What range signal number (use wifi scanner on my mac air) do I want to see for my 5GHz? I think now, when in my family room, it is -67. Is that an acceptable # or should I move stuff to get it lower?
What range signal number (use wifi scanner on my mac air) do I want to see for my 5GHz? I think now, when in my family room, it is -67. Is that an acceptable # or should I move stuff to get it lower?
some devices display in percent. That's not very useful because radio signals attenuate per the inverse square law and a log scale is needed.
some display received signal strength in dBm (decibels relative to one milliwatt). So 0dBm is one mW.
A very strong signal in WiFi is -30dBm or more positive.
As you get to -80dBm the speeds have slowed to minimum and there is little spare margin.
A good number for 2.4 or 5GHz, for a reasonable data rate, is -70 dBm. -60 is better. This is mostly governed by laws of physics. MIMO in some situations, not all, can provide a better data rate at a lower received signal, esp. if both ends have the same form of MIMO. And of course, a good antenna (like 9dBi or better) can improve speeds.
The signal strength in dBm decreases (more negative) as distance increases and/or obstacles become more numerous (like walls, floors vegetation, foliage, terrain).
I would still go with 20dB if one can find a channel here in 2.4GHz - in 5GHz
unclear what "20dB" relates to, s.v.p.
unclear what "20dB" relates to, s.v.p.
To me, co-channel is frequency reuse, e.g., an access device is on channel n and another is on the same channel, and their coverage overlaps. This is a timing problem. With 802.11's CSMA/CA, it should usually self-resolve so there are rare collisions, though the two share the channel's traffic capacity. Adjacent channel (like 1, 6, and 11 are the 20MHz channels), is a different issue, since CSMA/CA has to use energy detection rather than preamble detection. Adjacent as in ch 6 with 7 is of course worse, in that the channel power is much higher.relative to the co-channel/adjacent channel transmitter (e.g. other AP).
Thread starter | Title | Forum | Replies | Date |
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B | Solved Mysterious Netgear signal | General Wi-Fi Discussion | 1 |
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