To do that open a Windows command prompt with the shortcut [Windows R] [cmd] [enter] and type in the command ping -t www.google.com. This will ping Google and display the time it takes. If you see spikes like in the screenshot below you are experiencing wireless lags.

The easiest way to fix wireless lags is by downloading and running Wireless Zero Shutdown when running Windows XP or Vista Anti Lag when running Windows Vista.

Running either of the software programs will stop the Windows service from scanning for new wireless networks regularly as soon as a wireless connection has been established.

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The wifi-wiz interface is easy to use and can save your networks so that reconnecting is simple. This is a boon for anyone who has had issues getting wifi working on a Debian-based laptop.

Getting and Installing

Installing wifi-wiz is simple. Download the compressed .deb file from the creators’ site. Once the file is on your machine open up a terminal window, change into the directory where the file was saved, issue the command:

tar xvf wifi-wiz.tar

and then issue the command (as root):

dpkg -i wifi-wiz.deb

which will install the package.

Running wifi-wiz

Once Wifi-wiz is installed you wan start the application with the command wifi-wiz. NOTE: You will have to have root privileges in order run the software.

Wifi-wiz Main Window

When wifi-wiz starts you will see a very simple, easy to navigate window where all of the action takes place.

The first thing you should do is click on the Scan button which will scan the area for wireless networks. When the scan is finished all you have to do is select the network you want to connect to, configure that network (with which protocol you will connect, what wireless security type, the security key for the network, and if you want to set the DNS servers. Once you have the settings for your network done all you have to do is click Connect and your laptop will quickly connect to the configured access point.

Saved Networks

Once you have a network saved in Wifi-wiz you can click on the manage tab to change any configurations necessary. From this tab you can also delete a network and disconnect from a network.

Settings

From the settings tab there is an important setting you can take care of. If you want to run the wifi-wiz daemon at boot you can set this option here. You can also set the interval between connection checks for the daemon. Once you make any changes to your connection properties make sure you click the Save Network button.

Final Thoughts

I have used many wireless device managers on Linux. I have also tried a number of wireless device managers on this particular laptop. The one manager for debian systems that works with the most consistency is Wifi-wiz. It’s simple to use, reliable, and (in some cases – such as Elive) is the only option that works.

If you are looking for a good wireless manager for Debian download Wifi-wiz and give it a go. And, if you’re up to the task, create an rpm from the deb so this application can be used on more distributions.

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WiFi SiStr (Wi-Fi Signal Strength) displays and logs the signal strength of the wireless connection. This can be helpful if you want to find out why the wireless connection drops frequently or if you want to make sure that the signal strength is sufficient all the time.

The signal strength is displayed in real time and the statistics can be used to analyze a connection over time.

The application is compatible to Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 but incompatible to Windows Vista currently. The .net framework 1.1 is required to run the software.

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The commands to backup and restore wireless network profiles on the command prompt are netsh wlan export profile name=”name” folder=”folder” and netsh wlan add profile filename=”name” just in case you are asking. Regular users however will never discover this possibility and that’s where Wireless Migrator comes into play. Actually it’s of course also helpful for tech savvy users who want to speed up the process.

The software comes as an executable named BackupWireless.exe that automatically creates the backup RestoreWireless.wnb of all wireless network profiles upon execution. Executing RestoreWireless.wnb will restore the wireless network profile on the computer.

The tool wants to register the wnb file extension at first start. To remove those Registry settings use the switch BackupWireless.exe /remove. To restore a wireless network profile without registered file extension use the command BackupWireless.exe RestoreWireless.wnb. A tool cannot be easier than this one, great work.

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It displays a radar like image with different colors dots. Green dots mark free wireless connections while red and yellow ones mark inaccessible ones. Once a green spot has been discovered by the software it automatically tries to connect to that Wireless access point to access the Internet.

It’s opening the default browser and loading a test website. A message stating the success will be shown if the connection was successful. It is really amazing how easy it is to find open wireless access points in towns. Should be harder if you are living in a rural area though.

I would not advise to check the mail from such a spot though unless encryption is being used. It’s not likely but possible that someone is using the open access point to snoop on the data of everyone who is connecting to it. Easy WiFi radar is available for Windows and Pocket PCs.

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