Wi-Fi Troubleshooting Tools and Techniques

Speakers: Chris Dawe

Level: Fundamental, Lecture

Excerpt: This talk introduces tools and techniques for analyzing and troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks, focusing on tools that are available for Apple’s platforms, and discussing tools that are not available for Apple’s platforms.

Description: “The Wi-Fi network here is $*(&!”

Such things happen, but what’s really interesting is finding out *why* the Wi-Fi network is $*(&!

In this session, we will explore the expanding set of tools available in the Apple ecosystem for exploring, analyzing, and troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks. We will explore Wi-Fi-specific problems, and demonstrate how we can use available tools to identify and solve them. We will talk about a number of common Wi-Fi problems that have nothing to do with Wi-Fi itself. Finally, we will explore Wi-Fi tools that are *not* available for Apple’s platforms and provide examples and/or demonstrations of problems that they can solve.

Tools covered in this session will include:

-Apple’s built-in network and Wi-Fi tools
-Wi-Fi stumblers and network scanners
-Heat mapping software
-Spectrum analyzers
-Performance analysis tools
-Traffic capture and analysis tools


About the speakers

Chris Dawe – Principal Systems Engineer – Wheelwrights, LLC (Twitter: @ctdawe)

Chris is a consultant focused on MacOS, iOS, and networking. He handles a wide variety of work, including customer assessment, system design, deployment, and support. When not working, Chris dabbles in American history, cooks in a kitchen containing an unreasonably large collection of seasonings, and appreciates both whiskey and whisky. Chris lives with Emily in Seattle, Washington.

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