#Imac wifi signal strength app how to
#Imac wifi signal strength app mac os
#Imac wifi signal strength app free
#Imac wifi signal strength app mac

There’s also an indication of which devices are on the same WiFi channel, which can be a hint to select a different channel.įrankly, I am impressed with the sheer power of WiFi Explorer. In the preferences for WiFi Explorer, a huge number of other network attributes can be added to the columns already displayed.Ĭlicking on any of the device listings allows the user to view the signal strength over time and at the current time.

#Imac wifi signal strength app mac

In its default mode, WiFi Explorer displays a list of all network names, BSSIDs (basic service set identification - the MAC address of the router), the vendor that built the device, the signal strength, the channel or channels being used, the width of that channel, the band that the router is on (usually 2.4 or 5 GHz), and the modes in which it operates (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac).

#Imac wifi signal strength app mac os

The OS X app, which is compatible with any version of the Mac OS from 10.7 (Lion) to 10.11 ( El Capitan), uses a large and constantly updated database of vendor information about individual WiFi routers to identify all of the routers in your near vicinity. Whatever the situation, WiFi Explorer (US$14.99) may be just the tool to get your WiFi network running at its fastest. Perhaps the router isn’t in a good location, or you’re on a crowded WiFi channel. When things aren’t working quite the way you want them to, it may be time to troubleshoot that setup.

#Imac wifi signal strength app free

Get further advice on what you can do yourself to improve your home Wi-Fi in: Better Wi-Fi at Home: 18 Free Tips.Īrticle by Jan Pedro Tumusok and Jorunn D.In many of our homes and offices, the connection between our devices - Mac or iOS - and the Internet is all dependent on the strength and speed of our WiFi setup.

Place your devices and access points with as much of a clear line of sight between them as possible.

Move the router or other access point high up and in front of any obstacles.

Of course, the performance and capacity of the wireless network depends on more than the signal emitted from the access point, but the most important thing you can do for the signal is: You may sabotage both yourself and your neighbors in the process, and you risk breaking the law along the way. Have you done your testing and concluded that the signal strength is insufficient? First of all:ĭon't be tempted to try to amplify the transmit strength from your router / access point. See also: Map your wireless network with a heat mapper. If you would like to map out the signal for an entire home, we recommend using a heat mapper to create a heat map of good and bad coverage zones. If you are running Mac OS X, you can also measure the received signal strength directly without installing anything: Hold down the Altkey and click the Wi-Fi icon in the top menu, and details of communication with the wireless access point will appear under the name of the active Wi-Fi network. The measurement you are looking for is RSSI, which is short for received signal strength indicator.

#Imac wifi signal strength app how to

You can read more about this in our article How to find good Wi-Fi channels and bad neighbors. To measure signal strength at a given location and time, you can use a Wi-Fi scanner. How to measure the received signal strength It is very unlikely that you will be able to connect or make use of any services with this signal strength. You cannot count on a reliable connection or sufficient signal strength to use services at this level. Minimum value required to make a connection.

The signal is not very strong, but mostly sufficient. Video streaming/streaming (not the highest quality) This is the minimum value for all services that require smooth and reliable data traffic.

This is still good, reliable signal strength. Maximum signal strength, you are probably standing right next to the access point / router.Īnything down to this level can be regarded as excellent signal strength. So what are the good and acceptable dBm values for wireless internet? Here is what the Wi-Fi signal strength values mean Signal Strength Signal strength is measured in dBm or decibel milliwatts, which, somewhat confusingly, is expressed only in negative values (with a minus sign in front). Talking about 'good signal strength' may have become part of everyday language, but what constitutes a good Wi-Fi signal, really? Do you know what it takes to be able to use demanding services like Netflix and videoconferencing over Wi-Fi?