Visualize, optimize and troubleshoot your wireless networks with NetSpot

NetSpot is a powerful, functional app designed to help you get the most out of the wireless networks around you.

The app has two major areas of functionality: a WiFi scanner that gives you in-depth information about your wireless environment and an analyzer that helps you get the most out of an individual network. NetSpot provides a wealth of analytics, giving you clear graphical representations and letting you export information seamlessly.

Whether at work or at home, NetSpot is a great resource for squeezing extra speed out of your network.

Setting up a network scan

To analyze the potential of a particular network, switch the app’s function to the Survey option using the slider bar at the top of the window, then click “Start a new survey.” Fill out the fields with information about the room you’d like to scan.

Choose the method you’d like to use to map out your space (options include uploading an existing image, drawing one from scratch, and using a pre-loaded sample) and click Continue. Decide whether you’d like to do an active scan, which tests upload and download speeds on the networks you can access.

Finally, set up your Mac in three locations around your space and click the corresponding point on your map. Click Stop Scan to build a visualization.

Analyzing your scan

Once the app has generated a visualization of your wireless environment, you can analyze it further.

Use the drop-down menu at the bottom of the app window to display a range of information about your networks, including signal-to-interference ratios. This menu also includes more in-depth options for active scans.

If you need to share or save the results of your scan, click the Export button to generate a range of reports based on your results.

Discovering your environment

Click the slider button over to the Discover function to display a comprehensive breakdown of your wireless surroundings. Each network is identified by name and analyzed according to a set of metrics.

You can click the top of each column to sort the entire list by any of these metrics. The drop-down menu at the bottom of the screen lets you set the scan interval at which the app will search your environment.

You can also use the filter bar at the bottom right to narrow the list, which can help with side-by-side comparisons.

Scans in detail

The app’s Details view lets you take an even more in-depth look at the networks around you. Next to each network is a check box. Click the box to add that network to the comparison. Use the Details button to open the comparison window: each network you’ve checked will appear as a different colored line.

Click the different tabs in the window to see different aspects of the networks. Scroll left and right over time to review how networks compare over time.

With NetSpot in Setapp, you can take a bird’s-eye view of your wireless networks, or get into the nitty-gritty. Find out how your network compares with those around you and close the gaps.