Glossary

The terms this documentation uses, in plain language. Grouped by topic rather than alphabetically, so related terms sit together.

The wireless network

WISP — Wireless Internet Service Provider. The kind of operator SignalScope exists for.

AP (Access point) — the base antenna, usually on a tower or node, serving several customers at once. In the docs: "base station".

Station (CPE) — the radio on the customer's side, aimed at an AP and connected to it. Every customer has one.

Link — the wireless connection between a station and its AP. When the docs say "the link degraded", they mean that over-the-air stretch.

Sector — an AP and every station hanging off it. A "sector" problem affects all of those customers at once.

SSID — the network name an AP broadcasts, which stations use to find it.

Frequency / channel — the slice of spectrum an AP transmits on. Two nearby APs on overlapping channels interfere with each other.

Modulation — the "speaking speed" a radio and AP negotiate (6x, 8x…). Higher = more capacity, but it demands better signal; a link with poor signal drops its modulation, which is why it delivers less than expected.

Airtime (air in use) — the percentage of time the channel is busy. Air at 70 % or more means a saturated channel: clients wait their turn to transmit.

The signal

dBm — the unit of signal strength. It is negative, and closer to zero is stronger: −55 dBm is better signal than −70 dBm. It is SignalScope's central reading.

Noise (noise floor) — the background energy present on the channel even when nobody transmits. Measured in dBm; a high floor "drowns" the useful signal.

SNR — Signal-to-Noise Ratio: the margin between your signal and the noise floor, in dB. Higher is better; with little margin, the radio cannot tell signal from noise.

CINR — like SNR, but it also discounts interference from other transmitters on the channel. That is why it can catch a dirty channel even when the signal "looks fine".

Chains (polarities) — the two paths of a modern antenna (horizontal and vertical), which should receive almost the same. A large imbalance betrays a rotated or damaged antenna.

Link quality (linkscore) — airMAX's indicator (0–100 %) of how healthy the link is, beyond signal alone.

Latency — the round-trip time of data, in milliseconds (ms). High latency = a "slow" service even when the contracted speed is there.

Throughput — the traffic the link is carrying right now (what the customer is consuming), as opposed to capacity (what the link could carry).

The network and its protocols

IP — a device's address on the network. It can change (which is why SignalScope does not identify devices by IP).

MAC — every network device's factory-set physical identity, which does not change. It is how SignalScope recognizes each device even when its IP changes.

OUI (manufacturer) — the first pairs of the MAC, assigned per manufacturer. With them the app suggests what a newly detected device is.

CIDR (range) — the notation for a network range: 192.168.1.0/24 is that network's 256 addresses. It is how the networks to scan are registered.

ARP — the system table that maps each IP to its MAC inside the local network. It does not cross routers — which is why a "routed" device arrives without a MAC.

Ping (ICMP) — the network's simplest question: "are you there?". It measures whether a device answers and how fast.

SSH / HTTPS / HTTP — the means by which the app signs in to a radio. SSH and HTTPS are encrypted; HTTP is not, and the app marks it amber.

SNMP — a protocol for querying identity and state. The app uses it only if you configure it, and only in read mode.

Half duplex — an Ethernet port that can only talk in one direction at a time (full duplex is the norm). It almost always betrays a cable or connector problem.

Firmware — the radio's internal software. Different versions report different data; keeping it current avoids surprises.

Uptime — how long a device has been powered on since its last reboot.

SignalScope's own

Project (.sscope) — the file containing your whole network: devices, encrypted credentials, references, snapshots. It autosaves.

Snapshot — a capture of the whole network's state at a given moment. Up to 10 per project.

.ssnap — a snapshot exported for sharing: another SignalScope opens it in read-only viewer mode. It never carries credentials.

Reference — the "healthy" signal you pin per antenna with Mark OK. With a reference, the signal axis judges the drift instead of the absolute value.

Traffic light — each station's color (green / amber / red): the worst axis of its diagnosis, with signal as the main axis. Details in Traffic light and diagnostics.

Sentinel — the alert system for the failures the signal does not betray: loose cable, half duplex, fallen AP. Details in Sentinel and network score.

Transfer code — the key (XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) that unlocks a project on another PC. Details in Sharing.

HWID — your machine's identifier, used by the license to know which machine it is active on.