Before going out and start mapping with HeatMapper, you should first install the program and get some map of your surroundings ready, then import it into the software. The reason for that is that HeatMapper doesn’t have any floor plan/map creation capabilities of its own, but other than that…

… all you have to do is wonder around, and left click on the map here and there to survey the strength of the wireless signal in that certain point. As you move on, you get a more and more detailed wireless signal strength map of your area, and if you don’t have a map to import, you can even go through the process without it, only that you’ll get a grid full of points, and you’ll have to be able to find your way around the surroundings with that.

Regarding the detailed info you can get for a certain point, HeatMapper can save SSID, wireless connection type and channel, the security protocols used, as well as the time when you discovered the access point, and a few other pieces of information, like the MAC address or the signal strength (that can change, depending on a lot of things, so my advice is to go through the whole process at least three times, during different times of the day).

Other than the above… I guess there’s nothing much to say. It would have been really great to test this program, at least by checking the wireless signal strength in my own home office, but since I had no wireless card around to mess with, my desktop computer and HeatMapper are like a brick next to an iPhone. Anyway, despite the fact I wasn’t able to see HeatMapper at work, I am sure some of you will, so please get back here and tell me how it all went, will you? Thanks in advance!