Checking Wi-Fi Signal Strength the Easy Way

To check the strength of your Wi-Fi, the first thing to do is look at the device having issues. Whether it’s using iOS, Android, Mac, or Windows, you should have a Wi-Fi connection indicator. Usually, four or five curved lines make up the Wi-Fi symbol, and the more that are filled, the stronger the connection.

Every phone, tablet, and laptop is different and may indicate a different Wi-Fi strength. But it’s worth consulting a second, or even third device. If you checked a phone, consider testing a tablet, too. Compare internet performance on both devices and see what they display for Wi-Fi strength. If you have similar results with both, you have an excellent baseline to use.

If you’ve determined your Wi-Fi connection is weak in a particular spot, the next thing to do is walk around and pay attention to the Wi-Fi bars on your smartphone or tablet. Keep track of how far you are from the router, and how many walls there are between it and you. Pay attention to when your Wi-Fi bars increase and decrease. It’s a rudimentary check, but for most cases, it will suffice.

The More Advanced (and Precise) Method to Check Wi-Fi Strength

Looking at bars in a symbol will only tell you so much. If you want to dig deeper into the strength of your Wi-Fi, you’ll need to use an app or program (like the AirPort Utility app or Wi-Fi Analyzer) to measure its decibels relative to a milliwatt (dBm).

You can measure a Wi-Fi signal in multiple ways. The most accurate measurement is milliwatts (mW), but it’s also the hardest to read due to the number of decimal places (0.0001 mW). Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is another option, but Wi-Fi vendors handle it inconsistently and with varying scales. Decibels relative to milliwatt (dBm) avoids these problems, and many manufacturers convert RSSI to dBm anyway, so we’ll cover that measurement.

The first thing to know is measurements of dBm will display in negative numbers. The scale runs from -30 to -90. If you see -30, you have a “perfect connection,” and likely, are standing next to the Wi-Fi router. However, if you spot a Wi-Fi signal listed at -90, the service is so weak you probably can’t connect to that network. An excellent connection is -50 dBm, while -60 dBm is likely good enough to stream, handle voice calls, and anything else.

To measure Wi-Fi signal strength on your phone or tablet, you can use the Airport Utility App for iPhone and iPad, or Wi-Fi Analyzer for Android. Both are easy to use and show results for any wireless networks in your area.

For iPhone users, the Airport Utility App does require you to go into your device settings and turn on the Wi-Fi scanner. Just go to your iPhone or iPad settings (not the app’s settings), tap Airport Utility in the list of settings, and then toggle Wi-Fi Scanner. Now, go back to the Airport Utility app and start a scan. You’ll see dBm measurements expressed as RSSI. For Android users, Wi-Fi Analyzer is a step easier. Open the app and look for the networks found. Each entry will list strength as dBm.

Windows 10 doesn’t have a built-in way to view precise signal strength, although the netsh wlan show interface command gives you your signal strength as a percentage.

In the past, we recommended NirSoft’s WifiInfoView to inspect Wi-Fi channels, and it also gets the nod for checking Wi-Fi strength. The program is free, easy to use, and doesn’t require installation. Just unzip and double-click the EXE file. Like Mac and iOS, you’ll find dBm measurements listed under the RSSI entry.

On Mac, you don’t need to download any program or app if you want to measure the connected network. Hold the option key and click on the Wi-Fi symbol. You’ll see dBm measurements in the RSSI entry.