NetSurveyor is a free wireless network discovery software that collects and processes information about wireless access points in real time. The program can be used for multiple purposes, including:

• Making sure the wireless network is properly set up, that antennas and wireless receivers are positioned for maximum efficiency and reliability.
• Troubleshooting an existing wireless network, for instance if users connected to it experience poor network performance or interruptions.
• Analyzing all existing wireless networks in the vicinity.

The software scans for wireless access points and traffic on startup. All access points that it discovers are displayed in a list at the top.

All are listed with their SSID, visibility, MAC address, channel, beacon strength, encryption, signal quality and various other parameters. Graphs below visualize the data. The graphs are divided into tabs in the interface. This includes channel usage and a channel heatmap, a channel spectogram and access point timecourse and differentials.

NetSurveyor is a diagnostic tool that falls under the category of WiFi Scanners or 802.11 Network Discovery Tools. The best known in this category is NetStumbler. A discovery tool reports the Service Set Identifier (SSID) for each wireless network it detects, along with the channel used by the access point (AP) servicing that network. The way this works is that roughly every 100 mSec an AP sends an “I’m here” beacon – and the discovery tool (running on your laptop and using its 802.11 wireless adapter, also known as a station or STA) picks-up that beacon and adds the SSID to its list of known wireless networks. In addition, the discovery tool reports the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) for each AP, which is roughly an indication of how close the AP is to your current location (i.e. how close it is to the client STA). Just to be clear, the RSSI reflects the strength of the beacon as received by the STA – it is not an indication of performance.

It is possible to select some or all wireless access points for inclusion in the graph. Many information go beyond what Pc users need to configure their wireless network properly. These information aim at professionals who need to configure larger wireless networks or troubleshoot networks in business environments.

NetSurveyor records data all the time. It is possible to pause the scanning at any time. The program supports the generation of pdf reports under File > Create Report.

The basic information provided by the software are beneficial to all users who want to set up or troubleshoot a wireless network. Especially the signal strength quality and channel display is helpful in this regard.

Interested users can download NetSurveyor from the developer website.

Update: The program appears to require the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.

How is Windows distinguishing between the different network types? Which features or functionality are blocked or available under each network?

Here is what the network set up screen reads:

Home network: If all computers on this network are at your home, and you recognize them, this is a trusted home network. Don’t choose this for public places such as coffee shops or airports.

Work network: If all the computers on this network are at your workplace, and you recognize them, this is a trusted work network. Don’t choose this for public places such as coffee shops or airports.

Public network: If you don’t recognize all the computers on the network, for example, you’re in a coffee shop or airport, or you have mobile broadband), this is a public network, and is not trusted

Whenever you connect to a network, a network location needs to be selected. Windows based on this selection assigns a network discovery state to the network. To make it simple: Network discovery affects if a computer can be seen and see other computers on the network.

Windows supports three different network discovery stages: On, Off or Custom.

Next to seeing and being seen in a network, network discovery handles file sharing, public folder sharing, printer sharing and media sharing in the network. Users who select the custom option can enable or disable specific sharing and discovery features.

Microsoft notes that “network discovery requires that the dnscache, fdrespub, ssdpsrv, and upnphost services are started, that the Windows Firewall exception for network discovery is enabled, and that other firewalls are not interfering with network discovery”.

Network Discovery is only enabled on Home and Work networks, and not on public networks. The selection here has an impact on which services and features are available.

But what is the difference between home and work networks then, if both support network discovery? Home networks support the Homegroup feature, making it possible to create and join Homegroups if supported by the operating system edition. Work networks on the other hand cannot create or join Homegroups.

The safest choice, when it comes to networking, is the public network. But this is only the best choice if the sharing options are not needed, and if the computer does not need to be connected to (or create) a Homegroup.

Display The Windows Network Location

You can check your current network location type under Windows 7 the following way:

Click on the start orb and select Control Panel from the Windows Start Menu. Click View Network Status and Tasks.

You see a list of all networks the computer is currently active on, and whether that network location is set to home, work or public.

Change The Network Location

You can change the network location at any time. Just click on the current location in the Network and Sharing Center listing in the Control Panel to open the Set Network Location screen again.

Fing can be run with a single command from the command line or started in interactive mode which basically consists of a series of questions and simple answers provided by the user. The first question for example after starting the interactive mode is about the mode the software should run in. Options are discovery, scan or infos.

• Discovery: Will start the network discovery module. The user has to pick a network adapter and answer several additional questions. Fing will generate a network discovery report in the end.
• Scan: Provides the means to scan a remote host, will display ports, services and firewalls running on that server.
• Infos: Displays information about local and remote networks.

Fing offers a selection of output formats such as text, html or csv that can either be displayed directly in the console or saved in a file on the local computer system.

Verdict:

Fing is a fast network discovery tool for command line junkies. The export functionality and speed are excellent, a graphical user interface would be desirable nevertheless.