Best WiFi signal strength utilities

You already have one "built-in" your iPhone. Have you tried the Wi-Fi scanning feature of the AirPort Utility app yet? It is not specific only to Apple AirPort base stations. It can scan any Wi-Fi network in range.

It is disabled by default to save battery life.

To enable it: Tap on Settings > AirPort Utility > Wi-Fi Scanner

Then to use it: Tap on the AirPort Utility app > Wi-Fi Scan > Select the scan duration, and then tap on Scan

"Tesserax wrote:

You already have one "built-in" your iPhone. Have you tried the Wi-Fi scanning feature of the AirPort Utility app yet? It is not specific only to Apple AirPort base stations. It can scan any Wi-Fi network in range.

It is disabled by default to save battery life.

To enable it: Tap on Settings > AirPort Utility > Wi-Fi Scanner

Then to use it: Tap on the AirPort Utility app > Wi-Fi Scan > Select the scan duration, and then tap on Scan

"

Thank you for this! I had to wipe my phone and reloaded the Airport Utility app but couldn't work out why it wasn't scanning!

Gotcha!

For both Macs & iPhones, I have used (& in some cases continue to use) the following apps (not necessarily in any order of preference)

For the iPhone:

• NetSpot for iOS
• Network Analyzer
• Scany
• Ubiquiti WiFiman
• Wifi Analyzer Network Analyzer (Freemium)

For the Mac:

• macOS Wireless Diagnostics (Dependent on the version of OS X or macOS your Mac is running.)
• iStumbler << currently having issues with macOS Monterey & later as stated by the developers. However, it appears to work fine on my Macs running these versions of macOS.
• WiFi Scanner
• WiFi Explorer
• AirRadar 7

For Windows:

• inSSIDer << For when you want to go "professional," and cost is an object.
• NetSpotChanalyzer 6 << For when you want to go "professional," and cost is no object.

Finally, if you do an Internet search on "Best Wi-Fi Analyzers for Mac" it should result in a number of articles for you to review. Many of them cover the same analyzers that I have listed so you have a better opportunity to compare them ... as a number of them are paid-only apps.

Here is one such article: https://www.insanelymac.com/blog/best-wifi-analyzer-for-mac/

For macOS there is NetSpot but I have not used its mapping feature.

https://www.netspotapp.com/

I have also used WiFi Scanner (bought it years ago when it was cheaper...) and WiFi Explorer.

https://www.accessagility.com/wifi-scanner

https://www.intuitibits.com/

I am very familiar with Ubiquiti's UniFi line. I basically replaced my aging Apple networking gear for UniFi back in late 2018 when Apple decided to get out of the networking hardware business.

Since my home has an Ethernet backbone, I initially configured my network with the UniFi Security Gateway (USG), a number of UniFi 60W PoE Ethernet switches, and a couple of UniFi AC-Pro Access Points. I found UniFi to be on-par with prosumer/commercial equipment, the likes of those from Cisco ... but far easier to set up and maintain. As Ubiquiti comes out with newer gear, I have made a few upgrades to that original system.

The key for me, was the far greater control I have over my network. Something that Apple purposely (IMHO) did not do with their AirPort base stations. For them, it was ease of use vs. greater functionality (or complexity, depending on your networking skill level.)

Back to the UniFi WiFiMan app, it works best with their equipment, but can be used with networking hardware from other manufacturers.