Wireless networks are as popular as they are comfortable. Only your WiFi has to function properly and that's where things sometimes go wrong. Acrylic Wi-Fi Home maps your wireless environment and helps you troubleshoot.
Acrylic Wi-Fi Home
Language English
OS Windows Vista/7/8/10
Website acrylicwifi.com 6 Score 60
- Pros
- Separate graphs 2.4 and 5 GHz
- Clear information and graphs
- Negatives
- Limitations in Free Version
There can be a lot of bummers that disrupt the proper functioning of your wireless network, such as a weak signal or a neighboring network operating on the same channel as your own network. Acrylic detects your own network and that of your neighbors and gives you the necessary feedback. Good to know: uncheck the box during installation if you don't want the tool to send anonymous usage reports.
Feedback
As soon as you have started the program, an overview of all detected wireless networks will appear. At the top a textual overview, at the bottom in the form of live graphs. In the top panel you will see various information about those networks. In order, these are SSID, MAC address of the wireless router or access point, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), channel, Wi-Fi protocol (802.11 b, g, n, …), maximum speed of the wireless network, encryption method used ( WEP, WPA, WPA2, …), WPS availability, manufacturer of the router or access point, the time the tool picked up the signal for the first and last time, and the network type (ad hoc or infrastructure).
It is useful to know that an RSSI value of, for example, -40 is better than a value of -70 or higher, where in practice it is often the case that a value higher than -60 often means a shaky connection. Furthermore, it is a good idea to set your router or access point (at least within the 2.4 GHz band) to a channel that is as far away from that of your neighbors as possible. If that is channel 6, for example, then preferably set channel 1 or 11 yourself.
Mode
In the simple display mode you get some visual feedback in the form of a star rating, but that is not much. It is better to enable the 'Advanced Mode'. You will then see graphs of access points both within the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
Acrylic Wi-Fi offers a few extra features, including a monitor mode and WireShark integration, but these are reserved for the paid Pro version.
Conclusion
Acrylic Wi-Fi Home quickly shows the most important information about your own wireless network and that of your neighbors. The meaning of this information and which interventions may be indicated, however, is entirely in the hands of the user.
