Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:38:16 +0100 From: Andrew Liles <al@starfishzone.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: What's the best diagnostic utility for wireless signal? Message-ID: <467EE448.2010301@starfishzone.com> In-Reply-To: <4679877F.5040704@tundraware.com> References: <46797FE3.7030805@starfishzone.com> <4679877F.5040704@tundraware.com>
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Tim Daneliuk wrote: > Andrew Liles wrote: > >> I use wireless on a FreeBSD 6.1 box in an area of low signal to my >> Access Point. >> I want to be able to inspect the signal strength/quality so that I may >> adjust the antenna to get best results. What is the best diagnostic to >> use? >> >> For instance: >> wicontrol wi0 >> produces: >> ... >> Comms quality/signal/noise: [ 28 47 1 ] >> dBm Coms Quality: [ 14 -85 -99 ] >> ... >> >> but what is "good" or which numbers should I be seeking maximise or >> minimise? >> > > Here's a less analytical way that may work if you have marginal signal strength: > > 1) Connect wirelessly > 2) Start pinging a site near you (to mimimize delay effects over the larger internet) > 3) Move the antenna around to see where ping delays minimize across > > Similarly, you can do the same thing with traceroute which is even better because it > shows delay at each step of the route. > > This is a quick-and-dirty scheme that may not always provide best results, but it's easy > and a good way to get started.... > For the use of others: By using a graphical meter on a Windows box, I tested different orientations of my Access Point. Empirically I have found: you get this when the Access Point is off: Comms quality/signal/noise: [ 0 0 1 ] dBm Coms Quality: [ 0 -100 -99 ] this is when the signal is poor: Comms quality/signal/noise: [ 14 27 1 ] dBm Coms Quality: [ 7 -91 -99 ] and this when signal is better: Comms quality/signal/noise: [ 52 83 1 ] dBm Coms Quality: [ 26 -73 -99 ] So, in the absence of anything better information, I'd recommend you maximise each of the numbers shown in the above categories shown by the command: wicontrol wi0 Doug points out that these numbers only appear with some drivers - mine is an "INTERSIL HFA384x" using the "wi" driver on FreeBSD 6.1
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