How to Measure Your Wifi Signal Strength?

Setting up and maintaining a wireless network is very crucial to have good WiFi signal strength within network perimeters. Weak signal strength can create dead spots or slow zones in your network, further causing the connections to be dropped. These dead spots have become problematic today as an increasing number of people are connected to the internet through their tablets or smartphones. Hence, measuring signal strength is all the more important to ensure a strong WiFi signal.

You don’t have to be a professional network administrator or a computer expert to measure WiFi signal strength. All you need to do is choose one of the methods below to measure  WiFi signal strength:

• Carry Out a Site Survey

Whenever your WiFi signal strength reduces, it’s always worth conducting a site survey.

Site surveys not only help you to figure out the areas where the signals are weak, but it also improves the overall WiFi performance by boosting signal strength and ensuring even coverage in all the areas.

You can also use a popular site survey tool like WiTuners to check WiFi coverage and troubleshoot other WiFi problems.

• Use a Built-in Operating System Utility

Using operating systems’ built-in utility is the easiest and the quickest way to monitor wireless network connections and measure WiFi signal strength.

For instance, in windows, you can go to the control panel’s Network and Internet > Network Connections section, right-click on the wireless connection and select the Connect/ Disconnect option to check the WiFi signal strength.

In the newer versions of windows, you need to click the small network icon on the taskbar to check which wireless network you are connected to. You’ll see five bars that show the strength of signals — five being the best connection and one being the poorest.

And on Macintosh, you can go to the WiFi indicator in the menu bar, located in the upper right corner of the computer screen.

• Use a Smartphone or a Tablet

Most mobile devices that are internet-enabled have an option in the settings that show WiFi signal strengths of the networks in range.

For instance, in iPhones, you can go the Setting>WiFi to see the WiFi signal strength of your network and also other networks within the range.

A similar method can be used for Android phones or tablets. Just go to WiFi section under the settings or network menu.

Also, you can download an app like WiTuners for Android tablets to capture signal strength data from all access points in the surrounding area.

• Use Wi-Fi Locators

A Wi-fi locator also known as WiFi finder, is a handheld device that is designed to fit a keychain. It is used to scan radio frequencies in the nearby area and discover WiFi signal strength of the access points near you.

For most WiFi-locators, you’ll find a set of four to six LED bars that indicate the strength of signals. But it’s crucial to keep in mind that WiFi locators do not measure the actual signal strength of the network, it only predicts the network's presence in the vicinity.

These methods of measuring WiFi signal strength may provide contradicting results due to the variations in sample collection and the timing used to average the strength of signals.

3 Simple Methods to Measure WiFi Signal Strength

As you might know, WiFi is the term for wireless networks or wireless internet, this is mostly used by non-technicians who only know how to access the internet, but they don’t know how it works. Basically, WiFi is an acronym for Wireless Fidelity. In this post, you will find information on how to measure WiFi signal strength. So let’s dive into the details.

What is a Good WiFi Signal?

Before knowing how to evaluate the strength of your WiFi signal, first, let’s discuss what a good WiFi signal is. The power of a wireless network is measured in decibel milliwatts (dBm). If we talk about a good WiFi signal, the value of your signal strength is ‘-60 dBm.’ This signal strength is known as a good and reliable network.

The signal strength down to this level (-60 dBm) is considered weak, whereas the signal strength above this level is deemed to be strong. For instance, -70 dBm is known as a weak signal and -30 dBm is the maximum signal strength.

How to Measure WiFi Signal Strength 

The performance of a WiFi network depends on the strength of the radio signal. When it comes to determining your WiFi connection strength, you don’t have to be an expert network administrator or a computer professional. In fact, there are different methods to measure WiFi signal strength. Here, you will get to know about some easy and quick ways to calculate signal strength. Let’s take a look:

1. Use a Smart Device 

Every smartphone or gadget with internet access has a section in the “Settings” which can help you in measuring the strength of wireless connection in range. For instance, in a smartphone, open the Settings app, and go to WiFi option. Here, you can see the WiFi strength of your connection as well as the signal strength of other networks in range.

2. Take the Help of an Online Software 

One another easy and accessible method to analyze the signal strength of your WiFi is – take the help of online software. There are several software and apps which can make your job easier. For example, WiTuners; it provides WiFi optimization software which can help you in determining the signal strength in seconds. It is the WLAN tuning solution that copy real-world network behavior and condition, drawing from 3 varying data sources, including the network itself, planning, and site survey. It enables you to check WiFi signal strength at the press of a button.

3. Use WiFi Locators 

A WiFi locator is a small hardware device which is specially designed to scan radio frequencies within the specified region and identify signal strength of nearby wireless access points. WiFi locators mostly use a set of four or six LEDs to specify signal strength. These devices don’t calculate the strength of the actual connection but instead give an estimate of connection strength.

Wrapping Up the Post

These are several other methods to calculate the strength of your wireless internet connection, including a built-in operating system utility. Hopefully, the information available in this post will make it easy for you to measure the signal strength of your wireless network.  Choose any of the methods mentioned above and determine the signal strength of your WiFi system with ease.

Preview Floor Maps of Wi-Fi Planning in WiTuners Planner Using Aspose

When planning Wi-Fi networks, a Wi-Fi designer often needs to load floor maps into a Wi-Fi planner to decide the placement of Access Points. The floor maps may come from various sources and in many formats. Some are in common image formats such as png and jpeg which are easy to display. But those in Auto CAD formats often need an extra step to be converted into one of the common image formats first before they can be used in Wi-Fi planning. The conversion can be done for free on many online web sites, but the process is real suboptimal, not only time consuming, but also a headache.

Fortunately, WiTuners Planner has the capability in its Image Previewer to preview AutoCAD files of Wi-Fi floor maps and allows users to select one or multiple layers. This capability makes the Wi-Fi planning with Auto CAD floor maps much easier by eliminating the extra step of conversion with third party utilities.  
 

With the help of the widely used Aspose.CAD library, the Previewer displays floor maps in Auto CAD files directly. Users can select his interested layers on the floor maps, and load the resulting images into WiTuners Planner. All is streamlined.

Why we decide to use Aspose to display the AutoCAD floor maps?

There are quite a few possible solutions, but we came to choose Aspose when our research and evaluation shows that Aspose is a good fit for converting and viewing floor map.in AutoCAD. 

Their license model is straight forward to adopt. They have a great self-explanatory documentation covering all aspects of their library from API to example code, and having all that that customers needed. They have a great forum with many good questions and answers. Customers don’t need much specific support from Aspose support team. Their Aspose library is easy to use. In a few lines, one can load a cad file and covert it to a pdf, for example:

// load CAD to be converted
Image image = Image.load(dir + "template.dwg");

// create instance of CadRasterizationOptions & set resultant page size
CadRasterizationOptions rasterizationOptions = new CadRasterizationOptions();
rasterizationOptions.setPageSize(new SizeF(1200, 1200));

 // save PDF
PdfOptions pdfOptions = new PdfOptions();
pdfOptions.setVectorRasterizationOptions(rasterizationOptions);
image.save(dir + "output.pdf", pdfOptions);

The implementation using Aspose library was quite successful and our customers liked the POC. Based on that, we are currently finishing the production version of the implementation and are already planning an updated version of the  Image Previewer as Aspose.CAD provides many features that were not present in other providers.

Overall we are very happy with the feature set of Aspose.CAD and with the documentation that is available as it is important for the implementation. Aspose.CAD met and in some extent exceeded our expectations and we are looking forward to using further features in the upcoming versions of our software.

How to Conduct a Wi-Fi Site Survey: Expert Tips

With a Wi-Fi system, it is quite challenging to guess the propagation of radio waves and identify the existence of interfering signals. Even if you implement Omni-directional antennas, you can’t do the accurate monitoring as radio waves do not travel the same distance.

Therefore, you must conduct a wireless site survey to understand the behaviour of radio waves before installing access points. Below, we have put together a few tips that will help you perform a wireless site survey.

Understand the Wireless Requirements:

To find out the ideal locations for access points, you must have a sound knowledge of specific requirements for the network. For instance, the maximum range between the access point and a client device determines the data rates and performance.

Also, know more about the technologies your preferred network will use. There are numerous Wi-Fi Site Survey Software that can help you with the same.

Get a facility Diagram

Before you proceed with the site survey, get a blueprint of building or city maps. If this is not available, create a drawing that showcases the position of walkways, walls, and more. Site survey software helps you import diagrams in different formats. Although mapping software is a good source for city surveys, if they fail, consider taking a digital photograph.

Evaluate The Existing Network Infrastructure

Assess the capability of current wired networks available for interfacing mesh nodes and access points. Nowadays, most buildings use ethernet internet in some cases you may notice optical fiber networks as well. Get to know how much of the current network infrastructure can be used to support the wireless network.

Determine Coverage Areas

On the facility diagram, mark all the areas where you need the coverage. For example, offices, utility rooms, break rooms, parking garages, elevators, stairwells, etc. Also, identify the places where there is no wireless coverage. It will help you avoid wasting time surveying unnecessary areas. Remember, when you choose fewer access points, it lowers the equipment and overall costs. So avoid unnecessary access points.

Determine Preliminary Access Point Locations

Consider the location of people using wireless internet and range estimations of the wireless LAN. It will help you know whether or not you will get adequate coverage.

Find out the ideal locations for installing the access point and PoE cable. Also consider the placement of antennas, and data cable when choosing access points. For example, an access point fitted on an outside wall is a good location, if you use a patch antenna.

Verify Access Point Locations

With most wireless LAN vendors, you get Wi-Fi Site Survey Software that helps you find out associated access point, signal strength, signal quality, and data rate. You can use this software on a laptop and check the coverage of each preliminary access point location.

Install access points at various preliminary locations and analyze the reading of your survey software by walking different distances away from access points. To make your access point easy to move, you can place it on a pole associated with a cart with a DC/AC converter and battery.

Final Words

The goal of a Wi-Fi survey is to check out the number and placement of access points that offer adequate signal coverage all across the city area or facility. It is advisable that look for a high-quality wireless site survey software so that you can get the exact and accurate information on the internet signal strength and access points. 

Ways to Conduct a Wireless Site Survey to Get the Best Out Of Your Wi-Fi Network

In today’s modern age of the internet, Wi-Fi is one of the few things that people cannot live without. Back in the late 90s, there was no sign of Wi-Fi, and people would depend on dial-up connections to visit a website. Now with the emerging technology, Wi-Fi is everywhere we go. People expect Wi-Fi to be strong and good enough so that they can stream videos and visit different websites online. The influence of Wi-Fi is so strong that if it’s not working, people feel like they are missing out on something.

For a poor Wi-Fi connection, router or the provider cannot always be blamed. It’s usually the way how Wi-Fi is configured that decides the success or failure of a Wi-Fi signal.

Why Do You Need to Conduct a Site Survey?

Conducting a site survey always turns out to be beneficial, especially when your Wi-Fi is not performing well. It helps to measure Wi-Fi performance and works out on the areas where signals are weak or can be improved. Nowadays, as the usage of Wi-Fi gadgets and devices is rapidly increasing, with the help of a site survey, you can ensure better signal strength as well as identify network interference and dead zones.

A good Wi-Fi Site Survey software like WiTuners helps to make site surveying a lot easier. It helps you to plan your wireless network and check the Wi-Fi coverage. Not only that, with WiTuners, you can decide where to place AP (access points) to receive optimal performance. Also, it helps you to troubleshoot any issue that may arise.

Ways to Perform a Wireless Site Survey

Take a Look at Your Floor Plans

Having a floor plan for any area of a building makes it easy to determine where you need a wireless network. Looking at the plans will help you to identify obstructions in the building such as floors, walls, halls, and elevators that blocks the radio signals used by the Wi-Fi network. Also, to determine coverage areas, you need to know where your users will be located.

Find out Where to Locate APs

It’s crucial to identify where to locate access points based on cabling and power to link the AP to the rest of the network. To get the best performance, try to put the AP close to the ceiling and make sure you don’t place them close to concrete walls or metal.

See How Many APs You Need

Work out how many access points are needed for overall coverage. Usually, one access point can cover a 100-foot radius. It will give you an idea of the number APs that you can have at the preliminary locations. If you already have access points, then make sure to mark the location on floor plans of your building.

Run the Site Survey Tool

Running a site survey tool will help you to see where the strength of the signal is faltering. Remember to use the same AP model for the survey that you previously utilized in the building or the actual infrastructure.

Re-test and relocate your access points, depending on the results of the survey you conducted.

Record Your Findings

After completing the survey, log your signal readings and document the locations and the data for later reference.

Wi-Fi Site Survey Software applications like WiTuners make use of the signal strength data collected by your computer and later use the data to map the signal strength of each AP on a floor plan.

All in all, site surveys ensure that every part of the building or infrastructure has sufficient Wi-Fi coverage and that all the security measures are taken for WLAN implementations.