Outdoor mode and AP database (BSSID aliases)

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December 2, 2011 at 8:56 am #1397

slm4996
Participant

What I really would like to see added to this (Great!) app is an outdoor mode. Maybe just the ability to start mapping over an image after you define the scale, but without defining an area?

Also, the ability to apply an alias to the BSSID’s so that identifying individual AP’s is easier. Maybe even a built-in database that we can import our hostnames and BSSID’s into pre-scan?

December 2, 2011 at 9:01 am #1523

slm4996
Participant

Also being able to specify that multiple bssid’s belong to the same physical AP would be great.

December 2, 2011 at 11:35 am #1529

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

slm4996 said: What I really would like to see added to this (Great!) app is an outdoor mode.

Thank you!

slm4996 said: Maybe just the ability to start mapping over an image after you define the scale, but without defining an area?

Can you somehow provide more details of this idea? I really can’t get it what exactly you mean by the outdoor mode…

December 2, 2011 at 12:30 pm #1533

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

slm4996 said: Also, the ability to apply an alias to the BSSID’s so that identifying individual AP’s is easier. Maybe even a built-in database that we can import our hostnames and BSSID’s into pre-scan?

We are considering this.

slm4996 said: Also being able to specify that multiple bssid’s belong to the same physical AP would be great.

Multi-SSID APs will only be supported in NetSpot 2.0+

December 2, 2011 at 12:56 pm #1535

slm4996
Participant

Outdoor mode:
The ability to scan a large area between buildings. The only way I was able to do it using the current setup was to define the greenspace I wanted mapped as a “building”.

Multiple BSSID’s:
Not multi-ssids per AP but rather multiple radios in a single AP. They are currently detected as individual items since you are really only showing SSID+BSSID as identifiers.
I was thinking that using a database we could say that AP “Outside-1” has BSSID(radios) 00:00:00:00:01 and 00:00:00:00:02, etc.
This would be helpful, even if we can’t do multi-bssid only the hostname=bssid portion as it would allow us to easily identify the located/broadcasting AP by a familiar term, the hostname. Currently I have to go and find the BSSID of the broadcasting radio and lookup what hostname/AP it comes from.

December 2, 2011 at 1:02 pm #1536

slm4996
Participant

Also, I am the network administrator for a Higher Education campus. If you would like me to do any feature/debug testing in a real word environment just let me know.

December 2, 2011 at 2:48 pm #1540

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

slm4996 said: The ability to scan a large area between buildings. The only way I was able to do it using the current setup was to define the greenspace I wanted mapped as a “building”.

Can you just load a map of the outside area? Or do you want to have a feature to define non-scanning areas on a map when selecting the perimeter to scan?

slm4996 said: Multiple BSSID’s

I’ll need to discuss this with the team. I’ll get back to you shortly.

slm4996 said: Also, I am the network administrator for a Higher Education campus. If you would like me to do any feature/debug testing in a real word environment just let me know.

Really appreciated! I’ll keep you posted.

December 2, 2011 at 7:50 pm #1541

jerryshenk
Participant

Can’t you just get a google maps shot of the area you’re mapping and use that as your “floor plan”?

There are also tools designed for that…like kismet. Designed to be used outside with a GPS.

December 3, 2011 at 4:54 am #1542

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

jerryshenk said: Can’t you just get a google maps shot of the area you’re mapping and use that as your “floor plan”?

Good and simple idea.

jerryshenk said: There are also tools designed for that…like kismet. Designed to be used outside with a GPS.

This one is a very important point actually! I would like to officially draw everyone’s attention that NetSpot has nothing to do with data sniffers. We would not recommend anyone to use the tool which may lead to potential legal issues. Kismet identifies networks by passively collecting packets. It might be difficult for one to prove that the data collected was used to assess wireless network coverage, and not steal someone’s private data. That is why we do our best to stay apart from sniffers’ functionality, NetSpot collects only the most required information using official Apple’s API and displays it as an interactive heatmap. So, please, don’t recommend sniffers at our forum.

December 5, 2011 at 7:40 am #1547

slm4996
Participant

I did end up using a google maps image for the map, it worked ok. If we could specify multiple “do not map” zones then that might be helpful.

December 13, 2011 at 3:36 pm #1562

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

slm4996 said: Not multi-ssids per AP but rather multiple radios in a single AP. They are currently detected as individual items since you are really only showing SSID+BSSID as identifiers.

Check NetSpot 1.2 for improved networks’ listing.

December 19, 2011 at 8:24 am #1565

slm4996
Participant

The new information displayed is an improvement, it should show the BSSID of the ap as well. I know you can hover over the name to get it but the BSSID is just as or more important to know than the vendor.

Also, and more importantly it needs to be able to link multiple BSSID’s as a single AP. For instance, in this screenshot http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5551808/Screen%20Shot%202011-12-19%20at%208.12.04%20AM.png The first two AP/BSSID’s shown in the list are the same physical access point, the second two are another. I know that there is no reasonable way to detect this, but if you could allow us to manually link them that would help a lot.

It still needs the abliliy to rename or add an alias/hostname to the AP’s.

I will attach a modified screenshot later with some implementation ideas I would like to share.

December 19, 2011 at 8:34 am #1567

slm4996
Participant

Here is an example of what your Discovered AP list might look like if you allowed us to link to BSSID’s and/or supply Hostnames for the Physical AP’s.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5551808/Screen%20Shot%202011-12-19%20at%208.35.26%20AM.png

A little info:
The name “Old Main A” is a name that the user provides, either after the scan or via a form or csv beforehand. This for/csv would only need to columns, AP hostname/alias and BSSID.

The two BSSID’s listed under “Old Main A” are discovered radios that the user either manually linked together, and to the hostname, or auto linked from the pre-filled info.

Does this help you understand my idea?

December 19, 2011 at 12:54 pm #1568

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

slm4996 said: The new information displayed is an improvement, it should show the BSSID of the ap as well. I know you can hover over the name to get it but the BSSID is just as or more important to know than the vendor.

We are thinking of having customizable columns in the sidebar for one of the future releases. Fighting the need for more space there now. Still want to keep the app usable, and not overcrowded with data.

December 19, 2011 at 1:03 pm #1569

Alex – NetSpot
Keymaster

slm4996 said: It still needs the abliliy to rename or add an alias/hostname to the AP’s.

We are planning to add this in NetSpot 2, stay tuned!

slm4996 said: This for/csv would only need to columns, AP hostname/alias and BSSID.

Can you explain what you mean here?

We got your idea in general. And we are actually thinking of having multi-level manual sorting of APs by letting you (a user) use tags. However, this seems not very consistent for now. So, your ideas are surely welcome.
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