NetSpot 2.x requires a MacBook with Wi-Fi running Mac OS 10.6.x (Snow Leopard), 10.7.x (Lion), 10.8.x (Mountain Lion), or 10.9.x (Mavericks), or 10.10.x (Yosemite), or 10.11.x (El Capitan).
You can use a desktop Mac to run the program, but you need to be able to move it without shutting it down to complete the area scan. Theoretically, you could put your desktop Mac and monitor on a media cart and hook them up to a portable power pack (or a very long extension cord) but there is, of course, the risk of accident when moving expensive equipment around. We would love to create a version of NetSpot for iPad and iPhone, but at the moment Apple does not provide any official Wi-Fi SDK for iOS developers.
NetSpot is compatible with standard 802.11a/b/g/n/ac wireless network adapters that support AirPort interface; we are planning to support external Wi-Fi adapters in a future update. Be sure that your laptop’s wireless card supports the wireless modes and channels you need to scan. To check your card type, hold down the Option (⌥) key, click on the Apple menu, select System Information, and then select WiFi under Network.
FAQ: If I buy a new MacBook for WiFi site surveys with NetSpot, would it help if I got the maximum available configuration (maximum RAM and higher CPU speed)?
Higher CPU speed will positively influence the speed of the visualizations compilation, so you will see coverage heatmaps generated faster. The more RAM in the computer running NetSpot, the larger the maps you will be able to load without any performance slowdowns. However, we have tested NetSpot even on older MacBooks (from 2008), and it works fine — just a bit slower.