Wi-Fi is Up and Running? Time to Optimize Your Network
Many users of Wi-Fi hotspots and home wireless networks know how to use software applications to find signals to connect to, but an all-important next step is to make sure your connection is optimized. Quite a few of the best software utilities for Wi-Fi network optimization are free, and in this post I’ll round up several of the best ones.
My favorite of all Wi-Fi optimization utilities is Qcheck, from IXIA (for the free install click the Install Qcheck link). This is a rich application for all sorts of IP performance testing. If you have a home Wi-Fi network, it can help you optimize your placement of access points and routers, and more. I especially like the accurate measurement of streaming throughput I get when doing things like roaming around the house watching video.
Qcheck runs through a battery of tests to quantify network response time, throughput and streaming performance. On a home Wi-Fi network, some of the performance you get is limited by the speed ceiling your broadband provider gives you, while other tasks run either faster or slower depending on issues such as how far away from your wireless signal you typically are. Qcheck delivers enough information to help you optimize Wi-Fi throughout your home.
While Qcheck is a great, thorough testing tool, I also like to use some of the quick and easy Wi-Fi utilities. WiFi Meter is a widget that gives you a view of what looks like a battery, but it expresses what kind of Wi-Fi range you’re getting as you roam around a home (see below). It’s free.
In addition, JiWire is a tool I use all the time for gauging everything from my Wi-Fi signal strength to my level of security protection. It’s also good for finding Wi-Fi hotspots wherever you are. You can use it on cell phones, an iPhone, Windows or the Mac. ALl the various versions are available free.
Finally, if you’re a Mac user and especially if you have an Airport Extreme router, the AirPort Utility is your best friend when troubleshooting, configuring and testing your Wi-Fi network. It’s in the OS X operating system, and is very easy to use.
For much more on optimizing your Wi-Fi network and tools you can use with it, check out our Ultimate Guide to Wi-Fi. Also, if you haven’t yet upgraded your network to Draft 802.11n technology, check out some good reasons to do so.
Do you know of any good Wi-Fi optimization tools or tips?
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QCheck, requested twice over four days. no nothing.
With all due respect, Qcheck is not a “rich application for all sorts of IP performance testing”. It provides simple ad-hoc testing of mainly throughput and response time, but nothing advanced. Any decent CS graduate should be able to write test software with more functionality in a day or two, not considering GUI and subtle bugs… It does however share the same software performance endpoints with a more advanced Ixia product that to a certain degree meets that description: IxChariot.
IxChariot is not free, but supports scripting, scheduling, reporting, and emulating network traffic like voip and citrix. Set up a test where you fill 75% of the expected bandwidth with an UDP stream, and then add a few voip pairs and citrix clients on top of that to see how the latency and jitter behaves, etc…
If analyzing networks are part of your job description, IxChariot could be a worthwile investment :-)
disclaimer: I work for an Ixia distributor
Randy, please contact me regarding the problem with QCheck. I test the web interface frequently but we still get some complaints from users. I will help you download the utility.
Eric Wenger
Product Manager – IxChariot
Ixia