Mac software: The best free Wi-Fi software for your Mac
There’s a lot of software out there to help you find and access the Internet via free, shared and commercial hot spots around the world. We have a special application just for those that know that the Internet is the kiss of death for productivity.
There’s this nice little write-up by Glenn Fleishman (Macworld) on how to monitor Airport Base Station connections, which got me thinking about software for all of the people that haven’t forked out for Apple’s beautiful and reassuringly expensive access points. For those with the scratch to think differently about 802.11x wireless access, there’s Airport Utility (Utilities folder, ⌘ + ⇧ + U), which is an elegant match for the mothership’s aesthetically refined hardware.
But what about “the rest of us”?
That question set me on a quest in search of the best free (as in beer-fueled speech) Wi-Fi access point finder/utility software. Without further ado, here’s what gets my motor running whether I’m in the front room or on the freeway (whoa, watch out for those trucks):
• AirGrab WiFi Radar 1.2, 3.2MB
— A tool to display information, including channel, encryption, etc, about Apple Airport base stations and other WiFi (802.11b/g/n) wireless access points• AP Grapher 1.2.1, 1.1MB
— An wireless stumbler and grapher for Mac OS X that displays comm quality, signal, noise, SRN and TX rate data for all detected hotspots
— Not entirely stable under OS X 10.5.7• AirRadar 1.1.7, 15-day trial, $9.95
— Helps cut through the clutter, while providing useful information about your fave hotspots
— Unable to find an active download even though it was reviewed by Macworld earlier this year• Airport Radar, 178K
— A dashboard widget that scans the area for Wi-Fi networks• Wireless Grapher, 138K
— A dashboard widget that graphs the performance of the hotspot you’re connected to• wifi.com, 1.1MB, free (beta)
— Think of it as a worldwide Wi-Fi sharing co-op with the option to buy minutes for commercial hotspots
— Provide $5 free commercial access point credit• JiWire, online and for iPhone (see below)
— An internet database of public and commercial Wi-Fi hotspots listed by city, state (province) and country
— JiWire for iPhone, download (free, iTunes)
Last, but far from least is MacFreedom 0.5.1, (771K, donationware), which frees you from temptation and delivers from the evils of the Internet by disabling networking on your Mac for up to eight hours, blinding you to the distractions of the web so you can code, write, create or whatever.
Do you have a favorite Wi-Fi application or utility, something that does everything
want (free or otherwise)? Share a link and comment below…
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