MetaGeek Moves To Pay Model For New inSSIDer

[remixedcat]

Also you gotta think how clients would feel, if you told them you have to pay for something to help the tech out then they will not like you. and having to buy it for thousands of clients really cuts into profits.

 

[L&LD]

Not picking on inssider specifically, but unless software like this can show actual utilization rates of each channel in addition to how many ssid's there are per band, this is just a superficial look at the wifi around you.

I continued to use the free version when the pay model came around, but eventually found that it was easier and faster to test the 3 control channels on the 2.4GHz band to find what was the best for the customer in their specific environment. (I do the same for the 5GHz band but for many environments, it is not as critical as testing each control channel of the 2.4GHz band is).

Now, using even the free version of inssider or other similar programs is just a waste of time. Most of my customers run the Asus routers I recommend for them and they have a site survey built in, if I do need that info at all.

To use and pay for this mostly trivial information is not good use of your time or money at any price (even free) in most situations when tuning for maximum wireless network performance.

 

[thiggins]

but eventually found that it was easier and faster to test the 3 control channels on the 2.4GHz band to find what was the best for the customer in their specific environment. (

How do you test this?

 

[L&LD]

How do you test this?

Choose each control channel with a hard reboot of the router and a reboot of the computers that are used to test with.

Run an Ookla and / or DSL speed test in addition to copying a large file (over 1GB) from 3 or 4 common locations to a wireless client (usually the customer's) from a computer wired directly to the router.

Each control channel is marked not only for maximum download speed and times, but also by how responsive the network is too. The above takes less than half an hour maximum for the 2.4GHz band and quickly shows the channel that is best overall in the specific environment tested.

I have repeated this for customers when something changes either for them or their neighbors, but usually, this process is a one and done process for almost everyone.

The 5GHz band can be just as fast to test for each control channel one by one. But usually, if a customer has an issue in the high part of the band (Channel 161, for example) I try a couple of the lower bands for them (or vice versa).

Getting info from little 'info' utilities like inssider in this process just confuses and slows things down. And has never actually picked a good channel for me in over the year and a half I was using it. Just like when training for a sport the best process is to actually do the sport, tuning a wireless network needs to be performed and tested while it is being used in a normal / expected way.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks, L&LD. Sounds like a simple, practical method to gauge actual available throughput.

You're using the internet speed test as just a simple way to measure throughput vs. running multiple apps like LAN Speed Test?

Can you also define "control channel"?

 

[L&LD]

Practical has always proved better than theoretical, especially in wifi. Plus, the customers see that all possibilities were exhausted and either better equipment, a better location of their existing equipment or a new location is their next best move to increased wifi performance.

Nobody I know uses their network with LAN Speed Test. They simply download files from the internet (the two links I provided) and move files from a computer or NAS to theirs.

The control channels I'm talking about are 1, 6, and 11 for the 2.4GHz band. The other channels as you know are used when 40MHz width is available and if used as the primary channel will be disrupting (and be disrupted) by both control channels on either side for all the WiFi routers in the immediate area.

By specifying a channel (i.e. do not use Auto mode for the primary channel) and ensuring it is one of the primary control channels (with the least overlap of the other channels in the 2.4GHz band), this ensures that the wireless network will give at least adequate, if not excellent performance depending on the amount of wifi congestion and / or any other radio interference in the immediate area.

Thanks, L&LD. Sounds like a simple, practical method to gauge actual available throughput.

You're using the internet speed test as just a simple way to measure throughput vs. running multiple apps like LAN Speed Test?

Can you also define "control channel"?

 

[sfx2000]

Might consider NetSurveyor - and it's free...

http://nutsaboutnets.com/netsurveyor-wifi-scanner/

 

[sfx2000]

While you're there - also consider NetStress, also by NutsAboutNets

http://nutsaboutnets.com/netstress/

 

[Chrysalis]

Well, it's more about how much value someone puts on a product - in the new App economy, every seems to want everything for free...

well I have 2 issues reall.y

first its been free for so long, people wont react well in that scenario.

second how many dev's get too greedy. IF they said pay £5 you get to run it on as many devices as you want and it will work for life, no problem. But if its something like pay £10 per device and get just one year of updates plus it needs online activation, I say no thanks.

 

[remixedcat]

yeah if InSSIDer was 5 for UL devices per account then it would be fine just like LST...