1 How to View WiFi Signal Strength via the Windows 10 WiFi Icon2 Check the WiFi Signal Strength of All Networks in Range Using the Fly-out Menu 3 How to Check Current WiFi Signal Strength in Windows 10 Network Settings4 How to View the Signal Quality of your Wireless Network in WiFi Settings5 How to View WiFi Strength in Network and Sharing Center6 How to Check WiFi Signal Strength in Network Connections7 How to Perform a WiFi Signal Test (with Percentages) in Command Prompt8 How to Perform a WiFi Signal Test (with Percentages) in PowerShell9 The Best Wi-Fi Analyzer apps for Windows to Check and Optimize Signal Strength
As technology progresses, the gap between wireless networking and wired ethernet connections is closing. These days, with a good router and wireless chip, your internet speed and latency can get very close to your trusty cable. The kicker, however, is that only stands true if you have good WiFi signal strength. If you’re experiencing slow internet on WiFi, you may want to check your WiFi signal strength in Windows 10. What is a good WiFi signal strength?
We’re going to walk through many options to do just that, but first, it’s worth talking about what defines a good and bad WiFi signal strength. We’re all used to the bar system when it comes to signal, but how low can it get before it starts to seriously affect your connection? Well, in Windows 10, three and four bars represent a good, solid signal. Two bars indicate an acceptable level, where you’ll start to see some slowdown, and one bar is likely to seriously affect your connection. Outside of the bar system, WiFi signal strength is typically measured in dBm, or decimal milliwatts. Here’s what you can expect to see at different measurements (via eyeaas):
Of course, while these technical measurements of signal strength do help, the real answer to whether your signal strength is good or not is “does it work for what you use it for?”. A signal strength of -67 dBm will give you just about what you need, so long as you aren’t streaming in HD or performing latency-sensitive tasks. Even a connection of -70 dBm will be okay if you’re just doing some light browsing and sending emails. If you’re doing anything else, you’ll want to target -60 dBm and below. With that out of the way, we’re going to show you how to perform a WiFi signal strength test using several in-built tools. We’ll also talk about whether you should use a free WiFi analyzer for Windows 10 for more in-depth reports. Strap in, and let’s get started:
How to View WiFi Signal Strength via the Windows 10 WiFi Icon
Check the WiFi Signal Strength of All Networks in Range Using the Fly-out Menu
How to Check Current WiFi Signal Strength in Windows 10 Network Settings
How to View the Signal Quality of your Wireless Network in WiFi Settings
How to View WiFi Strength in Network and Sharing Center
How to Check WiFi Signal Strength in Network Connections
How to Perform a WiFi Signal Test (with Percentages) in Command Prompt
How to Perform a WiFi Signal Test (with Percentages) in PowerShell
The Best Wi-Fi Analyzer apps for Windows to Check and Optimize Signal Strength
If you’re looking to get a dBm reading or troubleshoot further, you’ll want a third-party WiFi analyzer for Windows. These WiFi testers go far beyond what Windows 10’s basic tools offer and can help you to view your signal strength over time, perform a WiFi scan for overlapping access points. Here’s a quick roundup of the best free WiFi analyzer apps on Windows 10:
In your command prompt window, type the following command to get a whole host of WiFi info, including the signal strength percentage:
You’ll see a “Signal” column with a percentage next to it. Feel free to run this command multiple times.
It will return a percentage value, which indicates the strength percentage of your current connection.
Netspot
This free WiFi scanner features a robust toolkit that will help you troubleshoot various WiFi connection issues. As well as a long-term monitoring graph, it includes a WiFi channel analyzer. Signal strength is available in dBm and can be viewed both in the graph and in a tabular format. The frequency of the WiFi tester is set to every five seconds by default, but you can modify it to every 10, 30, or 60 seconds if you wish. In the discover view, Netspot will automatically show a “level” bar to indicate whether your signal strength is acceptable or not. A red bar indicates a very poor connection. You can download Netspot here.
Acrylic Wi-Fi Home
Acrylic Wi-Fi Home is another free WiFi checker, with the caveat that you’ll have to pay for enterprise use. Though you can’t alter the timeline of the signal graph unless you purchase the Pro version, it does have one of the nicest interfaces of the WiFi testers we’ll cover today. A table of WiFi networks is presented along with channels, dBM readings, and max speeds, above a channel graph that updates every five minutes by default. You can view 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi channels in the graph, or switch to the “Signal strength” tab for a more dynamic visualization.
inSSIDer
Other than its corny play on words, inSSIDer has a lot going for it. Technically, it’s freemium, rather than free, but the truth is that you can use it indefinitely without paying as long as you’re willing to sign up and weather a few prompts to pay for its subscription. And weathering them could be a good idea, because inSSIDer has a fantastic interface and robust tools. One key standout is its dashboard, which lets you favorite Wi-Fi networks of your choice for quick analysis. inSSIDER also has a WiFi channel analyzer that will let you check which frequencies your neighbor’s WiFi networks are using and place yours accordingly. It’s also one of the few wifi analyzers for Windows that shows overall WiFi utilization. Of course, the basic features are also there – with both a table and graph-based layout that display the signal of nearby networks in dBm.
Homedale
Homedale does basically everything the above analyzers do – WiFi channel analysis, signal graphs, tables, and overviews – but it does it portably. What does that mean in practice? You don’t need to install Homedale, simply run its .exe and you’re good to go. The signal strength of your WiFi network will be shown in the table view with a nice color-coding system so you can tell whether it’s acceptable at a glance. If it matters to you, you can also use Homedale to check where a location service such as Google would determine your location to be from your WiFi network.
Vistumbler
Vistumbler is a barebones but lightweight WiFi scanner that gets the job done. Though its interface may not be the most intuitive, it’s hiding features such as a 1-second signal strength graph and table, live Google Earth tracking, and GPS support. One advantage to it is the range of signal measurements it gives, with max a minimum reading for both dBm and percentages.
Phew. That was a lengthy one, but you should now have a very good idea of how to check WiFi signal strength in Windows 10. Remember, performing a Windows 10 network reset may be worthwhile to rule out OS issues. Additionally, if you have an Ethernet cable plugged in, don’t forget you can disable its adapter rather than unplugging it to check your WiFi.
