The program can come in handy if you are using a WLAN and you don't have signal or it is not working properly.

NetStumbler is a tool for Windows that allows you to detect Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) using 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g.

Here are some key features of "NetStumbler":

· Verify that your network is set up the way you intended.
· Find locations with poor coverage in your WLAN.
· Detect other networks that might be causing interference with your network.
· Detect unauthorized "rogue" access points in your workplace.
· Help aim directional antennas for long-haul WLAN links.
· Use it recreationally for WarDriving.


Requirements:

· The Proxim models 8410-WD and 8420-WD are known to work. The 8410-WD has also been sold as the Dell TrueMobile 1150, Compaq WL110, Avaya Wireless 802.11b PC Card, and others.
· Most cards based on the Intersil Prism/Prism2 chip set also work.
· Most 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g wireless LAN adapters should work on Windows XP. Some may work on Windows 2000 too. Many of them report inaccurate Signal strength, and if using the "NDIS 5.1" card access method then Noise level will not be reported. This includes cards based on Atheros, Atmel, Broadcom, Cisco and Centrino chip sets.


Note: Some antivirus and antispyware programs flag ... as being infected/malware, although the application is perfectly safe and does not pose a threat to your system. This is called a 'false positive'. The term false positive is used when antivirus software wrongly classifies an innocuous ( inoffensive ) file as a virus. The incorrect detection may be due to heuristics or to an incorrect virus signature in a database. [Similar problems can occur with antitrojan or antispyware software.]

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· Fixed bug (introduced in 0.3.30) that caused "Reconfigure" to put ORiNOCO cards into a state where they would report no access points.
· Support for Atheros, Atmel, Intersil Prism based wireless cards. Improved support for Cisco cards.
· Allow use of Serial Earthmate GPS. (USB Earthmate should already work using NMEA and serial driver)
· If you scroll all the way to the right of the graph view, it will auto-scroll new data.
· Fixed bug (introduced in 0.3.30) in graph view: corrupted display when scrolling.
· Fixed bug in graph view: improper scroll bar tracking with large data sets.
· If "Reconfigure" is on, the Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration service will be stopped when you start scanning. It is restarted when the application exits.
· If you connect to a network that supports DHCP, the IP subnet is reported.
· If the access point is discovered in the ARP table, its IP address is reported.
· While you are scanning, the system will be prevented from going into standby unless power is critically low.
· Large files load several times faster than before (though the really large ones still don't load fast enough).
· A whole lot of new Scripting features.