Qualification of wireless network environments
View Patent ↗Systems, methods, and devices for qualifying quality of service in data services delivered through wireless networks established by wireless access points (WAPs) are disclosed. A portable computing device can be used to execute a wireless network connectivity qualification application that can include functionality for testing and evaluating wireless network connectivity signals between various devices, including the WAP, in a particular local wireless network. Based on the test results, the application can generate recommendations for remedying any detected network issues. The recommendations can be determined from information stored locally on the portable computing device or in remote backend servers.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a portable computing device, a wireless access point identifier (WAPID) associated with a wireless access point (WAP);
determining, by the portable computing device, one or more wireless network configurations associated with the WAP in response to the receiving of the WAPID;
performing, by the portable computing device, a wireless connectivity test with the WAP using at least one of the one or more wireless network configurations to test wireless connectivity with the WAP configured using the at least one of the one or more wireless network configurations;
generating, by the portable computing device, a wireless connectivity test result based on the performing of the wireless connectivity test; and
evaluating, by the portable computing device, the wireless connectivity test result to generate a wireless connectivity summary that summarizes the wireless connectivity test;
wherein performing the wireless connectivity test comprises:
receiving, in the portable computing device, a wireless client identifier associated with a wireless client device;
sending a request message, comprising the wireless client identifier, to the WAP to request wireless connectivity information for the wireless client device;
receiving, in response to the request message, the wireless connectivity information from the WAP that retrieved the wireless connectivity information for the wireless client; and
evaluating the wireless connectivity information to generate the wireless connectivity test result.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless connectivity summary comprises a summary grade based on at least a portion of the wireless connectivity test result.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless connectivity summary comprises recommendations for improving the wireless connectivity test result.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more wireless network configurations associated with the WAP comprises:
sending the WAPID to a remote computer system; and
receiving, in response to the WAPID, the one or more wireless network configurations.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the wireless connectivity test comprises:
sending a test request signal to the WAP;
receiving, in response to the test request signal, a test response signal from the WAP; and
analyzing the test response signal to generate the wireless connectivity test result.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless connectivity test result comprises a measurement of signal strength received from the WAP.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless connectivity test result comprises a measurement of data throughput speed through the WAP.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, in response to generating the wireless connectivity test result, a request from the portable computing device to a remote computer system to send an initialization command to the WAP through a wired connection.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the WAND comprises imaging, by the portable computing device, a code from the WAP.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the WAND comprises:
monitoring, by the portable computing device, a plurality of wireless network frequency bands; and
detecting, by the portable computing device, a recently broadcast WAPID as the WAPID.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more network configurations comprises a plurality of service set identifiers (SSIDs) and a plurality of radio frequency bands.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the wireless connectivity test result from the portable computing device to a remote computer system executing a quality of service monitoring application.
13. A method comprising:
receiving, by a portable computing device, a wireless access point identifier (WAPID) associated with a wireless access point (WAP);
determining, by the portable computing device, one or more wireless network configurations associated with the WAP in response to the receiving of the WAPID;
performing, by the portable computing device, a wireless connectivity test with the WAP using at least one of the one or more wireless network configurations to test wireless connectivity with the WAP configured using the at least one of the one or more wireless network configurations;
generating, by the portable computing device, a wireless connectivity test result based on the performing of the wireless connectivity test; and
evaluating, by the portable computing device, the wireless connectivity test result to generate a wireless connectivity summary that summarizes the wireless connectivity test;
wherein performing the wireless connectivity test comprises:
receiving a first location identifier;
for a first physical location associated with the first location identifier, performing the wireless connectivity test to generate a first wireless connectivity test result;
receiving a second location identifier;
for a second physical location associated with the second location identifier, performing the wireless connectivity test to generate a second wireless connectivity test result; and
comparing the first wireless connectivity test result to the second wireless connectivity test result to generate the wireless connectivity test result.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that, when executed, control a computer system to be configured for:
receiving a wireless access point identifier (WAPID), associated with a particular wireless access point (WAP), from a portable computing device;
determining one or more wireless network configurations associated with the WAPID;
sending the one or more wireless network configurations to the portable computing device;
receiving a network connectivity test result regarding the WAP from the portable computing device;
analyzing the network connectivity test result to generate a wireless connectivity summary;
sending the wireless connectivity summary to the portable computing device; and
sending an initialization command comprising the one or more wireless network configurations to initiate an initialization routine in the WAP.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions that control the computer system to determine the one or more wireless network configurations further comprise instructions to control the computer system to be configured to retrieve the one or more wireless network configurations from a wireless access point configuration data store based on the WAPID.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the wireless connectivity summary comprises recommendations for improving the wireless connectivity results.
17. A portable computing device configured to be communicatively coupled to a computer system, the portable computing device comprising:
one or more computer processors; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, control the one or more computer processors to be configured to:
send, from the portable computing device to the computer system, a wireless access point identifier (WAPID) associated with a wireless access point (WAP);
receive, from the computer system, one or more wireless network configurations associated with the WAP in response to the WAPID;
perform, responsively to the one or more wireless network configurations received by the portable computing device, a wireless connectivity test with the WAP for at least one of the one or more wireless network configurations to generate wireless connectivity test results;
send, from the portable computing device to the computer system, a wireless connectivity test result regarding the WAP;
receive, from the computer system, a wireless connectivity summary based on an analysis performed by the computer system of the network connectivity test result; and
send an initialization command comprising the one or more wireless network configurations to initiate an initialization routine in the WAP.