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Knowledge Base > How can I check the signal strength of my wireless connection?

How can I check the signal strength of my wireless connection?

You can check the signal strength between the wireless card on your Linux host and your wireless router or access point using the iwlist command. The output of iwlist scan command will display the signal strength for each access point within reach.

[user@localhost ~]$ /sbin/iwlist eth7 scan
eth7      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:18:39:7A:B2:E0
                    ESSID:"AP1"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:50/94  Signal level:-47 dBm  Noise level:-154 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP 
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP 
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK

For more information on creating a reliable wireless test setup with CDRouter, please see this Knowledge Base article.

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