Diagnostic tools

The Tools menu groups the utilities you use in bursts: open, answer a question, close. The diagnostic ones are four — Frequency planner, Speed test, Continuous ping and Traceroute. (Snapshot compare is explained in History and the Network score in its guide.)

Frequency planner

Distributes the spectrum among your APs without overlaps. It works with what monitoring already read from the APs with sessions — it never queries the radios — and refreshes on its own.

You choose the band (2.4 / 3.65 / 4.9 / 5 GHz U-NII / 6 GHz, or a custom range), the target channel width (10–100 MHz) and which APs to consider — the list comes grouped by node, with a checkbox to select or clear the whole site, because spectrum is planned per tower: "let's see what this one has on".

The panel shows:

• The occupation lanes: each AP occupies its center frequency ± half its width (5630 @ 20 MHz ⇒ 5620–5640). Hovering a block shows the AP's card: model, frequency, IP, SSID, stations.
• The spectrum strip, with DFS zones shaded. Hovering highlights the target width centered there, with a verdict — Free (green), Partial (orange) or Occupied (red) — and the MHz breakdown.
• The suggested channels: the disjoint centers that fit in the gaps, as chips. The ‹ › arrows slide the suggestions within each gap in case you prefer another center.

Clicking a chip or a free frequency selects that channel: its summary appears on top — frequency, covered range, width, whether it is DFS (with the radar risk explained) and the band — with a Copy button to take it to the radio's configuration.

The planner's settings survive closing: the tool is made for going in, picking a channel, checking it against the table and coming back.

The plan is only as good as its readings

APs without a session appear dimmed inside their node: if three of a tower's six APs have not connected, that tower's plan is incomplete — and the planner lets you see it instead of hiding it.

Speed test (iperf)

Measures real throughput between a radio and your PC. The model respects the read-only rule: SignalScope never orders the radio to do anything — the app starts an iperf-compatible server on your PC and shows you the command ready to copy; you run it from the radio's CLI, and the app paints the throughput live.

• Windows will ask for firewall permission the first time (standard dialog, no administrator).
• The test saturates the link while it lasts — the customer will feel it; better at low-usage hours.

Continuous ping

Latency, jitter and loss continuously against one or several targets — inventory devices or loose IPs. Different from each row's ping button (which opens a console): this is a measuring session with statistics.

• The target picker comes grouped by sector: check a whole AP with its box — the typical case is "every station on this AP". The direct shortcut lives in the AP table.
• Per target: loss %, average, min/max, jitter and a chart of the latest samples. The verdict (Stable/Unstable) always explains its why — including spikes, judged against each target's own baseline: a steady 60 ms does not alarm, 2 ms jumping to 200 does.
• The modal can be minimized and keeps measuring: a background pill stays with the summary.
• Results export to PDF/Excel.

This ping is yours — and that is why it says something else

Continuous ping leaves your PC and crosses the whole path; the table's Latency column is measured by the radio over the air hop alone. Comparing both is pure diagnosis: high ping with low air latency means the bottleneck is not in the air.

Traceroute

The route to a target, hop by hop, with latency and loss at each one. Two modes: single shot (three probes per hop and done) or continuous (MTR-style: keeps measuring every hop until you stop it — also minimizable).

The distinctive part: hops that are your network's radios are highlighted with their model and frequency — you see at which point of your infrastructure the route degrades, not just a list of anonymous IPs. It also exports to PDF/Excel.