Wi-Spy, New Toy That is Worth Mentioning

[alexander]

So yesterday, i have finally received my Wi-Spy by Metageek, after a really long wait, almost 26 hours, it was delivered to my front door from ThinkGeek (thank you DHL).

 

First impression was: "neato", which was closely followed by an awe.

 

So what is Wi-Spy for?

Well basically it's a spectrum analyzer, they have 2 models, regular (v1) and one with the external antenna and a little more sensitive hardware (v2.4). Both scan about the same range (from 2.4 to 2.495 GHz), V1 is cheaper, but i like v2 for range, so i got v2.4 (about $400).

 

What would you use a spectrum analyzer for anyways?

As you may know, the 2.4ghz range is getting progressively more crowded. Both at home and in the work place, more and more people put up more and more devices running on 2.4 (WiFi and Bluetooth). Lots of devices in the same range cause interference, so before you put up a $3000 switch and a wireless network, why not survey your site and make sure that you are putting this on the right channels, and that there isn't anywhing there that will doom your project from the get-go, somethings you can tweak and fix, some things you can't. This is where this device is oh, so useful :)

 

so what do you see, and how can you interpret it?

Here are some images i have posted on my server:

 

[img=http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/normal.png]http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/normal.png[/img]

 

Normal use, you can see that the network on channel one (you can see the limits of the channel in this view) is being steadily, but little bit used, this was after hours, so noone was on. Also notice a pattern around channels 8-9? if you do, then you have picked up on where my logitech mouse was running, you can see periods of peeks, and periods of nothing from the channel...

 

 

 

Now this is lunch time, we have 2 microwaves, and when either is turned on, it produces this kind of interference. I will look further into it, but i think that the patters are different for the two microwaves.

 

[img=http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/microwave.png]http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/microwave.png[/img]

 

Microwave stops working, and you are back to normal :)

 

[img=http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/weird%20start.png]http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/weird%20start.png[/img]

 

Now this i have posted on wi-spy forum, its a device that i need to track down, it produces an interesting interference pattern. notice that it is pretty constant, up until it goes away (the rest of shots)

 

[img=http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/weird%20continue.png]http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/weird%20continue.png[/img]

[img=http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/weird%20end.png]http://securityenthusiast.com/wifi_signatures/weird%20end.png[/img]

 

Ok final thoughts, I am going to do a LOT more playing with this, i can already tell you that it is becoming my best friend, and as i discover more things, i will start posting stuff up on my blog/forum. You are always welcome to visit it though i am still working out details, like banners, etc, but yeah, securityenthusiast.com

 

--Alex--