Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

wigle.net VS OpenSignal

Compare wigle.net VS OpenSignal and see what are their differences

wigle.net logo wigle.net

WiGLE (Wireless Geographic Logging Engine)

OpenSignal logo OpenSignal

Mobile analytics and insights on wireless connectivity from Opensignal, the independent global standard for understanding the true state of the world's mobile network.
  • wigle.net Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-17
  • OpenSignal Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-20

wigle.net features and specs

  • Comprehensive Database
    Wigle.net offers an extensive database of wireless networks around the world, providing valuable insights into global WiFi coverage.
  • User Contribution
    The platform allows users to contribute data, promoting community involvement and continuously updating the database with new information.
  • Open Data Access
    Wigle.net provides access to its data for non-commercial use, supporting research, education, and personal projects.
  • Visualization Tools
    The site includes tools for visualizing wireless networks on maps, aiding in geographic analysis and planning.
  • Educational Resource
    It serves as an educational resource for understanding wireless networks, their distribution, and security concerns.

Possible disadvantages of wigle.net

  • Privacy Concerns
    There are concerns about privacy and consent, as the platform collects and shares information about wireless networks without explicit permission from network owners.
  • Potential for Misuse
    The data could potentially be used for inappropriate purposes, such as unauthorized network access or tracking individuals through network usage.
  • Data Accuracy
    Since data is crowdsourced, there may be inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the information provided, affecting reliability.
  • Limited Commercial Use
    The open data access is limited to non-commercial purposes, which might restrict its usefulness for businesses looking to leverage this information commercially.
  • Legal Issues
    There might be legal implications of collecting and distributing network data, depending on local laws and regulations.

OpenSignal features and specs

  • Comprehensive Data Collection
    OpenSignal collects data from millions of devices worldwide, providing a broad and detailed overview of mobile network performance.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The application offers a simple and intuitive interface, making it easy for users to access and understand the data presented.
  • Independent Analysis
    As an independent company, OpenSignal provides unbiased insights into network speed and reliability, which can help consumers make informed decisions.
  • Global Coverage
    OpenSignal provides network performance reports for numerous countries across the globe, making it a valuable tool for international travelers.
  • Regular Updates
    The app frequently updates its data to reflect the most current assessments of network providersโ€™ performances.

Possible disadvantages of OpenSignal

  • Battery Usage
    The app may consume a considerable amount of battery life as it requires constant data collection in the background.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Users might be wary of sharing their location data, even though OpenSignal ensures that data is anonymized.
  • Data Plan Usage
    Continuous data collection could result in higher data usage, potentially affecting users with limited data plans.
  • Coverage Limitations in Sparse Areas
    In less-populated or rural regions, the data collection might be less comprehensive due to fewer contributing users.
  • Variable Data Accuracy
    As data largely depends on user participation and device distribution, accuracy can vary, particularly in less densely populated areas.

wigle.net videos

War Driving in 2020 With Wigle.net

More videos:

  • Review - From WiFi SSID to your home address! wigle.net

OpenSignal videos

What is OpenSignal? How are mobile networks measured? (Telugu)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to wigle.net and OpenSignal)
Wi-Fi
46 46%
54% 54
Tool
38 38%
62% 62
Mobile Proxies
38 38%
62% 62
5G Proxy
50 50%
50% 50

User comments

Share your experience with using wigle.net and OpenSignal. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, wigle.net seems to be a lot more popular than OpenSignal. While we know about 53 links to wigle.net, we've tracked only 5 mentions of OpenSignal. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

wigle.net mentions (53)

  • Everyone knows your location, Part 2: try it yourself and share the results
    Not exactly related but on the topic of finding target's location, A few years ago I used to run a little demo of capturing probe wifi ssid network on prefered network list of nearby devices and used https://wigle.net/ to identify places that people has visited... It was eye opening for some people in the audience for sure. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Modern Wardriving
    It's not to get into a network, it's just to list where they're at.. For points. Similar to internet points :). There's no hacking involved just nerds being nerds What you find shows up here: https://wigle.net/ As you can see there's quite a few people who do it. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Show HN: BeaconDB โ€“ An Alternative to Mozilla Location Services
    As nobody has yet mentioned it, there is also WiGLE [1] which has tracked over a billion unique networks. [1] https://wigle.net/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Apple allows applications to track user locations without authorization
    SSID / BSSID is often enough to pinpoint the location of someone. Recently someone debated this with me, so I asked him what his wifi AP name was, then proceeded to provide their home address. How? By searching it in https://wigle.net. That ended the debate quite swiftly. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Apple allows applications to track user locations without authorization
    IP gives you a rough location (like which city at best), SSID/BSSID can give you street/building level accuracy if it's in a database like https://wigle.net Considering the scale of these apps, I'm guessing they have internal wifi<->location databases with fairly great accuracy. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
View more

OpenSignal mentions (5)

  • Coverage Critic Coverage Map - Compare Coverage From The Major Networks
    Check cellmapper.net this is the site I always go to ..... Secoond to opensignal.com to get "real device mapping"..... unfortunately both sites are only good as the "users" who have used their respective "apps" around your locale.....though. but through word of mouth the coverage mapping will get better. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Just started working electronics 4 days ago. Any tips from any veterans? Or useful info
    I always tell people about opensignal.com as well as cellmapper.net if they are curious "which network is the best" - it can be complicated for some customers! So tread lightyly or you will end up in "tech support hell" with an 80 year old....lol. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Whatโ€™s the most reliable service provider in the DC metropolitan area?
    Have you checkd cellmapper.net? or opensignal.com? Unfurtnately the service(s) are only as good as the people that have used the "apps" in that region though....I know when I switched from Virgin Mobile USA to metro years ago, and then to family mobile I used both sites to compare coverage, and it's kinda technical, but interesting....to check your home address, work address, etc.....it's definitely far more... Source: about 4 years ago
  • FortiGate-40F-3G4G - antenna replacement
    Https://opensignal.com/ - Crowd based signal mapping. Useful for finding generalized signal strength by carrier based on location. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Considering Spectrum Mobile?
    But I'd defintely play around with cellmapper.net and opensignal.com in your local area and see, but verizon is pretttty solid. Source: over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing wigle.net and OpenSignal, you can also consider the following products

OpenCellID - OpenCelliD is the largest Open Database of Cell Towers & their locations. You can geolocate IoT & Mobile devices without GPS, explore Mobile Operator coverage and more!

GSM Spy Finder - Detect IMSI/IMEI/TMSI catchers and interception of voice and data over GSM networks

cellumap - Cellumap is a revolution in cellular coverage maps, in that the coverage maps here are not created...

Proxidize - Proxidize is a proxy provider that offers both ready-made mobile proxies and tools to build your own, all managed from a single cloud dashboard.

G-MoN - G-MoN is a Wardriving scanner to collect and map all received wifi access points.

inViu OpenCellID - Collects the GPS positions of GSM cell towers and submits to OpenCellID