- Ping
Introduction and Background.
Wifi Ping is a wireless testing and diagnostics tool which runs on windows computers.
Why did I write this software?
I was called into a customer’s site that was having problems with an application they used disconnecting form their servers when they were walking around the building and into different rooms. The client advised that they had walked around running a continuous ping to their server and they were getting lots of ping drops or being disconnected from the wireless network.
The building was multiple levels with over 100 APs.
The questions that I asked myself
Were the packets being dropped when the wireless client is roaming from one AP to another when the client is walking around. How do I know what AP I’m connected to? So I started to write WiFi Ping.
I went in to the customer’s site and started to ping their server with WiFi Ping and walked around the areas of the building that the customer had done their testing. I carried floor plans of the customer’s site and marked at each spot with the Location ID from the WiFi Ping Tool that had either a BSSID change or large amounts of Dropped Pings. Once I got back into work I went through the logs and looked at each of the floor plans that I had marked.
What were my findings?
After looking over the floor plans and the logs I found the following information.
- When walking around, the customers wireless devices (Laptops) were not roaming to AP’s that were closer and the signal and RSSI were low.
- When the customers devices did roam sometimes it connected at 2.4Ghz instead of 5Ghz, sometimes it connected to an AP that was either 1 or 2 floors above or below where I was testing even though there was an AP less than 5 meters away.
My Solution to help resolve the customers issue was.
- AP’s maximum power levels should be lowered.
- Some of the 2.4Ghz radios should be turned off.
- A Channel plan needs to be put in place
- Wireless rates need to be modified
Features:
- Importing of BSSID’s to AP Names and AP Location’s.
- iPerf Server and Client.
- Ping
- Show all SSID’s and BSSID’s.
- Show Connected SSID’s and BSSID’s
- Logging.
- Graphing
Import:
BSSID to AP Name. This allows you to import a list of BSSID’s with the associated AP name so you can see what AP you are connected to.
There are two types of imports that can be done.
Once you have imported the file you will need to select which columns contain the BSSID , AP Name and the AP’s Location (Optional)
Aruba (show ap bss-table) Export
The Export just needs to be saved as a text file
CSV File:
The CSV file does not require Headers. The BSSID , AP_Name and Location columns can be in any order in the CSV file. The Location column is optional.
Example: 40:e3:d6:68:e2:30,tttchcap10,Main Office near Door
When importing from a CSV file you can add a location of where the AP is located. This will show in the log files generated by WiFi Ping when running.
Note: You do not need to import any files for WiFi Ping to work.
iPerf:
iPerf is found under the Tools Menu.
There is a built in iPerf Server and iPerf Client. The iPerf Data Collected can be saved to a file.
Show all SSID's and BSSID's:
Show all SSID’s and BSSID’s is found under the Tools Menu.
This shows all SSID’s seen by the wireless client.
Information displayed includes SSID, BSSID, RSSI, Signal and Channel. The Data can be Refreshed and Exported.
Show Connected SSID's and BSSID's:
Show Connected SSID’s and BSSID’s is found under the Tools Menu.
You must be conneted to a SSID for this to work.
- This shows information about the SSID that the wireless client is currently connected to.
- Information displayed includes SSID, BSSID, RSSI, Signal and Channel.
- The Access Point that the wireless Client is connected to will be highlighted in blue. If you walk around and connect to a different access point then the new AP will become highlighted.
- The data shown is continuously updating until you select “Show Connected SSID’s and BSSID’s” again from under the tools menu.
- New BSSID’s will appear in the Graphs as you move around and connect to different AP’s or Radios
Note: There is no logging in Show Connected SSID’s and BSSID’s.
Ping:
To use the Ping you must be connected to a wireless SSID.
- Enter an IP Address or Hostname that is accessible from the Wireless network.
- Set the Ping Speed that you wish to use.
- Check or un-Check the Don’t Log Ping Drops, un-Checking this stops the ping drops being shown on the display and writing them to the log file. The number of pings sent, dropped and percentage will still be shown under the Ping Information.
- Set a Directory and filename for the log files. All filenames will be appended with the current date and time. If this has not been set the Default directory will be C:\temp and the Default filename will be Wifi-Ping-date-time.csv
- Click the Start Ping button and it will start logging data to the display and log file.
If you start walking around it will log when the wireless client changes to a new AP or Radio. The screen will flash Red on any changes.
Information displayed includes
Reason (Started, Stopped, Timeout), SSID
Current BSSID, Current RSSI, Current Signal, Current Channel, Current Speed
Previous BSSID, Previous RSSI, Previous Signal, Previous Channel, Previous Speed and Time.
The same information is written to the log file but also includes the Location (if one was imported)
If anyone is interested in a copy please send me a private message and I’ll send you a link to the software.
Any feedback or Improvements would be most welcome