NetSpot provides many ways for you to customize the look of your heatmap visualizations. The easiest way to make adjustments is through NetSpot Preferences, as outlined below, but you can also make changes on the fly by using the Visualization Configuration gear icon. Note that with any slider bar in NetSpot, you can hold down the Alt (Option) key and then click either end of the slider bar to get more fine-grained control over the slider placement. Please also note that some of these settings will be for PRO users only.
Heatmap Preferences
By selecting NetSpot > Preferences from the top menu bar, and then selecting the Heatmap tab, you can change the options for each heatmap. The following options are available:
- AP detection proximity: This setting determines which detected access points are shown on the heatmap. It is based on the Signal Level strength of the AP. Move the slider towards -96dBm to include weaker APs, and move it towards -10dBm to filter out the weak ones. The default is -60dBm.
- Heatmap gradient: You have three choices for the color gradient. The first one covers the whole spectrum of the rainbow, with blue representing the most negative results and red representing the most positive ones. The second option has fewer colors (blue is removed) and reverses the spectrum so that red is negative and green is positive. The third has the fewest colors and simply ranges from blue (negative) to red (positive). Note: This setting can also be changed while viewing the heatmap by right-clicking on the color gradient legend.
- Individual Heatmap Settings: By clicking on the drop-down menu under “Heatmap settings for:” you can select any visualization and adjust its settings. Please see the knowledgebase articles on each individual visualization to learn more about the settings for each one. To adjust the Troubleshooting visualization settings, see below.
- Reset all heatmap default settings: Click this button to erase any custom settings and set all visualizations back to their default settings.
Troubleshooting Preferences
By selecting NetSpot > Preferences from the top menu bar, and then selecting the Troubleshooting tab, PRO users can change the options for each troubleshooting heatmap:
- Critical presets for: By clicking the drop-down menu, you can select any troubleshooting visualization and then set the critical levels for it. Please see our Troubleshooting article to learn more about these settings.
- Reset all troubleshooting critical settings: Click this button to erase any custom settings and set all troubleshooting heatmaps back to their default settings.
Survey Preferences
By selecting NetSpot > Preferences from the top menu bar, and then selecting the Survey tab, you will find several more options that affect heatmap appearance. The following options are available:
- Sample points indicator type: This option allows you to change how the sampling point indicators look (the spots where you stopped and took measurements during your survey). You have three choices: None, Simple or Detailed. “Detailed” is the default. Selecting “None” will hide the red data points on the map. Selecting “Simple” will make the data point icons smaller and remove the numbers inside the icons.
- Show data between sample guess areas: When you take a survey sample point, the software samples the area immediately around you. These areas are represented by green circles on your map during an active survey. When your survey is complete, NetSpot’s default is to “fill in” any blank areas between the circles with the software’s best guess as to what the readings would be in those areas. If you wish to turn off this function and leave any blank areas between circles uncolored, then uncheck this box.
The Toggle Menu
The Toggle menu is represented by the sampling point icon in the bottom-right corner of the survey window. Several additional appearance options can be found there:
- Underlying Map: Uncheck to hide the area map. Selecting it again will cause the map to reappear.
- Path: Uncheck to hide the blue lines that connect the data points (showing the path you walked when taking readings). Selecting it again will cause the lines to reappear.
- AP Titles: Uncheck to hide the names of the APs shown on the map. Selecting it again will cause the names to reappear.
- Grey Out Unmeasured Area: Uncheck to prevent the unscanned area from being greyed out. Reselect it to turn the grey back on.