Wifi Channel Watcher for GNU/Linux-based desktop environments

Monitor channel usage of neighboring routers / access points and get a desktop alert if your active channel is not optimal (has more than 1 user on it, other than you). Troubleshoot your wifi without lifting a finger!

Additional options:

• Suggest a better, less congested channel
• MAC address/BSSID lookups of neighbors - Useful when troubleshooting rogue access points or evil twin attacks
• MAC address caching - No need to pull lookups from the internet when most neighboring routers are likely static
• Enterprise access point lookup - Useful when you have several access points with the same SSID; reference a list of BSSIDs and easily set custom identifiers (see 'Full Detail' screenshot)

Better Channel Suggestion

Full Detail

Without Custom Access Point Lookups

Minimum Detail

If you're in an extremely dense area, you may want to customize the threshold from "$TOTAL_ACTIVE" -gt 0 to something that better suits your environment.

Installation

This script can be cloned and run manually, or added as a service that runs on a scheduled interval.

See detailed install instructions for built-in systemd user service options (no sudo/root needed).

• After installing dependencies (most Gnome users may already have them), clone the repo to a directory on your hard drive.

  git clone https://github.com/angela-d/wifi-channel-watcher.git

  That's it.

  You can manually run the script any time via command-line:

  /your/directory/path/to/wifi-channel-watcher/channel-watch

Customizing

All customizations are optional, in most cases, the script will work out of the box.

• Detailed customizing options: Customizing wiki
• Optionally install as a systemd user service Installation wiki