Software based WIFI Spectrum Analyzer

[Arif Amran]

Hi All,

I need suggestion from the community.

I have to install WIFI spectrum recorder into my company's vehicle. The purpose is to record WIFI spectrum along the path based on the vehicle assignment, and download the data for every 1 month for analyzing at workshop.

The best is to avoid any additional hardware due to the cost constraints. I can use available server installed in the vehicle.

Any suggestion or design that I can refer to?

Thanks in advance.

[ammahend]

what kind of WiFi spectrum data are you recording 802.11 or something else like cellular ?

can you elaborate your use case a little more like what are you trying to accomplish ? 

[Arif Amran]

yes, it is 802.11, 5Ghz band. 

we are providing Wi-Fi to the customer in public places thus as part of performance management, we would like to record and map all signal available within the same band regardless the source. our plan is to install spectrum recorder at our vehicle to collect those data. 

the requirements are;1) all signal within 5Ghz band can be picked up 2) data can be stored up to 1 month

preferably, no additional hardware except simple antenna as signal pick up point for the recorder.

thank you!!

[ammahend]

Thanks for clarification, there are several tools, one important thing to consider is 5Ghz range has 25 non-overlapping channel (here in the US, check your country specifics if you are not local), if you set the scan to non-overlapping channels only,  ideally you want to scan all of them in an AP range every time to get accurate result, at bare minimum I would consider 250ms per channel, which make it to 6.250 seconds for 25 non-overlapping channels (lets say 7 seconds to give some extra room), you have to make sure you drive slow enough that your tools has time to scan all channels, if you can do that while drive in the area, then you might get accurate result. Few tools are recommended below already, ideally Ekahua is industry standard for most 802.11 survey.

If you want to scan entire 5GHz spectrum, and not just non-overlapping channels, then only option is stop and go, as it will take much longer to scan all channels, so plan accordingly.

[Arif Amran]

Thank you for the suggestion! Appreciate that.

[M02@rt37]

Hello @Arif Amran,

To implement a WiFi spectrum recorder without additional hardware costs, you can utilize a software-defined radio (SDR) solution. SDR allows you to use existing hardware, such as a laptop or server with a compatible wireless NIC, to capture and record WiFi spectrum data.

[Arif Amran]

yeah. I am looking at this option now. do you mind share me any reference? appreciate for any viable or existing design that has been proven reliable.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@Arif Amran wrote:
The purpose is to record WIFI spectrum along the path based on the vehicle assignment, and download the data for every 1 month for analyzing at workshop.

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Google the term "wardriving".  See where the results take you.

[Arif Amran]

the system requirement as stated above is to record Wi-Fi spectrum for performance management, eg analyzing channel density. it will not have the capability to establish or even initiate a communication with the other party. 

[JPavonM]

You can collect this information using a Rapsberry Pi running a Debian-like distribution, with 1-2 USB dongles to scan all channels and record only the beacons, that is the only traffic you would need to know the network specifications.

If you use a Mac, you can deploy a remote sensor and use Intuitibits Wi-Fi Explorer to connect remotely and gather that information. You can find additional information about remote capturing there as well.

Here is a list of supported dongles to be used with Linux to perform packet monitoring. (I use to use D-Link DWA-182 rev C1)

[Arif Amran]

Many thanks for the suggestion!