yeet-src

yeet-src / airtop

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htop for the airwaves — a live 802.11 (Wi-Fi) RF dashboard in your terminal

yeet.cx 802-11 bpf ebpf network-monitoring rf
18
1
85% credibility
Found May 29, 2026 at 26 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
JavaScript
AI Summary

Airtop is a live Wi-Fi monitoring dashboard that runs in your terminal on a normal connected internet connection. It watches every Wi-Fi message flowing through your computer's wireless adapter and turns that data into colorful, real-time visualizations: a frequency map of nearby networks, signal strength graphs over time, a heatmap of message types, and a list of discovered access points sorted by strength. It requires no special monitoring mode or additional hardware — it reads data directly from the kernel's Wi-Fi stack — and can help diagnose why a video call stutters, a guest cannot connect, or a channel feels congested before an important demo.

How It Works

1
📡 Your Wi-Fi starts acting up

You're in the middle of a video call when it freezes. You wonder if your network is crowded or if something is interfering with your Wi-Fi.

2
🔍 You search for answers and find airtop

A friend mentions a tool that shows you everything happening on your Wi-Fi in real time, right in your terminal — no extra hardware needed.

3
⚡ One command gets everything ready

You run a simple installer that sets up a small helper, then launch the program with a single command. Your screen clears and the live dashboard appears.

4
📊 A colorful picture of your Wi-Fi world

You see a frequency map showing all the networks around you as colorful humps, signal graphs that change as you move your laptop, and a live feed of every type of Wi-Fi message your computer receives.

5
🔎 You explore the different panels

You scroll through the spectrum view, check the signal strength history, look at the frame activity feed, and browse the list of discovered networks sorted by strength.

6
You spot what might be the problem
📶
Crowded channel

You see many networks packed together on your frequency, explaining the stuttering during your calls.

⚠️
Suspicious activity

The disconnect counter turns red with unusual spikes, hinting at interference or a misbehaving device.

✅
Everything looks clean

Your network appears healthy with no congestion or strange patterns, and the problem might be elsewhere.

🎯 Now you understand your Wi-Fi

You can see exactly what is happening on your network and make informed decisions — whether that is changing your router's channel, investigating interference, or confirming everything is working fine.

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AI-Generated Review

What is airtop?

airtop is a live Wi-Fi RF dashboard that runs in your terminal. It taps into the Linux kernel's Wi-Fi stack using eBPF and displays real-time 802.11 traffic: a frequency spectrum showing nearby access points, per-station signal traces, a frame-type activity heatmap, and a rolling list of discovered networks. Built in JavaScript with BPF programs, it renders everything with braille and block graphics. The pitch: no monitor mode, no raw sockets, no dropping your connection. It just watches what your kernel is already doing.

Why is it gaining traction?

The hook is simplicity. Traditional Wi-Fi analysis means disconnecting and switching to monitor mode. airtop works on your normal connected interface, which makes it practical for real debugging sessions. The deauth counter lights up red when something suspicious is happening, which is the kind of at-a-glance feedback developers actually want. The terminal UI is genuinely pretty for a diagnostic tool.

Who should use this?

Linux sysadmins debugging flaky connections, home users trying to figure out why their video calls stutter, and network engineers picking channels before an event. If you need a full-band survey or packet capture, reach for airodump-ng instead. This is for quick RF environment checks without reconfiguring your interface. Requires Linux with BTF support and a standard cfg80211 Wi-Fi card.

Verdict

The concept is clever and the execution is clean, but at 18 stars this is early-stage software. The yeet runtime dependency adds a layer of indirection that may put off some users. Credibility score sits at 0.85% -- respectable for a niche tool but worth treating as experimental. Worth trying if you run Linux and deal with Wi-Fi debugging regularly, but do not use this for anything security-critical until it has more battle-testing.

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