You can click on the wi-fi icon in the menu bar to see which wifi network you are connected to and other networks near you. But if you hold down the option key and then click, you can see other information as well, like the RSSI (signal strength), the more important Transmit Rate, and the channel you are using. Move the cursor to the other networks listed and you can see some of that information for each one. RSSI numbers, by the way, are measured backwards, with around -50 being excellent and -100 poor. But Transmit Rate is a better measurement of the connection.
Detailed Wi-Fi Information
Comments: 4 Responses to “Detailed Wi-Fi Information”
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Thanks for the Tip:
What is a good "Transmit Rate"?
0 means no connection. Around 50 is good for 802.11g, and around 80-100 is good for 802.11n. But you can get up to 300 with 802.11n and your MacBook being very close to a new Airport Extreme.
Our Airport Extreme is about two years old. Are the "new" Airport Extremes better? We have Verizon FIOS and our broadband seems very good. Thanks.
By "new" I mean the dual-band. Yes, that has many improvements over the old single-band. Like being able to run g and n at the same time. Better range, etc. http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/features/frequency.html