How To Assess Wi-Fi Strength Using Your iOS Or Android Device?

How to evaluate Wi-Fi strength with your iOS or Android device? If you notice that your Internet connection is slowing down, it’s probably because your Wi-Fi signal is getting weaker. Your Wi-Fi connection is mostly affected by how far you are from the router or hotspot device. The Wi-Fi signal gets weaker the further you are from the router, and vice versa. It is important to know how to check the exact strength of your Wi-Fi signal to see if this is the reason why your internet connection is slow.
How to Check Your Wi-Fi Signal Strength on an iPhone?
It’s easier to check your Wi-Fi connection if you look at how many of the lines are filled in the Wi-Fi icon. This symbol is usually in the upper right or lower right corner of the screen. The stronger your Wi-Fi signal, the more lines you fill in. If some of the lines are gray, your Wi-Fi signal is not strong enough.
How to evaluate Wi-Fi strength with your iOS or Android device?
Decibels per milliwatt, or dBm, is the standard way to measure how strong a Wi-Fi signal is. From -30 dBm to -90 BBM goes the dBm scale. The best Wi-Fi signal strength is -30 dBm, but don’t worry if yours isn’t that strong. You should be fine with anything between -67 dBm and -30 dBm.
Here are the ranges of the dBm scale and what they mean for the strength of your Wi-Fi signal.
- The weakest Wi-Fi signal strength is -90 dBm. You won’t even be able to connect to the Wi-Fi network with this value.
- -80 dBm: This is very unreliable signal strength. You may be able to connect to the network, but you will not be able to use any Internet services.
- -70 dBm: With this signal strength, you can only do very low-bandwidth Internet tasks such as opening emails.
- This signal is strong at -67 dBm. You can do everything that needs a connection to the Internet.
- -50 dBm: This is a stronger signal, so your internet will move faster. You won’t have to deal with buffering or lag, and both your download and upload speeds should be pretty fast.
- This is the strongest Wi-Fi signal, at -30 dBm. If your Wi-Fi signal is this strong, you are probably very close to the access point.
- Now that you know how dBm works, you’ll need to download a third-party app to help you check the strength of your Wi-Fi signal. The AirPort Utility app is an excellent choice for iPhone users. Here’s how to use the app to find out how strong your Wi-Fi signal is.
- Go to the App Store to get the AirPort Utility app and install it.
- Open “Settings” and expand the drop-down menu for “AirPort Utility”.
- Turn on the switch that says “Wi-Fi Scanner”.
- Open the AirPort Utility app and tap “Wi-Fi Scan” in the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Tap “Scan” and then select the Wi-Fi network you want to check.
- Note the dBm number next to the “RSSI” number. This is how strong your Wi-Fi signal is.
- Tap “Done” to close the app.
How to check your Wi-Fi signal strength on an Android
On an Android device, you can use an app called Wi-Fi Analyzer to find out how strong your Wi-Fi signal is. Here’s how to use the app to check how strong your Wi-Fi signal is.
- Go to the Play Store to get Wi-Fi Analyzer and then install it.
- Launch the app and make sure you’re connected to the Wi-Fi whose signal strength you want to check.
- Scroll down to the name of the Wi-Fi network you are connected to and make a note of the dBm value.
- Use the dBm scale range we talked about above to find out how strong your Wi-Fi signal is.
- Click on the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner of the screen and select “Channel Chart” if you want to see a chart.
- Take note of your Wi-Fi network’s dBm value.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I increase the strength of my Wi-Fi signal?
There are a few things you can do to make your Wi-Fi signal stronger. Here are some examples.
• Get closer to the hot spot or access point.
• Use an extender or repeater for Wi-Fi.
• Limit how many devices are connected to one Wi-Fi network.
• Choose Wi-Fi routers that support the 5 GHz speed
• Make sure nothing gets in the way of your router.
• Move the router away from devices that emit electromagnetic waves, such as the microwave oven, as this may interfere with its signal.
How do you check Wi-Fi signal strength on a Mac?
Mac shows the strength of your Wi-Fi signal in dBm instead of the usual bars. Here’s how to check your Wi-Fi signal strength on a Mac.
- Turn on your computer and make sure you have access to the Internet.
- Hold down the option button and click on the Wi-Fi icon.
- The dBm value should be shown in the RSSI field.
How to evaluate Wi-Fi strength with your iOS or Android device?
On a Windows PC, there are many ways to check how strong your Wi-Fi signal is. The command line is a better way to do things. Here’s how to get things done.
Open your Windows PC and type “Command prompt” in the search box.
- Select “Open” from the menu.
- Click “Yes” to give the app permission to make changes to your computer.
- Once the terminal is open, type “netsh wlan show interfaces” and press the “Enter” key.
- Your Wi-Fi signal strength is shown as a percentage next to “signal”. If the value is more than 80%, your Wi-Fi signal strength is good.
Follow these steps instead if you just want a rough idea of how strong your Wi-Fi signal is.
- Open Windows and click on the small arrow pointing up.
- Write down the number of full bars on the Wi-Fi icon.
Find out how strong your Wi-Fi signal is
If your internet connection is slow, knowing how strong your Wi-Fi signal is will help you figure out if that’s to blame. It is quite easy to do this. Just look at the Wi-Fi icon and see if some of the lines are greyed out. If they are, your Wi-Fi signal is weak.
You can only find out so much with the above method. Find an app that lets you measure your signal strength in dBm for a more accurate way to do this. For iPhone users, the AirPort Utility app is a good choice, and Android users can use the Wi-Fi Analyzer app.
Also see How to Install and Use a VPN on an Amazon Firestick 2023?