At home you expect an excellent WiFi connection. But it can happen that the wireless signal remains substandard or drops out regularly. With WinFi Lite you can investigate where things go wrong.

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There are quite a few tools that map the signal strength of wireless networks. For example, in the previous issue of PC-Active we introduced the mobile app Fritz! WLAN discussed (nl.avm.de/products/fritzapps/fritzapp-wlan). For Windows, there is WinFi Lite, which provides a lot more information about wireless networks, both for the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands and with support for 802.11ax. In this article we will examine how you can retrieve all kinds of information with this and how you can use it to optimize your wireless signal.

01 winfi download 2
The actual download takes place via a link in a confirmation email

Installation
You can find the free program app WinFi at tethabyte.com. When you get the Downloadbutton, the message appears that WinFi 2.0 is not yet available, but after entering your e-mail address you will almost immediately receive a download link for version 1.022.x for Windows 10 and 11. Click on download now in that email.
As mentioned, a version 2.0 has been worked on for a while, of which it is still unknown whether it will also remain free of charge. Probably for private use. Until then, you will be fine with this current version. Start the installation with a double click on the exe file, click on Run anyway and press Yes and Next. You will now find WinFi in the Windows start menu and you can start the app. You should preferably install WinFi on a laptop, because then you can easily move through your home or garden, which can be useful when determining signal strengths.

02 winfi interface
The WinFi program window initially looks a bit overwhelming due to the large amount of information

Reconnaissance
In the top window of WinFi, the detected wireless networks are listed, yours and perhaps also those of some neighbors. You only need to select a network to get additional information about this network in the bottom panel, depending on the tab that is open: Spectrum, parameters, History, Dashboard, signals or Notes. We will return to some of these later in this article. If your Windows device has multiple WiFi adapters or wireless network cards: you select the desired adapter via the button at the top left. Top right, via the buttons 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz or ALL indicate in which frequency band(s) you want to see wireless networks listed. Do you know that there are quite a few routers from the dual bandtype that can broadcast on multiple frequencies simultaneously. You will notice that by default WinFi performs a new scan every five seconds. To adjust this scan interval, click the gear icon at the top right Settings and open the section on the right panel + Data Gridafter which you Scan Interval adjusts.
You also notice here Unreachable APs on (AP stands for access point i.e. wireless router or access point), which by default is set to Don’t Show. This means that ‘unreachable’ networks are not included in the network list. Just below, at Mark Unreachable you decide when a network should be considered unreachable. By default, this is when it is not (any longer) noticed for five consecutive scan rounds.

03 column choice 2

You decide yourself
which profile and
which information columns
WinFi must display

Information Columns
You will see a variety of information about each wireless network, which is neatly divided into various columns. We don’t have the space here to explain each column type, but luckily WinFi itself provides feedback when you hover the mouse pointer over a column title. At least, when you Data Grid leave the check mark at Show ToolTips. You decide exactly how many and which columns you see and in what order. For starters, there are some predefined views in WinFi, which you can choose from via the button at the very top right: Default View, basic, Pro, Security Report, Network Capabilities, Nearby 5 GHz Networks and so on. It is also possible to create your own display profile. Click on + Create new Profile and enter a profile name. Select this profile, open the section + Columns and leave only the check marks on the columns that you find relevant; we counted more than sixty. You can easily change the mutual column order by dragging a column title to the left or right.

Signal quality
Now let’s see how you can use WinFi in a targeted way at the troubleshoot of wireless connections. A useful starting point is to check the signal quality. WinFi offers several ways to perform such a check.
If you are in a busy environment with numerous networks, it is useful if you first filter out the redundant networks. To do this, click on the filter icon at the top right, so that the filter panel appears on the left. Here you can filter by various criteria, including Signal Filter (you can at Signal Quality for example only at weak and Poor put a checkmark) and SSIDs (keep the shiftkey while clicking on the relevant networks).
The fastest way to check the signal quality is via the column Signal Quality (Graph of Value). It expresses the quality as a percentage. The closer to 100% the better the signal quality, but even high percentages of 90% or more do not guarantee an excellent connection. This also depends on the network capacity, say the traffic on the channel, and the amount of disturbing signals or non-Wi-Fi noise, such as from neighboring networks or from other devices with radio waves. We explore these bummers further in this article.

04 signal quality 2
The general ‘signal quality’: the higher, the better the chance of a stable connection

Non-Wi-Fi noise
To get a good impression of the signal quality, we therefore like to take the RSSI– (Received Signal Strength Indicator) and SNR-values ​​(Signal to Noise Ratio) Bee. This information can be called up as usual via the corresponding columns, but it becomes a lot more visual by clicking on the wrench at the top right. A panel will now appear at the bottom and here you can click on the tab Dashboard if signals properly read the RSSI and SNR values, not only the current value but also the minimum, maximum and average (Avg) where the.
How do you interpret these values ​​now? You should know that the RSSI is expressed in negative dBm values ​​(decibel-milliwatts) and the higher this value, the weaker the signal. Once it exceeds -70 dBm, don’t expect much more from your Wi-Fi connection and try to get your device closer to your router or access point.

05 rssis no edited 2
(Non-Wi-Fi) noise can also negatively affect the quality and stability of your wireless connection

The SNR value is related to this and is expressed in dB (decibels). The higher this value, the better the actual Wi-Fi signal rises above non-Wi-Fi or background noise. As soon as this value dips below approximately 25 dB, the fun is almost over. Again, it usually helps to move closer to the access point.

06 bssid 2
Even with an identical network name, the BSSID column
always give a definite answer about the physical network adapter
from your access point or router

roaming
Are you already close to a wireless access point, but the signal quality remains subpar? Then it could well be that ‘roaming’, or moving around with an intact network signal, does not work optimally. This can happen when you have multiple access points and your device stubbornly continues to connect to the previous access point, which is now further away from you.
Have you given these access points the same name (see column Network Name), check the BSSID-column. This contains the so-called MAC address (media access control) of the access point. On the basis of this BSSID you can then find out which physical access point your device is currently connected to, since this BSSID is unique per (network adapter of each) access point.
You may be able to solve such roaming problems by renaming one of your access points, operating on a different channel, and/or using the fast roaming on the access point, if supported.

07 channel usage edited 2
This channel still has enough capacity for the time being

Network capacity
In addition to noise, a limited network capacity can also lead to connection problems. The column Channel Utilization can help you clarify things. You can also find this information on the tabs Dashboard and signals under the name of UTIL. Here you can read how intensively the active channel of your access point is used. A value of about 75% indicates that there is a lot of wireless network traffic going on, perhaps because several devices are connected to it.
Too high a percentage can lead to all kinds of connection problems, such as an unstable connection, a slower throughput or the loss of data packets. These last two problems require further analysis, but unfortunately you need additional tools for that. To measure the actual throughput of your wireless device to and from the internet, you can simply run a test at speedtest.net/nl.
To measure it within your own network, you can do it for free TamoSoft Throughput Test stakes (tamos.com/products/throughput-test; available for various platforms, including mobile). Run TTClient.exe on one device and TTServer.exe on the other. Unfortunately we don’t have the space to go into this in more detail.

08 spectrum edited 2
Both networks use the same channel, which can lead to interference

Channel selection
Especially within the now somewhat older 2.4 GHz band, your connection can also experience quite a bit of interference from the signal from neighboring networks or from equipment such as microwaves and baby monitors. After all, there is a real chance that they will use the same or an overlapping channel spectrum. You can see this nicely if you open the Spectrum tab in the bottom panel via the wrench symbol, where you can switch between various views with the 2D and 3D buttons. In combination with this, you also view the information in the column CH (Channel).
If you indeed notice spectrum overlap between your own network and, for example, that of your neighbors, try setting your wireless router or access point to a different channel, which is slightly further away from the current channel. Check each time in WinFi what the effect of this is. Suppose your neighbor’s network is apparently set to channel 6, then you can use channel 1 or 11 for your own network.

09 scan shots 2
You can review previously performed scan sessions at your leisure afterwards

Recordings
Until now, we have used WinFi Lite to study the current status of your wireless network connection, but if interference only occurs occasionally, it is a good idea to monitor the connection over a longer period of time. Fortunately, you don’t have to follow the entire session with suspicion.
Let the session run and click on in the top left corner afterwards Archive. You now get an overview of the performed scan session(s). It suffices to select such a session and click the Replay to view the successive scan moments again via the button bar at the top at a time that suits you.