On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 02:16:54 +0000 (UTC), dold@XReXXOmniX.usenet.us.com
wrote in <ejghmm$mhn$1@blue.rahul.net>:

>John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 01:16:35 +0000 (UTC), dold@XReXXOmniX.usenet.us.com
>> >normal laptop card, which gets "excellent" signal according to WinXP.
>
>> That's not terribly meaningful unless the wireless adapter is under
>> heavy load -- it's common for a wireless adapter to report
>> good-excellent signal until it actually tries to transfer data,
>> whereupon the signal level is downgraded to match reality.
>
>I find a good indicator to be "Current Bandwidth" in perfmon.msc.
>Just now, my WG511 shows "excellent". That's a little hard to monitor,
>because I only see the popup balloon. Open the status monitor and I have 5
>bars, and a speed of 54Mbps.
>
>start-run-perfmon.msc
> + Performance Object = Network
> Numbers agree with dslreports.
> + Performance Object = TCP "current bandwidth"
>
>ftp upload at 36KBpS, the current bandwidth stays at 54, ballon pops up as
>excellent. ftp download at 300KBpS, same.
>
>Walking around, network idle, I see a momentary drop to 48, then 36. At
>that point, the balloon says "very good", then back to excellent, and the
>bandwidth is back to 54.
>
>I would say that the balloon is a good quick indicator, your experience
>noted. ...

That's a sample of one, and a rough one at that. You need to look at
the difference between idle and under load, and test more than one
adapter.

My experience is based on several different adapters and drivers. Many
exhibit optimistic signal strength when idle, and a more accurate signal
strength when under load and the driver has responded to the error rate
by reducing speed, dropping from (say) "good" or even "excellent" to
"low". Thus my recommendation is to take the signal strength with a
grain of salt unless the adapter is under load.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>