The application runs on Mac OS X 10.7 and later. It provides a fully functional trial for 15 days. Here are the individual reviews:ĪirRadar 3 is a basic Wi-Fi stumbler sold by Koingo Software, which also develops other apps for Windows and Mac. On the other hand, it is the only one reviewed that’s supposed to fully support hidden SSIDs. The only one we’d caution against is KisMAC2 because it lacks some basic functionality and documentation. Each product in this review has pros and cons, depending on your particular needs. There’s no big winner or loser in this review, but we did like WiFi Explorer as a basic stumbler. Though we reviewed KisMAC2, we were only able to utilize the internal AirPort card of the MacBook, thus unable to test out the hidden SSID capability. This is why I’d caution against solely using a Mac-based stumbler when surveying, troubleshooting, and auditing Wi-Fi networks.įrom what we could gather, it appears some Wi-Fi tools that support non-AirPort drivers will recognize and even reveal hidden SSIDs, such as KisMAC2 and Kismet. However, this doesn’t help when you don’t know if they exist. By contrast, most Windows-based stumblers would typically list it with a blank/unknown SSID.īut there’s an exception some Mac-based stumblers will show the hidden SSID and its details after you connect to the SSID. This means a hidden SSID usually won’t appear on the network list at all. The Mac Edition of inSSIDer Office was still in beta, but it looks nearly identical to the Windows Edition, which we recently reviewed.ĭue to the current limitations of Apple’s CoreWLAN API, most Wi-Fi stumblers for Mac OS X don’t fully support hidden SSIDs. We also wanted to include AirGrab WiFi Radar, inSSIDer Office, and Kismet, but AirGrab and the popular open source Kismet program wouldn’t work on our MacBook Air (13-inch, early 2014) running OS X 10.10. Pricing ranges from free to $149, all at least require Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and most require an internal AirPort Wi-Fi card. The six products we looked at are: AirRadar 3, iStumbler, KisMAC2, NetSpot, WiFi Explorer, and WiFi Scanner. Now, here’s our take on wireless stumblers that run on Mac OS X for all you Apple fans. Thus, without even trying it, I'll give it four stars based on the majority of reviewers who like it.We recently reviewed low-cost Windows-based Wi-Fi stumblers. Cheap and expensive are subjective values at best, having nothing to do with how well an app works. If an app worked well enough to get a four star rating when it was free, it's utility doesn't drop significantly if it now costs a little or a lot. They think they'll look better by ragging on you. They seem to miss the irony that they are being every bit as mean spirited as they accuse you of being. You may think you can do without such people as customers, but they will frag you on websites like this one anyway. I've seen complaints when an app went from free to just $5. One may quibble over the price, but the principle remains. Many people are ungrateful and think, though they get paid for their work, you have no right to do the same. The feedback on this page should serve as a warning to any developer who wants to start charging for an app they previously offered for free. Plus if you pull down the Wireless Diagnostics “Window” menu, there’s other cool things in the app’s toolbox like a sniffer function. ![]() Click on “Scan Now” in the lower right and voila, Apple’s cool little app finds all the 2.4 and 5GHz networks within range and the first column on the left makes suggestions on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels which are least used (Best choices if you don’t want to let Apple automatically select an appropriate channel). ![]() If all I’m really wanting is something to help deconflict from other Wi-Fi networks in the area, wouldn’t Apple’s included Wireless Diagnostics tool work just fine? And save me 25 bucks to boot now that the iStumbler developer has decided to start charging to put a pretty wrapper on something Apple already provides for free? Before I get flamed, of course I know iStumbler does other things but I’m just interested in identifying the local Wi-Fi networks and their channels.ĭo a spotlight search on “Wireless Diagnostics” and open it up.
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