Mac Kung Fu, 2nd Edition

Tip 127

See Every Wi-Fi Detail

Once you’ve joined a wireless network, hold down the Option key and click the Wi-Fi icon at the top right of the screen. Along with the usual options of switching networks, you’ll be shown a list of interesting technical details about the connection.

Checking Signal Strength

For information about signal strength, pay particular attention to the line labeled RSSI (for received signal strength indication), about halfway down the list. It’ll probably be a minus figure, like -40 or -73. The closer this figure is to 0, the stronger the signal. So, -30 is better than -50. The scale is from -100 to 0. My experience is that networks beyond -80 are impossible to connect to, but your mileage may vary. See Figure 22, ​Viewing ...