WiFi Scanners for Mac OS X and PC windows 7

WiFi scanners help you find available access points in the area to connect to and give you more information the the operating system.  Whether in your neighborhood at a airport or on the road it's a good idea to have one on your computer ready to go.

PC scanners

inSSIDer

inSSIDer is the best free Wi-Fi network scanner for Windows 7, Vista and XP. Because NetStumbler doesn’t work well with Vista and 64-bit XP, Metageek built an open-source Wi-Fi network scanner designed to work on all current generations of the Windows operating system. inSSIDer has been reviewed by Lifehacker and Tekzilla.

inSSIDer works with your built in WiFi adapter like my Intel ultimate-n 6300 but for longer range surveys or war driving use this long range USB adapter kit with EnGenius EUB9603H and vehicle mount 7dBi antenna

WiFi scanners can only give you basic information on networks in teh area to troubleshoot wireless networks also check out metageeks Wi-SPY spectrum analyzers

You can download inSSIDer here

Vistumbler

Vistumbler was on of the first on the scene to work with vista and windows 7.  It has been around for awhile and they have added some good features including GPS and sound.

It also supports 64bit operating systems without problems.  Again it worked with my Intel ultimate-n 6300 adapter and even better with the  long range USB adapter kit with EnGenius EUB9603H and vehicle mount 7dBi antenna

You can download vistumbler here

MAC scanners

iStumbler is the leading wireless discovery tool for Mac OS X and its free

iStumbler works great on my macbook air built in wireless but It would not work with my EnGenius EUB9603H USB adapter so it is not much use as a wardriver app.

You can download istumbler here