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Learn about the Oscium Nomad, which is used to gather survey data with Hamina Onsite.
Four Wi-Fi 6E adapters with 2 spatial streams each
USB-C Power Delivery charging port
USB-C Data port
USB-A Spectrum port
Built-in 7500 mAh (27.75 Wh) battery, with up to four hours of survey time
14 cm x 12.5 cm x 3.5 cm (5.5" x 5" x 1.4")
415 grams (14.75 oz)
Oscium Nomad
USB PD charger (USB-C and USB-A ports)
USB-C to USB-C cable
USB-C to USB-A cable
Carrying strap
Carry strap anchors (x3)
Carry strap shoulder pad
Carrying case
The Oscium Nomad includes three anchor loops, and there are three attachment points on the Oscium Nomad to attach them to. This provides two (maybe more) ways to wear the Oscium Nomad.
Poke the anchor loop underneath the attachment point.
Poke the anchor through the loop, and pull it snugly against the attachment point.
Place the circular part of the anchor into the strap.
Pull the strap away from the Oscium Nomad, which will click the anchor into place in the strap.
Repeat for the other end of the strap on the desired anchor point.
To charge the Oscium Nomad, connect it to either a standard a USB-C Power Delivery charger or standard USB port via the Charge port.
With a Power Delivery charging source, the Oscium Nomad will rapidly charge from 0 to 80 percent. After 80 percent, it will charge less quickly.
If you need to survey all day, plug the Oscium Nomad into a Power Delivery charger during your lunch break to get several more hours of survey time.
A blue LED next to the charge port tells the charging status.
🔵⚪
Single blue blink
Charging slowly
🔵🔵⚪
Two blue blinks
Charging quickly (USB Power Delivery)
🔵
Continuously glows blue
Fully charged
🔵⚪
Slow fading blue blinks
Recovering from a deeply discharged state
To view the current battery state, press the power button. The colored LED next to the charging port shows the battery state.
🟢⚪
Green LED glows
Fully charged, or nearly fully charged
🟡⚪
Yellow/orange LED glows
Medium charge
🔴⚪
Red LED glows
Discharged, or nearly discharged
Connect one end of the included USB-C cable to the iPhone/iPad, and connect the other end to the Data port on the Oscium Nomad.
To connect the Oscium Nomad to a Lightning iPhone or iPad, an adapter that contains special circuitry that puts the iPhone/iPad in USB host mode is required. For iPhones/iPads with a Lightning Port, you'll need:
An Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, which connects to iPhone or iPad.
The included USB-A to USB-C cable, which connects from the adapter to the Data port on the Nomad.
There are other adapters and cables available that can perform the same function as the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter.
Some of these adapters look like normal cables, but internally they are very different from a standard Lightning cable that you would use to charge your iPhone or iPad.
These cables/adapters are known to work with the Oscium Nomad:
Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter - The official adapter from Apple, which adapts to USB-A.
Lightning to USB-C OTG Pro Cable - Lightning on one end, and USB-C on the other. While it looks like a normal Lightning to USB-C cable, this has the special circuitry.
IVSHOWCO Lightning to USB Camera Adapter - Identical in function to the official Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter from Apple, but at a lower cost. Adapts to USB-A.
Hold down the power button until the power LED turns on.
Connect the Oscium Nomad to your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Silicon MacBook.
In Hamina Onsite, tap the gear icon in the upper right to enter Settings.
Choose Nomad.
Check the connection status:
Searching - Hamina Onsite hasn't found the Nomad.
Connecting - Hamina Onsite is able to ping the Nomad, and is trying to connect.
Connected - Hamina Onsite has successfully connected to the Nomad.
Because of the large amount of time that it takes to scan all channels in 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, the Oscium Nomad automatically prioritizes scanning channels where APs have been discovered.
In the 6 GHz band, the Oscium Nomad scans PSCs (Primary Scan Channels) to discover access points. Additionally, 6 GHz access points on non-PSCs are discovered via 2.4 and 5 GHz RNRs (Reduced Neighbor Reports).
On iPhone and iPad, you can check the Settings app for the Ethernet line item. If Ethernet appears on the list, the Oscium Nomad has successfully established a network connection to the iPhone or iPad.
If Ethernet does not appear, then hold the power button on the Oscium Nomad until the blue LED begins to blink, indicating that it is shutting down. Release the button, and then hold it down again until it powers back on. Wait 60 seconds to see if it either Ethernet appears.
On macOS, you can check the System Settings app > Network section for the Nomad line item. If RNDIS/Ethernet Gadget appears on the list, the Oscium Nomad has successfully established a network connection with the MacBook.
If Nomad does not appear, then hold the power button on the Oscium Nomad until it shuts off. Release the button, and then hold it down again until it powers back on. Wait 60 seconds to see if it either Nomad appears.
Chest Worn
Looking at the front of the Oscium Nomad, this uses the attachment points at 2 and 7 o'clock.
Side Worn
Looking at the front of the Oscium Nomad, this uses the attachment points at 10 and 2 o'clock.
Learn how to use the realtime view in Hamina Onsite.
The real-time view uses the Oscium Nomad to perform real-time Wi-Fi scanning. It displays information about nearby access points, such as their signal strength and operating channel. While the Realtime view is active, the Oscium Nomad or WLAN Pi continuously sweeps across all 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz channels to refresh the data.
Scroll down to view the Realtime view, Spectrum, and the Networks and APs tables.
The Realtime and Spectrum views use a network selection to differentiate between your access points, and neighboring access points.
Use the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz tabs at the top to switch between frequency bands. Then, select your network by tapping the Network Selection Menu in the upper right, where you can pick your network.
If the Hamina Onsite app has permission to access location services, then it will automatically select the network that your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook is associated to.
The Realtime Graph shows the signal strength for the current selected band and SSID. This view is great for doing spot-checks to make sure there is sufficient primary coverage and secondary coverage, and to ensure that there isn't a nearby access point on the same channel as your network.
Dark sparklines - Coverage from either the Primary AP, or Secondary AP. Of the two dark sparklines, the Primary AP is always on the top.
Primary AP - Primary Coverage, which is coverage from your network's loudest access point.
Secondary AP - Secondary Coverage, which is coverage from your network's secound-loudest access point.
Dim sparkline - Neighbor AP, which is the signal strength of the loudest neighboring access point.
The labels on the far right of the graph show each access point's channel. Note that these labels will change as you move around, and different access points take the place of Primary AP, Secondary AP, and Neighbor AP.
The Spectrum Graph is a combination graphical Wi-Fi scanner (using Wi-Fi scanning data from the Oscium Nomad or WLAN Pi) and spectrum analyzer (using a connected spectrum analyzer such as the Oscium WiPry Clarity or Wi-Spy Lucid).
Each "ziggurat" represents an access point radio. The height of each ziggurat represents the signal strength of the access point, and the width represents how wide of a channel the access point is using.
Solid lines - Access points belonging to the selected SSID
Dashed lines - Access points that belong to other SSIDs
In the Configuration popover, uncheck Show access points to hide it in the Spectrum Graph.
The Spectrum Density graph uses colors to indicate, over a 30-second timespan, how often a particular frequency and amplitude were utilized. The height of the graph indicates the amplitude (signal strength) of transmitters and noise in the spectrum, while the color indicates utilization over the 30-second rolling timespan.
Light green - 0-10%
Green - 10-30%
Orange - 30-50%
Red - 50-100%
In the Configuration popover, uncheck Show spectrum density to hide it in the Spectrum Graph.
If a compatible spectrum analyzer is connected, Hamina Onsite will generate a Spectrum Density graph (using color by utilization). Hamina Onsite supports the following spectrum analyzers:
Oscium WiPry Clarity
The spectrum analyzer connects to the Spectrum port (type USB-A) on the Oscium Nomad using the included USB-A to USB-C cable. There is a small pocket in the shoulder strap for the Oscium Nomad for the spectrum analyzer.
If no compatible spectrum analyzer is connected, Hamina Onsite will still generate a Spectrum Density graph (using color by utilization) using the QBSS Load IE from nearby access points. The result is an indicator of Channel Utilization from the perspective of the access points, instead of a spectrum analyzer.
In the Spectrum Graph, pinch-to-zoom on the graph to change the zoom level. Drag left and right to pan the graph, or drag the Viewport in the Minimap to pan the graph.
When a compatible spectrum analyzer is connected, Hamina Onsite will automatically tune the start frequency, stop frequency, and resolution of the Spectrum Density graph depending on the zoom level. When the graph is panned, the spectrum analyzer will re-tune to sweep the visible part of the graph.
In the minimap:
Dark grey - Spectrum that is currently being updated
Grey - A previous snapshot of spectrum that is not currently being updated
In the main spectrum graph:
Vibrant colors - Spectrum that is currently being updated
Desaturated colors - A previous snapshot of spectrum that is not currently being updated
Using the QBSS Load IE from the access points, this table displays how many clients are associated to each access point.
My row - How many clients are connected to access points that are broadcasting the selected SSID. Note: the client count is repeated for each 20 MHz channel, but they are not additive.
Other row - The total of clients on the channel that are connected to access points that are not part of the selected SSID.
Each cell of the table will change colors depending on how many clients are present on the channel. See the Configuration popover for a legend.
At the bottom of the Live View is the Networks table, and the APs table. You can switch between them using the Networks and APs tabs.
The Networks table shows a list of all of the nearby SSIDs in the selected band. The table shows:
SSID - Shows the name of the network.
Width - Shows the width of the network, in MHz. It is assumed that all APs on the network use the same width.
Sec. - Shows the security type advertised by the network.
Min. D - Shows the minimum basic data rate supported by the network.
Signal - Shows the primary signal strength (loudest AP) from the network.
The APs Table shows a list of all nearby BSSIDs in the selected band. The table shows:
MAC - The MAC address/BSSID of the access point radio.
SSID - The advertised SSID. --- denotes a hidden SSID.
Ch. - The channel that the radio is on.
Wi-Fi - The newest generation of Wi-Fi that is supported by the radio.
Signal - The signal strength of the radio
Vendor - An icon that shows which vendor the access point radio is from. If we can't tell the vendor from the OUI (first three nibbles of the MAC address), then a walrus is shown.
Learn how to get started with Hamina Onsite.
The very first step to using Hamina Onsite is to activate your Onsite subscription. The subscription is activated and managed in the Hamina Planner web app.
A Hamina Network Planner subscription is not required to log into the Hamina Planner web app, and activate Hamina Onsite. 👍
Sign into the Hamina Planner web app.
Click the Account menu, and select Subscriptions.
In the Subscriptions area, you will see a line item for Onsite. To the right, click the ... menu, and click Activate. Note: You can also copy the license key to share with someone else.
You Hamina Onsite license should now be activated.
On iPhone and iPad, Hamina Onsite needs to connect to an external measurement device such as an Oscium Nomad or WLAN Pi.
Learn how to perform site surveys with Hamina Onsite.
In the context of Wi-Fi design, deployment, and troubleshooting, a "site survey" is the act of going on site and taking measurements of a wireless network, usually with some kind of mapping or heatmapping element. With Hamina products, site surveys are conducted in Hamina Onsite (the app for iPhone, iPad, or macOS), and the Oscium Nomad (the measurement device).
Site surveys are sometimes erroneously called "active site surveys", perhaps because they involve walking a site which brings the word "active" to mind. In actuality, there are two types of site survey: passive and active. A passive site survey uses special Wi-Fi adapters (such as those found in the Oscium Nomad) to passively listen for wireless networks, which counterintuitively delivers the richest survey results. An active site survey connects a standard Wi-Fi adapter to the network, and uses the adapter to actively pass data such as ping results and throughput test. Currently, Hamina Onsite supports passive site surveys, since they are by far the most important type of site survey.
Most wireless network engineers conduct site surveys when:
They want to troubleshoot a network, such as one where they suspect inadequate coverage or excessive co-channel contention.
To evaluate the current state of a network and consider re-designing or replacing it.
To validate the deployment of a newly-deployed wireless network.
When performing a site survey it's best to:
Survey the scope of the project. If an area is within the project scope, survey it. If not, you can safely skip it.
Survey the sides of obstacles, such as walls. For example, surveying around the edges of rooms will help show where the walls cause signal strength to drop, and will help Hamina show how coverage changes from room to room.
Cross back and forth through open areas. Hamina uses a default guess range of 2.4 meters, or about 8 feet to either side of the survey path. We recommend keeping your surveys within about 2 meters or about 6 feet. Hamina Onsite can also display a heatmap live while you survey, giving you instant feedback about whether your survey paths are close enough or not.
The Oscium Nomad can be worn either on your side, like a messenger back, or it can be worn across your chest. Which method you use completely depends on your preference.
To start a survey, tap the Record survey button at the bottom of the app.
There are three methods of site survey in Hamina Onsite. To select between them, tap the the Point survey indicator, which will invoke the Select survey type drawer.
This type of site survey gathers data points one at a time while the user stands still. The advantage of this type is that you don't need to move continuously, which is great for crowded spaces and small rooms. The disadvantage is that you only get a data point when you tell Hamina Onsite to gather the data point, and you must stand still while the datapoint is gathered.
To conduct a Point Survey:
Find a location on a map where you would like to take a measurement. Note: You may need to look for landmarks or floorplan features such as windows, doorways, or room centers to precisely locate yourself.
Stand in the location.
Tap on the map, and wait for the circular progress indicator to complete and disappear, indicating that Hamina Onsite has finished capturing the datapoint. Tap the X button to cancel capturing the datapoint.
Move to the next location, and repeat.
A line survey gathers as many datapoints as possible while the user walks along a straight, uninterrupted line. The advantage of a line survey is that during the line, it gathers as many datapoints as possible, which can create rich and detailed heatmaps. It's also easier than a continuous survey, which we will discuss below.
Line surveys are ideal for spaces where you can survey in straight, continuous lines. Some examples include warehouses, school hallways, large outdoor areas, grocery stores, or anywhere else that walking in straight lines is convenient.
To conduct a line survey:
Plan a straight line on the map where you would like to take a series of measurements. Note: Just like with the point survey, you may need to look for landmarks and floor features, the key difference that you'll want to identify both the beginning location and the end location of the line.
Tap on the map and immediately begin walking in a straight line at a consistent pace. If something goes wrong, tap the X button to cancel capturing the line survey.
As you walk, pan ahead on the map, and locate exactly where you intend to end the line.
At the moment when you reach the end of the line, tap the map again. You're now free to stop, relax, and plan your next move.
A continuous survey is essentially a string of line surveys. The advantage of continuous surveys is that you can survey very quickly, and it creates a very rich dataset! The downside is that it takes practice, coordination, and rapid wayfinding to accomplish.
To conduct a Continuous Survey:
Find a location on a map where you would like to begin taking measurements. Note: just like with the point survey, you may need to look for landmarks and floor features to locate the starting point for your survey.
Tap on the map and immediately begin walking in a straight line at a consistent pace.
Whenever you need to stop, start, or turn, tap on the map. Between turns, always walk at a consistent pace. If something goes wrong, like you accidentally tap on the wrong place, tap the Undo button to remove the last tap.
Press the Stop button when finished.
Ok yeah I totally get it now. I walk somewhere, stop, tap on the map, and then start walking again? No! Tap when you start, stop, or turn. This means that when you turn, you should walk continuously and tap on the map when you change directions. If you're doing it correctly, your walking should look very robotic, which might be a useful skill for the eventual robotic uprising of the mid-90's. 🤖
If you need to pause for an obstacle like a door, there's a process for that!
Walk up to the door, and as you stop walking, tap on the map.
As you stand still to get your keys out or whatever you need to do, Hamina Onsite will continue to gather datapoints.
When you get the door opened and are ready to move through it, tap on the same spot on the map again and resume walking.
While you stand in front of the door, Hamina Onsite will have gathered many, many datapoints, which are simply averaged on the map in that location. The measurement in front of the door (or place where you stopped to talk to someone) will be very, very accurate! Of course, this trick works for just about any obstacle, even if you just want to take a quick break to get your bearings, or explain to someone why you are walking around all over their office.
Learn about new features, changes, and bug fixes in Hamina Onsite.
1.0.28
First, the scale markers are now pins that you can set with pixel-perfect precision. The pins are centered in the screen, and are moved by dragging the entire screen around, just like in other apps such as Google Maps and the Helsinki Regional Transit app here in Finland.
Second, the maximum scale distance of 49 meters has been removed, and the number input is with a number keyboard instead of the old, diabolical number spinner thingie (which we will admit was super cool in 2008).
Third, if the map doesn't have a scale, we funnel you directly into the scale UI so you can get it squared away.
We reworked the animations for point surveys, which fixed some flickering and freezing issues on iOS 18.4.
There was a bug that would cause the map to appear black or briefly flash black on iOS 18.4, when opening a project. That's fixed now!
1.0.27
This update adds a battery indicator for the Oscium Nomads during site surveys!
Honey, I shrunk the sync indicator! During usability testing, we noticed that users would wait for things to finish synchronizing before moving on to their next task, so we made it smaller to take the focus off of it and encourage users to continue with their tasks instead of waiting for the indicator to finish. It also keeps the battery indicator from being lonely.
In the real-time signal strength indicator in the map view, we replaced "Hardware" with "Nomad", "WLAN Pi", or "MacBook".
We now default to showing interference for "My Network".
If you switched maps without stopping a line or point survey, then the wrong heatmap would appear in the new map. We fixed that!
There was a bug on iPadOS that would cause modals to lose their state and disappear if you put the app in the background, and then opened it again. Modals should persist, now.
We discovered an issue affecting some Oscium Nomad units where one or more Wi-Fi adapters won't enumerate when the device boots up. On some affected units, it happens extremely rarely, and on some it happens fairly regularly. To catch this, Hamina Onsite checks for all of the adapters and alerts you if didn't find all of them, directing you to reboot it to try to fix the problem, or to contact Oscium support if it keeps happening.
We updated the app icon for macOS, so it fits perfectly with your other apps in the dock.
1.0.25
For new users, Point surveys are now the default, since it is the easiest type of survey to perform.
We added support for Single Sign-On (SSO).
There was a bug that would prevent panning to the edge of the floorplan, if the map was rotated. That's fixed now!
We squished and smoothed out a bunch of little bugs related to panning, zooming, and rotating maps. Uh, that analogy is a bit gross, sorry about that.
1.0.24
This release is jam-packed with new features, but let's start with the big one: Hamina Onsite now supports real-time spectrum analysis with the Oscium Wi-Spy Lucid and Oscium WiPry Clarity! There are a bunch of new features adjacent to spectrum analysis, so let's "start from the top".
In the Realtime View, in the Realtime group at the top, we added a color bar next to the signal strength labels to make it easier to tell what a "good" signal strength is.
We also adjusted the colors in the Realtime group. The My Primary and My Secondary signal strength lines are both black now, with the Other AP line being grey.
The star of the show is of course the new Spectrum graph! No matter whether a compatible spectrum analyzer is connected or not, it renders a graphical Wi-Fi scanner, with solid black "ziggurats" representing your Wi-Fi networks, and dashed ziggurats representing other networks.
When a spectrum analyzer is connected, we now display a layer 1 density view! This shows Color by Utilization over a 30-second timespan. You can tap the settings button and pull the drawer up to see the legend for the graph.
Without a spectrum analyzer, we use the QBSS Load IE from the access point beacons to determine the approximate amount of traffic on each channel, and use that to draw a similar Color by Utilization graph. This can give you an idea of how busy each channel is, even if you don't have a compatible spectrum analyzer handy.
The Spectrum graph supports pinching and zooming, so you can see details up-close. We also reconfigure the spectrum analyzer on the fly for the best speed and resolution for your current zoom level.
Below the Spectrum graph is the Associated Clients table. The My row shows how many clients are associated to your access points, and the Other row shows the total of clients associated to other access points on the channel.
It's now possible to accept project and team invites, directly from Hamina Onsite! This is super handy if you're already on site, and someone shares a project with you.
Hamina Onsite now supports cropped maps (which was the last piece of the puzzle that we needed to release cropped maps in Hamina Network Planner).
This release also fixes a bug that would break scrolling in the Realtime view on iPadOS 17.
1.0.23
This release of Hamina Onsite adds support for measurement blobs! What are those, you ask? Only our developers understand all of the details, but we can say that they help us load and display site survey measurements much, much faster on large projects.
On some iPhones (such as the iPhone 16 Pro Max), and on some iPads in certain screen split situations, rotating the phone with the camera opened would cause the app to crash. That is fixed now!
There was a bug that would cause heatmaps to not appear during surveys. All fixed!
1.0.22
We fixed a bug that caused Onsite to crash if it received a beacon with duplicate AP name information elements.
As a precaution, we also made sure that other duplicated information elements wouldn't cause the app to crash.
1.0.21
In the Map View, there's a signal strength indicator for the current SSID. If the current SSID was accidentally filtered out, the indicator would say, "Waiting for data", implying that the Oscium Nomad wasn't connected and working. This was super confusing, so we significantly changed the behavior of the indicator to make hardware connection and SSID filters separate, and much clearer. For example, if an SSID filter is applied, but that SSID isn't currently visible, we say No signal from the filtered SSID.
If the Oscium Nomad (or WLAN Pi) isn't connected, we show a Not connected indicator.
Speaking of connections, we significantly improved the reliability of reconnecting to the Oscium Nomad, especially if the Hamina Onsite app is closed before reconnecting.
We also worked on the performance of the real-time view. In environments with lots of APs, it performs much smoother now.
1.0.20
Fixed a bug that caused the app to crash when rendering heatmap for measurements from a 320 MHz wide channel.
1.0.19
There was a bug where 320 MHz channels were incorrectly parsed as 160 MHz. We got our hands on a beacon advertising 320 MHz, and got this fixed.
For very large projects, it was possible to run into performance issues, so we tightened up project synchronization.
If a beacon contained an invalid center channel, Hamina Onsite would crash. That's fixed now, even if the beacon contains something weird.
1.0.18
There was a bug that if an access point was hidden in one project it was set hidden in all projects. Whoops! It's now fixed.
There was also a bug that could sometimes cause the app to crash if survey paths were modified in the Planner at the same time as APs were modified in the Onsite app. That's now fixed as well.
1.0.17
This release of Hamina Onsite adds Inteference heatmaps! By default, it shows interference from all networks, but you can enable the "Nerd knobs" option if you'd like to see your network's internal co-channel contention.
1.0.16
There was a bug that would cause unsynchronized surveys taken immediately after login to fail to syncronize to the cloud after closing the app. We fixed the bug, and added a special fix for all of the surveys that were affected.
We also fixed a bug that would cause deleted survey points to reappear after syncronization.
We were missing grouping logic for a subset of Meraki BSSIDs, so we added that. All Meraki BSSIDs should group now.
We fixed a rare crash that could occur when moving an item on the map.
There was also a rare crash that could occur when opening the Place Access Point drawer. That's fixed too.
During surveys, we decreased the heatmap resolution a little bit to conserve battery power, but we kept the resolution high enough to easily keep an eye on heatmaps while surveying.
1.0.15
You can now hide AP locations!
AP names now fully resolve, even if they include variables.
We refactored some of the map view and data sync code to make it more efficent and improve battery life.
Loading measurements from the cloud is more efficient too, but this one was more about speed than battery.
We do a better job of differentiating between dragging and tapping on the screen, so you should get fewer accidental taps while surveying. We surveyed an entire stadium and only had a couple of mis-taps, so we think it's much better now.
We improved the performance of the map view while rotating and zooming in on big survey projects.
There was a bug where large projects would cause the app to slow down in a couple of places. That's been fixed!
1.0.14
AP-on-a-stick surveys are now supported!
If an access point is pretty quiet, Hamina Onsite won't place it automatically. This release adds the ability to manually place them yourself. You can manually place access points in Hamina Network Planner, too!
Speaking of hidden stuff: we now show a "Hidden" label on hidden SSIDs instead of an empty pill box like before.
Previously, if panning swipes were on the shorter side of things, we would accidentally register a screen tap during a survey. We tweaked things a bit, surveyed an entire 35,000 seat stadium, and only saw two mis-taps. Not_bad.jpg!
If a new version of Hamina Onsite is available, a new in-app notification will let you know.
Hamina Onsite now supports 6 GHz MBSSID (Multi BSSID) elements in beacons.
Hey, 'member Mojo access points?! We 'member! Now they show up as "Arista".
We updated the OUI list. Yay.
In Hamina Network Planner, if you select a heatmap that Hamina Onsite doesn't support yet, Hamina Onsite will automagically switch to an empty heatmap. That's real innovation, folks!
There was a weird bug where the network selection menu wouldn't work in the Real-time view. That has been fixed!
Access points were getting placed all willy-nilly, so we changed the map placement threshold from -55 to -60 dBm.
1.0.13
During surveys, we no longer recalculate the entire heatmap every time you tap on the map. Instead, we just append the heatmaps with the new measurements, which is a lot more efficient.
We fixed a bug that would cause map note icons to be different in Hamina Network Planner.
1.0.12
This release is all about bug fixes and performance improvements!
In particular, we fixed a bug that would cause the UI to freeze if there were a lot of measurements.
10.0.11
Fixed some cloud syncronization issues.
Replaced some animations with new ones that better match the Oscium Nomad.
1.0.10
During firmware updates, the percentage indicator didn't match the progress bar. Whoops. They match now!
In the AP Details Drawer, we now show the channel width, Wi-Fi generation, security type, and minimum data rate.
If you uploaded multiple photo notes while offline, the photo notes wouldn't synchronize. We took care of it.
We improved BSSID grouping for Juniper Mist access points.
We also improved BSSID grouping for Cisco access points.
There was a rare bug that could crash the app when deleting survey points. That's fixed!
We made some adjustments to the firmware upgrade process for the Oscium Nomad, and updated the firmware upgrade screens to match.
1.0.9
During firmware updates, it was possible for the progress bar to get stuck (even though it was still working in the background). We fixed the progress bar, so it accurately reflects the Oscium Nomad firmware upgrade progress.
If an access point wasn't heard above -55 dBm during the survey, we won't automatically place it. Now, in Hamina Network Planner, you can override that behavior and place access points manually. This update adds the ability for Hamina Onsite to show manually placed access points.
1.0.8 🗺️
Map rotation got all wonky on macOS, so we fixed it!
1.0.7 💻
First release on macOS! There are some known issues, so be sure to check those out below.
We made some big improvements to our AP location algorithms. We have some creative ideas for how to further improve things, but the AP locations seem a lot better now. If you have any feedback for us about it, we'd love to hear it!
The Primary and Secondary lines in the real-time view would rapidly swap back and forth in some situations, so we smoothed things out a bit to keep that from happening.
The Oscium Nomad firmware update workflow now has nice animations and graphics!
We fixed some performance bugs, and also some small bugs around project synchronization.
Known issues
On macOS, it's possible to rate the map with the trackpad, but if the map is rotated on it's side, then panning doesn't work. Whoops! For now, we don't recommend rotating the map. 😅
On macOS, the map panning doesn't respect the zoom level, so you might find that panning at higher zoom levels is too sensitive. We'll get this fixed in the next release.
1.0.6
We identified a bug that could cause survey uploads to fail. That's all fixed and working properly now.
We implemented some performance improvements that make the real-time view smoother.
We fixed a bug that caused the selected SSID to sometimes not be visible in the real-time view.
Fetching measurements from the cloud is now faster.
We found that the map view was being rendered a lot more often than needed, so we reduced the amount of renders to something reasonable, which should help out the performance, and battery life of your device while you run the app.
1.0.5 🐛
Another update already?! Yeah...
We fixed an issue where the heatmaps would break, and the APs would disappear if the app went into the background on iPad. Yikes!
There was an bug where measurements would disappear if the survey path was modified while the project was synchronizing to the cloud. We squished it right away!
1.0.4 🎤
Yo dawg, I heard that you like updates that can update, so this update adds the ability to update the firmware on the Oscium Nomad!
You can now see the Oscium Nomad battery status, firmware version, and serial number in the Settings view (and you can long-press the serial number to copy it to your clipboard).
Photos are now supported in notes! They won't be displayed in the Hamina Network Planner web app quite yet, but they are synchronized to the cloud.
Your selected heatmap, frequency band, and SSID filters now synchronize between Hamina Onsite, and Hamina Planner.
We made some improvements to performance, especially when the app starts.
1.0.3
On iPad, there was a bug that would cause the app to crash if you put it in the background, while on the map view. It's all fixed now!
We made some improvements to the graphs in the real-time view to make them look smoother.
We applied a little bit of extra smoothing to the heatmaps, especially when viewing one AP.
If the map scale is changing, we show a notification to let you know.
During early development, we had a "feature" that would restart the capture after we heard a certain amount of malformed packets. Since these are pretty common, it was restarting the packet capture all of the time, so we removed it.
1.0.2
We now prompt user to download new app version if the current app isn't compatible with the Hamina cloud.
Secondary coverage heatmaps now fade away on the edges, instead of fading to red.
Added the ability to move and delete points on survey paths, directly from the app.
1.0.1 ❄️
Added the SNR heatmap.
Primary coverage heatmaps now fade away on the edges, instead of fading to red.
Added explanations and prompts for location and local networking permissions.
Fixed 6 GHz parsing for Information Elements that have Max Co-Hosted BSSID indicator set.
Added support for 320 MHz channels (also taking bets on whether we'll end up using those in 6 GHz or not).
Grouped HP and HPE hardware with Aruba to keep things clean and consistent.
Added Aruba logo to real-time view.
Made some small adjustments to the SNR and RSSI heatmap thresholds.
1.0 🎁🌲
Initial release!
Learn how to use various WLAN Pi models for site surveys with Hamina Onsite.
The WLAN Pi is a community-developed device that is outfitted with Wi-Fi measurement and troubleshooting tools. The WLAN Pi can be used for site surveying and troubleshooting Wi-Fi with the Hamina Onsite app.
The WLAN Pi has been available in several different form factors, all with wildly different connectivity options. Conversely, host survey devices (such as iPads, iPads, and MacBooks) have varying connectivity options, which makes connecting some combinations of WLAN Pi and host survey device a challenge.
In this article, we'll discuss all of the WLAN Pi models, and their unique connection challenges.
This table compares all WLAN Pi models:
The WLAN Pi NEO2 has a single USB-C connector which provides it power and USB data, which limits host survey device compatibility. There is no Bluetooth connectivity on the WLAN Pi NEO2.
✅ Wired compatibility:
USB-C iPads
iPhone 15 Pro
Apple Silicon MacBooks
❌ Not Compatible with:
Lightning iPads
Lightning iPhones
iPhone 15 (which does not supply enough power)
The WLAN Pi Pro has a USB-C port for both charging and data, and it has a built-in battery. Since it supplies it's own power, it has the widest compatibility with host survey devices. It also has Bluetooth, which can be used to connect to any host survey device.
✅ USB connection compatibility:
USB-C iPads (via USB-C to USB-C cable)
USB-C iPhones (via USB-C to USB-C cable)
Apple Silicon MacBooks (via USB-C to USB-A hub or adapter and USB-A to USB-C cable)
The WLAN Pi R4 has a USB-C port for both external power and data. Some host survey devices can power the WLAN Pi R4 directly from their USB port, enabling a wired connection.
✅ USB connection compatible with:
USB-C iPads (via USB-C to USB-C cable)
iPhone 15 Pro (via USB-C to USB-C cable)
Apple Silicon MacBooks (via USB-C to USB-C cable)
❌ USB connection not compatible with:
Lightning iPads
Lightning iPhones
The WLAN Pi M4 has a USB-C port, but it is only for power, and does not provide a data connection. As a result, the M4 does not offer any wired connection solutions. It must be powered with a battery pack, and connected to an iPad or iPhone via Bluetooth.
To use the WLAN Pi with Hamina Onsite, we'll need to:
Write the latest release of WLAN Pi OS to the WLAN Pi
Install wlanpi-onsite-server
Connect the WLAN Pi to the host survey device (iPad, iPhone, MacBook)
Configure Hamina Onsite to use the WLAN Pi
Before surveying, we need to install a software package on the WLAN Pi.
A working knowledge of the command line, SSH, and Debian is required to install the software package on the WLAN Pi.
Update your WLAN Pi to the latest stable image:
Connect the WLAN Pi to the host machine, and boot it up.
On the host machine, scp the Debian package to your WLAN Pi::
scp wlanpi-onsite-server.deb wlanpi@169.254.42.1:/home/wlanpi
SSH into the WLAN Pi:
ssh wlanpi@169.254.42.1
Install the Debian package:
sudo dpkg -i /home/wlanpi/wlanpi-onsite-server.deb
Restart the onsite-server with:
sudo systemctl restart onsite-server
onsite-server is now ready for use, and will automatically start on boot.
Boot up the WLAN Pi.
Boot up the WLAN Pi.
On the WLAN Pi, use the buttons and menu to enable Bluetooth and enable pairing mode.
On the iPhone or iPad, use the Settings app to pair the iPhone or iPad with the WLAN Pi over Bluetooth.
On iPhone and iPad, check the Settings app for the Ethernet line item. If Ethernet appears on the list, the WLAN Pi has successfully established a network connection to the iPhone or iPad.
In Hamina Onsite, tap the gear icon in the upper right to enter Settings.
Choose WLAN Pi.
For USB, use 169.254.42.1.
For Bluetooth, use 169.254.43.1.
Check the connection status:
Searching - Hamina Onsite hasn't found the WLAN Pi.
Connecting - Hamina Onsite is able to ping the WLAN Pi, and is trying to connect to Onsite Server.
Connected - Hamina Onsite has successfully connected to Onsite Server.
Just like in Hamina Network Planner, we adjusted the behavior of the Interference heatmap. Previously, white or "nothing" indicated no interference. On a completely interference-free heatmap, seeing nothing sometimes caused confusion. To fix it, we made interference-free areas green.
This release features an all-new UI for setting the scale! With it come several nice improvements, which we'll list below.
Note for WLAN Pi users: This release requires onsite-server 1.1.1, which you can .
Lightning iPads (via and USB-A to USB-C cable)
Lightning iPhones (via and USB-A to USB-C cable)
.
Connect it to your host survey device (iPad, iPhone or Apple Silicon MacBook) with whatever cables are required. Note: see the to determine which adapters and cables you'll need.
On iPhone and iPad, check the Settings app for the Ethernet line item. If Ethernet appears on the list, the WLAN Pi has successfully established a network connection to the iPhone or iPad.
On macOS, check the System Settings app > Network section for the RNDIS/Ethernet Gadget line item. If RNDIS/Ethernet Gadget appears on the list, the WLAN Pi has successfully established a network connection with the MacBook.
Wi-Fi adapters
1
2
0
1
Availability
Discontinued
Discontinued
Available
Available
Power
via host device
via internal battery
via host device
via external battery
USB connection
✅
✅
✅
❌
Bluetooth
❌
✅
✅
✅
Lightning iPhone
❌
via Camera Adapter
❌
❌
USB-C iPhone
✅
✅
✅
❌
Lighting iPad
❌
via Camera Adapter
❌
❌
USB-C iPad
✅
✅
✅
❌
Apple Silicon MacBook
✅
✅
✅
❌
Learn how to perform AP-on-a-Stick surveys with Hamina Onsite.
AP-on-a-Stick is an alternative design method to predictive modeling. Instead of creating a model by drawing walls and attenuating objects, and placing access points to create a prediction of coverage, AP-on-a-Stick (APoS) uses measurements from real AP placements to create heatmaps, which can then be used for network proposals.
With an AP-on-a-Stick (APoS) survey, usually only one access point is used. The access point is placed, surveyed around, moved, and surveyed around repeatedly until all of the access point locations are determined.
Obtain the access point model(s) that you intend to use in the final deployment.
Configure the access point to work offline (which is sometimes called "survey" or "configuration persistence" mode) and with the transmit power that you intend to use in the final deployment.
Set up the access point on a stick. These setups usually include:
A good tripod that places the AP very close to or against the ceiling
A portable PoE battery pack
Place the AP in a prospective location.
Perform one or multiple surveys around the access point. You can mix and match Point, Line, and Continuous surveys as needed.
While surveying, keep an eye on the Signal Strength graph on the bottom. When the the signal strength nears or exceeds -82 dBm, you're at the very edge of the coverage cell and don't need to continue surveying in that direction.
When you've surveyed all around the access point, switch to Explore mode.
Tap on the AP on the map to open the AP Details drawer.
Scroll to the bottom, and enable the AP on a stick option.
Physically move the AP to the next prospective location.
Repeat steps 2 through 8.
