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I'm looking for a utility that runs on Vista to monitor the different wifi access-points in the neighborhood.

Inssider is nice, but it doesn't seem to show which AP I'm connected to, and neither does it support connecting to another AP by double-clicking on an item in the list.

Does someone know of a similar utility that has those missing features?

Thank you.

5 Answers 5

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WirelessMon will do this, but why do you want to connect to other AP's? Connecting to an AP that is not yours is illegal.

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  • It's legal to connect to my ISP's access-points anywhere (per the contract, each modem shares part of its bandwidth for use by any customer.) Sep 16, 2009 at 8:33
  • More than happy to help.
    – joeqwerty
    Sep 16, 2009 at 11:14
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What's wrong with the one built into Vista? If you show the system tray icon, you will be notified of available wireless connections, and the interface is very convenient/simple to use.

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  • I'd like something more comprehensive that Vista's tray applet, eg. one showing signal strength and updated every minute or so. Sep 16, 2009 at 8:34
  • Vista's feature does show signal strength. Not sure about the update frequency, however.
    – Noldorin
    Sep 16, 2009 at 10:01
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Recommended by Gizmo's freeware:

NetStumbler is a free packet sniffer utility used to locate Wi-Fi networks. It's one of the first tools of its kind and arguably still the best. So much so that it is the standard product used by war-drivers in their perpetual search for free bandwidth via unsecured Wi-Fi networks as well as road-warriors looking to connect their laptops back to the office.

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  • But does it still support new(er) WiFi cards? I remember it as kind of selective. Sep 15, 2009 at 19:01
  • Yes, it looks a bit selective. Funny, normally Gizmo's has good recommendations.
    – harrymc
    Sep 15, 2009 at 19:47
  • Thanks for the tip, but NetStumbler doesn't seem to run on Vista and support connection to 802.11n en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetStumbler Sep 16, 2009 at 8:36
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I've used the free Wireless Net View from nirsoft for ages now, works on XP, Vista, Windows 7 absolutely fine (works on my Win7 64 bit), and needs no installation you just run the exe file, so it's a great one to keep on your USB key of utilities

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You may try Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector, which does:

  • Searching for Wi-Fi networks
  • Managing and troubleshooting Wi-Fi connections
  • Verifying Wi-Fi coverage
  • Locating Wi-Fi devices
  • Detecting rogue APs
  • Available as widgets for Windows Vista, XP, Apple Mac OS X, Desklet for Linux

alt text

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  • Thanks for the tip, but forgot to say that I'd rather a regular application, not a Vista widget. Sep 16, 2009 at 8:34
  • 1
    This IS a regular application, which is also available in widget format.
    – harrymc
    Sep 16, 2009 at 12:12

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