NetSpot vs RIPE Atlas

NetSpot is a Wi-Fi app for network planning, wireless surveys, analysis, and troubleshooting. Inspector mode shows nearby networks and details including channels, vendors, security type, bands, signal, and noise. Survey mode creates interactive, color-coded heatmaps with more than 20 visualizations and customizable reports. Planning mode supports predictive surveys and network design, including multi-floor planning. Survey data can be exported as PDF or CSV, and heatmaps saved as PNG. Active survey throughput testing can use Iperf 3 or custom speed-test servers. NetSpot says survey, scan, heatmap, network, and location data are processed locally rather than automatically sent to Etwok. Desktop editions support offline activation and can run entirely offline afterward. Optional anonymized, aggregated usage statistics can be disabled in Preferences. The free edition is for personal and evaluation use on macOS and Windows. Paid plans are listed from $199. The seven-day full-featured PRO trial requires a valid corporate email and an explanation for the request.

RIPE Atlas is a global probe network for measuring Internet connectivity and reachability in real time. Most collected results are freely available to browse, download or use, including for people without a probe or RIPE NCC account. Users with enough credits can schedule their own ping, DNS, traceroute and SSL certificate measurements through the portal or API, with settings such as address family and interval. The network also runs built-in measurements automatically, some of which provide historical records spanning years. Eligible new users can claim a one-time grant of 50,000 free credits, while connected probe hosts earn credits. Probe-host applications are assessed by location; approved applicants receive a probe by post at no charge. Software probe options include Linux, Raspbian, Docker and OpenWRT. RIPE Atlas offers REST and streaming APIs, as well as command-line tools requiring Python. It is listed for web, API, Linux and macOS, with additional platform support including BSD and Turris; Windows is experimental. Probe IP addresses can appear in measurements, but personal email addresses are not shown.