Windows - collect Wi-Fi diagnostic connection info
Information
This document coves Wi-Fi reception which can be a frequent customer issue. Since internet speed is a somewhat subjective issue it may be helpful to gather empirical data to help analyse the issue to use the rule of thumb values below to judge whether there is Wi-Fi reception issue.
Measurements
Two measurements are of interest here RSSI and Noise. The RSSI will be the most useful unless the case is marginal and there is also a lot of noise in the RF environment.
RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication)
Measured in decibels (dBm -120 to 0 dBm). A figure closer to 0 is best and -120 weakest.
RSSI signal levels and indicative comment:
• RSSI < -90 dBm: signal extremely weak, at the edge of what a receiver can receive.
• RSSI -67dBm: moderate signal level.
• RSSI > -55dBm: very strong signal.
• RSSI > -30dBm: excellent signal, probably right next to Wi-Fi transmitter.
NOISE is any signal (interference) that is not Wi- Fi traffic such as cordless phones, microwaves, radar, etc. This is also measured in decibels (dBm -120 to 0 dBm) a figure closest to -120 represents the least amount of noise, therefore the lower the negative figure the less noise you have (which is desirable).
Typical environments signal range: -90db to -98db.
Collecting data
Method 1: using the netsh status command
- Click Start menu and search “Command Prompt”, right click it and choose “Run as Administrator” and click “Yes” if asked to authenticate.
- At the command prompt type the following and press ENTER:
netsh wlan show interface - The report will show similar to below:
You will notice in the above report that RSSI and Noise figures are given directly but instead Signal measured as a percentage. In this example wireless signal is only 17 percent which is very poor.
Method 2: using WifiInfoView (third party downlaod)
If the netsh command is not enough then you can download WifiInfoView further info here:
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html
This app will provide useful digestible info.
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