Wifi signal strength bars, do they lie?

When I connect wirelessly on my laptop, the signal strength meter indicates that I have a strong signal(before I connect though the signal strength of the signal is usually 1 bar), but when I start to browse the Internet the connection is often quite slow and unstable. Does anyone know of an accurate signal strength meter?

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Comments

dynamik

Is it just the internet slow or other network activities? Are you on A, B, G, or N? Unless you're on B, a weak signal (slower speed) is still well beyond the speed of your internet connection.

exampasser

Other network activities are also slow. I'm using N.

HeroPsycho

It's probably a karma error.

dynamik

You might want to fire up something like Netstumbler to see if there are other APs operating on the same channel.

exampasser

dynamik wrote: »

You might want to fire up something like Netstumbler to see if there are other APs operating on the same channel.

I have checked that, and other APs are using separate channels.

tiersten

exampasser wrote: »

I have checked that, and other APs are using separate channels.

What channel numbers? Most of them overlap. You can't have something using channel 1 and something else using channel 2.

exampasser

tiersten wrote: »

What channel numbers? Most of them overlap. You can't have something using channel 1 and something else using channel 2.

Good point I didn't think about that, I'll have to check that out.

msteinhilber

HeroPsycho wrote: »

It's probably a karma error.

I concur, definitely sounds like a karma error.

Perhaps you'll have to move to a new area with neighbors whom live closer for you to steal-err borrow Internet from.

HeroPsycho

msteinhilber wrote: »

I concur, definitely sounds like a karma error.

Perhaps you'll have to move to a new area with neighbors whom live closer for you to steal-err borrow Internet from.

Actually, if he got his own broadband, I bet it would fix the problem.