List WiFi Channels using command line tools

Posted on by Peter Hobor

In a busy area multiple WiFi Routers and Access Points may cause co-channel Interference (CCI) and adjacent channel interference (ACI). This is pure physics, in short simplified description: if two APs are using the same channel that means that they are using the same frequency and the waves are interfering.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waventerference.gif

So what can you do?

Choose a channel that is empty or where (and around) the signal level is the lowest.

There are tons of WiFi info Android tools around, and you can download tools for your PC. (iOS does not give this level of access to the WiFi to Apps.)
If you don’t want to install any app, you can open a CMD prompt and use the following command to list all the Access Points, actually all transmitting devices as there may be more under the same SSID.

The result will be something like this:

Check the Signal and the Channel lines and choose a free space.

 

Recover WiFi Password from your Windows 10 settings

Posted on by Peter Hobor

I was visiting a place where I used the WiFi before.  I’ve made a mistake not storing the WiFi password in my password manager and it was too late at night to ask anyone. My PC stored the access details but I wanted to connect with my new iPad. If my PC can connect, the password must be stored, so there may be a way to retrieve it – I though. There is…

With a simple cmd line you can get the stored password from your PC settings:

BTW you can list all the stored SSIDs with this command: