WiFi Explorer Release Notes

Known Issues

  • WiFi Explorer on Apple silicon Macs running macOS Ventura or later may not identify Wi-Fi 7 networks as 802.11be and show an incorrect channel width when scanning using the built-in Wi-Fi interface due to missing EHT Operation (Ext ID 106), EHT Capabilities (Ext ID 108), and Multi-Link (Ext ID 107) information elements in the scan results provided by the macOS’ CoreWLAN framework.  Apple Feedback: FB13078660.
  • WiFi Explorer running on macOS Sonoma may not correctly determine the maximum transmit rate and other network properties when scanning using the built-in Wi-Fi interface due to the scan results provided by macOS’ CoreWLAN framework not including the VHT Capabilities (ID 191) information element for those networks that advertise it. Apple Feedback: FB12346372, FB13044310.
  • Wi-Fi 7 networks using an upper 320 MHz channel may be displayed incorrectly in the 6 GHz Spectrum chart.

Release Notes

Version 3.5 Sep 5, 2023
  • Adds support for the Multi-Link (107) element.
  • Fixes the decoding of the Transmit Power Envelope element.
  • Fixes an issue where some WPA/WPA2 networks were being identified as WPA2 only.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.4.4 Jul 21, 2023
  • Fixes a crash that may occur when decoding certain Aruba-specific information elements.
  • Fixes filtering by security mode.
  • Improves vendor name resolution.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.4.3 Jun 7, 2023
  • Adds support for Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE P802.11be/D3.1) networks.
  • Adds support for Alta Labs access points.
  • Adds support for Aruba’s LCI vendor-specific IE.
  • Fixes the Reduced Neighbor Report IE decoder to display all Neighbor AP Information fields.
  • Fixes visualization of 5 GHz networks using 160 MHz channels in the UNII-3 and UNII-4 bands.
  • Fixes refreshing of charts to match the refresh rate of scans.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.4.2 Apr 7, 2023
  • Fixes incorrect security mode for networks using FT SAE.
  • Improves vendor name detection heuristics.
  • Improves support for 6 GHz networks.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.4.1 Jan 25, 2023
  • Adds support for scanning and displaying 6 GHz networks on Macs with Wi-Fi 6E.
  • Adds support for Extreme Networks AP name in Nokia vendor-specific IE.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.4 Oct 27, 2022
  • Adds support for AP name for Arista and Alcatel-Lucent access points.
  • Improves the Spectrum view by highlighting the primary channel of the selected network.
  • Improves vendor name resolution for HP and Ubiquiti access points.
  • Fixes incorrect calculation of channel width for 802.11n networks.
  • Fixes a memory leak that may occur when parsing certain malformed information elements.
  • Drops support for macOS High Sierra 10.13.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.3.6 May 30, 2022
  • Fixes an issue that causes annotations not to be saved.
  • Fixes incorrect mode and advertised amendments for networks in files saved using older versions of WiFi Explorer.
  • Adds WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) column back (this time for sure).
  • Improves parsing of the Country information element.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.3.5 Apr 19, 2022
  • Changes to maintain a single vendor database that can be shared by other apps, including WiFi Signal.
  • Improves vendor name resolution for Meraki APs.
  • Improves the Quick Look plugin for .wifiexplorer files.
  • Improves detection of FT Adaptive mode when using WPA3.
  • Fixes an issue when refreshing after updating the vendor database.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.3.4 Mar 13, 2022
  • Adds ability to define 0% and 100% dBm values when displaying signal strength as %.
  • Other minor fixes and improvements.
Version 3.3.3 Jan 13, 2022
  • Brings back the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) column, which we removed by mistake in a previous update.
  • Fixes the display of invalid UTF8-encoded SSIDs.
  • Improves the filtering of networks by BSSID.
Version 3.3.2 Nov 10, 2021
  • Improves handling of network names that contain non-printable characters.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.3.1 Aug 3, 2021
  • Fixes an issue when entering filter strings with tabs and other whitespace characters.
  • Fixes highlighting of column values matching the specified filter.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.3 Jul 16, 2021
  • Adds support for creating custom filters (see WiFi Explorer > Preferences > Filters).
  • Adds support for filtering networks by attribute (see WiFi Explorer Help > Get Started > Filter scan results).
  • Adds support for grouping filter expressions using parenthesis. Also, logical operators are now AND, OR, and NOT, instead of &, comma, and !, respectively.
  • Adds “Apply as Filter,” “Apply as Filter and Negate,” “New Filter,” and “New Filter and Negate” options to the contextual menu in the Networks table.
  • Adds option to show/hide row separator lines (see View > Show Row Separator Lines).
  • Adds option to not include hidden service networks in the scan results (see WiFi Explorer > Preferences > Advanced).
  • Fixes incorrect supported rate shown in Advanced Details (5.5 Mbps was displayed as 6 Mbps).
  • Fixes the formatting of the “Last Seen” column for networks found during the last scan.
  • Updates Help documentation.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.2 Jun 18, 2021
  • Adds support for the Time Zone, Multiple BSSID, and Multiple BSSID-Index information elements.
  • Improves support for the Roaming Consortium, HS2.0 Indication, HE Capabilities, and HE Operation information elements.
  • Fixes missing keyboard shortcut for entering/exiting full screen mode.
  • Fixes number of spatial streams for Wi-Fi 6 networks using a 160 MHz channel width.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.1 May 3, 2021
  • Adds support for the Reduce Neighbor Report and Wi-Fi Alliance MBO-OCE information elements.
  • Fixes the display of networks in the 5 GHz band that are using a 160 MHz channel width.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.0.4 Feb 25, 2021
  • Fixes an issue where some recommendations were not being presented for certain networks.
Version 3.0.3 Feb 22, 2021
  • Fixes an issue when opening files from iCloud Drive.
  • Improves saving of files.
  • Improves recommendations when in the presence of mesh networks.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.0.2 Dec 17, 2020
  • Fixes an issue when displaying Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) network information in the toolbar.
  • Fixes Touch Bar support.
  • Other fixes and improvements.
Version 3.0.1 Nov 24, 2020
  • Fixes a crash when trying to export scan results to CSV.
  • Other bug fixes and minor improvements.
Version 2.6.2 Jul 16, 2020
  • Fixes an issue that occurs on first launch where rows are too small to accommodate the text.
Version 2.6.1 Jul 15, 2020
  • Adds option to show/hide vertical grid lines in tables.
  • Fixes incorrect max data rates for 11ax APs using 160 MHz channels.
  • Fixes decoding of the country string field in the Country Code IE.
  • Fixes decoding of the channel width field in the HE Capabilities IE.
  • Fixes power constrains (Power Constraint IE) units (dBm -> dB).
  • Fixes a few issues in the decoding of the HE Operation IE.
  • Improves decoding of the TIM IE.
  • Improves parsing of supported data rates.
  • Improves heuristics for resolving vendor names.
  • Other fixes and UI tweaks.
Version 2.6 Aug 10, 2019
  • Added ability to show the vendor’s logo next to its name (when available).
  • Added “Show Text Only” option for columns.
  • Other bug fixes and UI tweaks.
Version 2.5.5 Jul 2, 2019
  • Fixes annotations integration with WiFi Signal.
  • Improves heuristics to resolve vendor and device names.
Version 2.5.4 Feb 12, 2019
  • Fixed incorrect security mode identification for some WPA2 networks.
  • Improved recommendations for certain network configurations.
Version 2.5.3 Feb 6, 2019
  • Added Touch Bar support. You can now start/stop the scan, as well as quickly apply filters using the Touch Bar.
  • Added support for Mist AP names.
  • Added ability to filter by channel range. You can now use, for example, the filter expression 36-48 to display only the networks configured on channels 36, 40, 44 or 48.
  • Fixed some issues when resizing the main window.
  • Fixed appearance of checkboxes and other UI components when using dark mode in macOS Mojave 10.14.
  • Other minor UI tweaks and enhancements.
Version 2.5.2 Nov 8, 2018
  • Added WPA3 support.
  • Added the Generation column to display new Wi-Fi Alliance’s generational names.
  • Added grouping support for LANCOM access points.
  • Improved display of security-related information.
  • Improved parsing of certain information elements.
  • Other minor UI tweaks.
Version 2.5.1 Sep 25, 2018
  • Added support for 802.11ax D3.0 (D2.1 is no longer supported).
  • Added support for Wi-Fi Alliance’s OWE (Opportunistic Wireless Encryption) Transition Mode.
  • Added ability to expand/collapse automatic filter categories by clicking the category name.
  • Fixed bug where app would not start scanning automatically upon launch.
Version 2.5 Sep 8, 2018
  • Added support for macOS Mojave 10.14.
  • Added support for hidden networks (requires macOS High Sierra 10.13 or later).
  • Added “Hide Column” option to networks table’s contextual menu to easily hide the selected column.
  • Fixed an issue where app would start scanning when launched by opening a file.
Version 2.4.2 May 3, 2018
  • Fixed a crash that may occur when a network’s information element contains malformed data.
Version 2.4.1 May 2, 2018
  • Improved color scheme to make sure networks can be better identified in the graphs.
  • Removed erroneous heuristic that incorrectly identifies certain access points to be manufactured by Meraki.
  • Other stability improvements.
Version 2.4 Mar 15, 2018
  • New UI to make quick filters easier to use and to make room for new features.
  • Added support for 802.11ax Draft 2.1 networks.
  • Added a right side view that displays a list of common issues for the selected network that may result in degraded performance or connectivity problems (English and Spanish version only; other languages will be supported in future updates).
  • Fixes to the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian localizations.
  • Fixed crash that would happen when parsing the WPS IE.
Version 2.3.3 Nov 28, 2017
  • Added device name decoding for Routerboard (MikroTik) access points.
  • Fixed an issue where SSIDs of length 32 were not being decoded correctly.
  • Fixed vertical text alignment of cells in the Advanced Details table.
  • Fixed incorrect shortcuts for increasing/decreasing time scale in chart.
  • Fixed an issue with the vendor lookup heuristics that was causing vendor names to be misidentified.
  • Fixed a UI glitch in the Network Details view.
  • Improved parsing of Cisco specific information elements.
  • Improved grouping and vendor lookup for Meraki APs.
  • Improved Split View support for small screen resolutions.
Version 2.3.2 Jun 21, 2017
  • Fixed an issue where mode was being incorrectly set to 802.11ac for 2.4 GHz networks using 256 QAM.
  • Fixed filtering by security mode (802.1X).
  • Fixed decoding of the Country Information IE under certain circumstances.
  • Renamed “Service Set” and “Radio” categories to “Network Name” and “Access Point”, respectively.
  • Improved display of SSIDs containing emoji.
  • Improved resizing of table columns.
  • Improved copy option for network entries and information elements.
  • Improved vendor name lookup and identification heuristics for Ubiquiti and Apple access points.
  • Improved parsing of Mesh and WPS information elements.
  • Updated the app’s Help book.
Version 2.3.1 Mar 23, 2017
  • Fixed a crash in 10.9 and older systems.
  • Fixed sorting of “Min Rate” and “Max Rate” columns.
Version 2.3 Mar 22, 2017
  • Fixed AP name parsing for Extreme Networks (formerly Zebra) APs.
  • Fixed filtering by security type, and by channel width.
  • Fixed export options to include missing fields.
  • Improved identification of vendor name for Meraki APs.
  • Improved accessibility.
Version 2.2 Sep 7, 2016
  • Changed shortcuts for filtering by signal strength from [numeric key] to Option+[numeric key].
  • Changed scan sensitivity option so it can be set up to -100 dBm.
  • Changed minimum column widths.
  • Fixed an issue where 802.1X was being incorrectly identified as PSK.
  • Fixed grouping by radio for some Meraki access points.
  • Fixed an issue where column widths were not being maintained between launches.
  • Fixed an issue where recent used filters were not being maintained between launches.
  • Fixed an issue where filtering by multiple fields using negation (!) was not working correctly.
  • Fixed an issue where main window will grow in size between launches.
  • Fixed a crash that occurs when parsing certain malformed information elements.
  • Improved stability and performance.
Version 2.1 Dec 15, 2015
  • Fixes an issue where state of side panel is not maintained between launches.
  • Fixes incorrect parsing of MCS set in different information elements.
  • Fixes incorrect 802.11 modes.
  • Fixes incorrect security modes.
  • Fixes opening of files using drag & drop.
  • Other minor bug fixes.