Surveying with a Scout
Once a Scout is paired, a survey works the way it always does: choose the record types and destinations on the Survey tab and tap Start survey. This page covers what changes.
The Survey tab
Section titled “The Survey tab”- The Scout row sits above the record type tiles, in Ready and while recording. It shows the Scout’s name, its status word and a line under it, such as “2.4 and 5 GHz · USB powered” before Start or “Ch 36 · hearing 74 frames/s” while recording. Tap it to open the NS Scout page.
- When This phone is the Wi-Fi source, the row reads “Wi-Fi from this phone” and “NS-ABCD not in use”, with a Use NS-ABCD button.
- The Wi-Fi tile reads From NS-ABCD, and while recording the Wi-Fi chip reads “Wi-Fi · NS-ABCD”.
- Two more record types appear: Wi-Fi clients (“Devices and the networks they look for”) and Raw frames (“802.11 frames as pcapng, Log files only”). They only show while a Scout is paired. When the phone is the Wi-Fi source, a tile that is on reads Needs NS-ABCD. See Wi-Fi clients and Raw frames.
Before Start
Section titled “Before Start”When the Scout can’t deliver yet, a notice appears above the tiles once the app has had 30 seconds to connect, as long as the setup records something from the Scout. For example, NS-ABCD isn’t connected with “Wi-Fi won’t be recorded until it connects. Plug it in and hold it near this phone.” Each notice has Use phone Wi-Fi instead and a button for the fix (usually Scout page, or Update firmware when the Scout needs an update).
Use phone Wi-Fi instead switches the source, and the app says “Wi-Fi now comes from this phone. Switch back from the Scout row.” with Undo.
While recording
Section titled “While recording”The Wi-Fi source is locked for the whole survey. If the Scout drops out, the survey keeps recording everything else and lists what it is missing at the top of the Survey tab and in the notification, for example:
- “NS-ABCD is out of range, so Wi-Fi isn’t being recorded”
- “NS-ABCD is out of range, so Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi clients and Raw frames aren’t being recorded”
- “Bluetooth is off, so Wi-Fi from NS-ABCD, Wi-Fi clients, Raw frames and Bluetooth aren’t being recorded”
An out of range Scout keeps listening for up to 5 minutes and sends what it heard once it is back in range, so a short walk away loses nothing. While it sends that backlog, the status reads Catching up, with a line like “1,240 records from its buffer · placed where they were heard”.
After 10 minutes without Wi-Fi from the Scout, the notification title changes to “No Wi-Fi for 10 min”, with the reason under it.
Status words
Section titled “Status words”The Survey row, the NS Scout page and the More row use the same words.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Connected | Wi-Fi from the Scout is coming in. |
| Catching up | The Scout reconnected and is sending what it heard while it was away. |
| Connecting | The phone is connecting to the Scout. Hold it near the phone. |
| Out of range | During a survey: the phone can’t reach the Scout. Wi-Fi is not being recorded. |
| Not connected | Before a survey: the phone can’t reach the Scout, or nothing needs it right now. |
| Can’t connect | The Scout answers but won’t finish connecting. Unplug it for 5 seconds and plug it back in. |
| Bluetooth is off | The phone needs Bluetooth to reach the Scout. |
| Allow Nearby devices | The phone needs the Nearby devices permission to reach the Scout. |
| Pairing lost | The Scout or Android lost the pairing. Forget the Scout in Android’s Bluetooth settings, then pair it again. |
| Pairing refused | The Scout refused to pair. Hold its BOOT button for about 3 seconds, then pair it again. |
| Needs a firmware update | The Scout’s software is too old for this app. See Firmware updates. |
| Needs a newer app | The Scout runs newer software than this app understands. Update Network Survey. |
| Updating firmware | A firmware update is running. Keep the Scout powered and next to the phone. |
| Not in use | The Scout is paired, but Wi-Fi comes from this phone. |
Some data missed under the status word means part of the capture didn’t reach the phone: records the Scout had to drop, raw frames it dropped, or Bluetooth packets lost on the way. Anything the Scout drops counts at once. Lost Bluetooth packets count once there are several of them, so a single lost packet doesn’t turn it on. Once on, the line stays for the rest of that capture. The NS Scout page lists the counts under Now > Data missed.
For what to do about each problem, see Troubleshooting.
What goes where
Section titled “What goes where”Wi-Fi from a Scout goes everywhere Wi-Fi from the phone goes. The two Scout-only record types go to fewer places:
| Record type | Log files | NS Analytics | MQTT stream | gRPC stream | Community databases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi (from the Scout) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BeaconDB |
| Wi-Fi clients | Yes (two CSV files) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Raw frames | Yes (pcapng files) | No | No | No | No |
A destination that is on but can’t take a Scout-only type you chose adds a note to its row, for example ”· Wi-Fi clients not sent” after the NS Analytics workspace name. What goes where on the Survey tab shows the same for your current choices.
A Scout can hear more access points than the phone’s own scans, so a survey that sends Wi-Fi to NS Analytics can send more Wi-Fi records with a Scout than without one.
How Wi-Fi from a Scout is recorded
Section titled “How Wi-Fi from a Scout is recorded”During a survey the Scout listens continuously and reports every access point it hears on each channel. The app turns that into records the same shape as the phone’s:
- At most one record per access point per window. The window is the Wi-Fi scan interval (15 seconds by default; see Scan rates) or the time the Scout takes to visit every channel once, whichever is longer. A full sweep of the 2.4 and 5 GHz channels takes about 15 seconds. Each record uses the strongest reading in its window. With a Scout as the source, Settings describes the Wi-Fi scan rate as “how often each network and client is saved. During a survey the Scout listens continuously.”
- Time is when the Scout heard it.
deviceTimeis the time of the reading, not the time it reached the phone. - The location is the phone’s. Each record gets the phone’s location fix nearest the time it was heard, and
locationAgeis the gap between the two. If the phone had no fix within 30 seconds (or two scan intervals, if that is longer), the record has no location, and its latitude and longitude are 0. - Late records. A record that reaches the phone more than 5 seconds after it was heard, such as the backlog after the Scout was out of range, is saved and streamed like any other, but it is not uploaded to BeaconDB and it does not raise watchlist alerts.
- SSID exclusion works the same as for the phone’s scans. See Wi-Fi SSID exclusion.
- More fields filled. Records from a Scout fill fields the phone’s own scans leave empty, such as the service set type, supported rates, AKM suites, beacon interval and SNR. See the Wi-Fi CSV file.
Signals and Wi-Fi details
Section titled “Signals and Wi-Fi details”While the Scout is the Wi-Fi source, Signals > Wi-Fi shows what the Scout hears:
- The line at the top reads like “NS-ABCD · Scan #12 · 47 APs”. Here a scan is one update of the list: every access point the Scout heard in its last sweep.
- The Wi-Fi scan throttling notice doesn’t show, since Android’s limit doesn’t apply.
- The mode row adds Clients. See Wi-Fi clients.
- When the Scout can’t deliver, the list says why and offers one button, for example Bluetooth is off with Turn on Bluetooth, or NS-ABCD isn’t connected with Use phone Wi-Fi instead. While a survey records, the list never offers phone Wi-Fi (the source is locked); it offers Open NS Scout page instead.
An access point’s details page says “Heard by NS-ABCD” and replaces the Capabilities card with:
- Security: Personal or Enterprise, encryption, key management, the pairwise and group ciphers, and WPS.
- Load, when the access point reports it: the number of stations and the channel use.
- Radio adds the beacon interval, the SNR with the noise level, and the Wi-Fi generations the access point supports.
- Connected clients: up to five Wi-Fi clients the Scout heard talking to this access point. See Wi-Fi clients.
Starting from another app or at boot
Section titled “Starting from another app or at boot”A survey started by another app, by your organization, or when the phone restarts uses the Wi-Fi source chosen on the phone. A start request can’t change it, and it can’t start Wi-Fi clients or Raw frames, which only you or your organization can turn on. See Intent API.