Looking for a wifi signal level measuring app

June 14, 2022, 02:10 PM

Flash-LB

quote:
Originally posted by h2oys:
I never knew there was a way to measure wifi, and thanks to each of you, I now have the Airport Utility app on my iPhone.

Here is the result of the wifi scan:

Now what does it mean? What are "acceptable" numbers?

I want to run it when I get home tonight because there are spots outside my home wherein I can't connect.

The signal strength in the graphic is about the same as I get from my neighbor's wifi (50 feet away and through a few walls including mine), but how come you're only on 2.4 Ghz? There's no 5 Ghz Wifi there.

So if you're close to your wifi, your signal strength is horrible. From 3 feet away, mine is -33 dBm. From 30 feet away, it's -46 dBm. From outside on my patio, 60 feet away and through around 4 walls, I'm at -65 dBm or so.

June 14, 2022, 04:46 PM

airbubba

quote:
Originally posted by Flash-LB:
quote:
Originally posted by h2oys:
I never knew there was a way to measure wifi, and thanks to each of you, I now have the Airport Utility app on my iPhone.

Here is the result of the wifi scan:

Now what does it mean? What are "acceptable" numbers?

I want to run it when I get home tonight because there are spots outside my home wherein I can't connect.

The signal strength in the graphic is about the same as I get from my neighbor's wifi (50 feet away and through a few walls including mine), but how come you're only on 2.4 Ghz? There's no 5 Ghz Wifi there.

So if you're close to your wifi, your signal strength is horrible. From 3 feet away, mine is -33 dBm. From 30 feet away, it's -46 dBm. From outside on my patio, 60 feet away and through around 4 walls, I'm at -65 dBm or so.

what tells you that this is just 2.4 values??

June 14, 2022, 06:27 PM

trapper189

quote:
Originally posted by airbubba:

what tells you that this is just 2.4 values??

The channel numbers. Channels 1-11 in the USA are 2.4GHz. I think the 5GHz channels in the USA are 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165.

The fun thing about the 2.4GHz channels is that they overlap such that only channels 1, 6, and 11 don’t overlap.

June 14, 2022, 07:24 PM

airbubba

quote:
Originally posted by trapper189:
quote:
Originally posted by airbubba:

what tells you that this is just 2.4 values??

The channel numbers. Channels 1-11 in the USA are 2.4GHz. I think the 5GHz channels in the USA are 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165.

The fun thing about the 2.4GHz channels is that they overlap such that only channels 1, 6, and 11 don’t overlap.

thanks

June 14, 2022, 07:47 PM

911Boss

quote:
Originally posted by smschulz:

Keeping it simple ... when your RSSI is below 67dbm then your connection will start to wane.
This is not an exclusive number but know the lower the RSSI the better.

Technically, HIGHER is better. RSSI is always a negative number, -50 dbm is a higher strength than -65 dbm as it is “less negative”.

June 14, 2022, 08:43 PM

h2oys

quote:
Originally posted by Flash-LB:
quote:
Originally posted by h2oys:
I never knew there was a way to measure wifi, and thanks to each of you, I now have the Airport Utility app on my iPhone.

Here is the result of the wifi scan:

Now what does it mean? What are "acceptable" numbers?

I want to run it when I get home tonight because there are spots outside my home wherein I can't connect.

The signal strength in the graphic is about the same as I get from my neighbor's wifi (50 feet away and through a few walls including mine), but how come you're only on 2.4 Ghz? There's no 5 Ghz Wifi there.

So if you're close to your wifi, your signal strength is horrible. From 3 feet away, mine is -33 dBm. From 30 feet away, it's -46 dBm. From outside on my patio, 60 feet away and through around 4 walls, I'm at -65 dBm or so.

The prior pic was at work where I was about 25’ away from the age old router. The pic below is at home with an AT&T provided router that is about 15’ away and no walls:

June 15, 2022, 10:25 AM

tsmccull

Thanks for the airport utility recommendation, now that V-Tail explained how to get the scanning option to appear. Not quite as useful as that old Android version which had a real-time signal level meter, but given the limitations Apple placed on their phones, this will work.