Jump to content

How to test my wifi signal strength?

Luke
By Luke
in Networking
 Share
Posted

So i have a few wifi network cards and i want to test which one gets the best range to use for my downstairs HTPC. Is their a better way than just looking at the signal strength bars on the bottom right of windows? A percentage signal strength would be nice.

 

Help is much appreciate. Thanks!

Intel i7 3770K [] Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 [] MSI R9 290X 4GB [] 16GB  G.SKILL 2133Mhz [] Crucial MX100 256GB [] WD Black 1TB [] XFX Pro 850W [] Fractal Define R3 [] Func MS-3 R2 [] Corsair K60 [] 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
2 minutes ago, Luke said:

So i have a few wifi network cards and i want to test which one gets the best range to use for my downstairs HTPC. Is their a better way than just looking at the signal strength bars on the bottom right of windows? A percentage signal strength would be nice.

 

Help is much appreciate. Thanks!

You can just use speedtest on each one haha.

• OS: Windows 10/10 Pro  • SSD: Samsung 256GB 850 Evo Series *  • HDD: Seagate 1TB  • GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 GAMING X (SLI)
• CPU: i7-4790K OC 4.7GHz Quad-Core Processor • Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) • PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W
• RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory • Mobo: MSI Gaming 5

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
2 minutes ago, aLemonNation said:

You can just use speedtest on each one haha.

They all report the same thing even though the signal strength is lower on some of them. I have a d-link USB wifi adapter once that showed the percentage signal strength in the program i'm hoping to find something like that but i'm not having much luck.

Intel i7 3770K [] Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 [] MSI R9 290X 4GB [] 16GB  G.SKILL 2133Mhz [] Crucial MX100 256GB [] WD Black 1TB [] XFX Pro 850W [] Fractal Define R3 [] Func MS-3 R2 [] Corsair K60 [] 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

There's a nifty Android app called Wi-Fi Analyzer. There might be something similar for iPhones.

 

However the thing is that signal strength is not indicative of quality. I've had numerous cases where I had great signal strength, but the network quality was terrible. All the Wi-Fi status things tell you is what it got from the beacon packets.

I have a blog! And a list of guides I've posted

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
10 minutes ago, Luke said:

So i have a few wifi network cards and i want to test which one gets the best range to use for my downstairs HTPC. Is their a better way than just looking at the signal strength bars on the bottom right of windows? A percentage signal strength would be nice.

Help is much appreciate. Thanks!

inSSIDer is a good one it shows all the signals including protential overlap of certain channels. 

Updated Modding FAQ

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
13 minutes ago, W-L said:

inSSIDer is a good one it shows all the signals including protential overlap of certain channels. 

Thanks!!!

Intel i7 3770K [] Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 [] MSI R9 290X 4GB [] 16GB  G.SKILL 2133Mhz [] Crucial MX100 256GB [] WD Black 1TB [] XFX Pro 850W [] Fractal Define R3 [] Func MS-3 R2 [] Corsair K60 [] 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Networking

×