RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator)- Article no. 4979

Introduction

RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) is a measure of the power level that a client device is receiving from an access point.
 

Resolution Steps

Since each customer's home and wireless situation is different, RSSI can be affected by many different things.

• Access Point : transmitted power
  
   
  • Physical items can get in the way of signal reception
  
  
  • The sensitivity and quality of the hardware can hamper or aid signal reception
    
     
• Physical environment: distance between the transmitter and the receiver
  
   
  • Other devices generating radio signals can affect Wi-Fi signal
  
  
  • Too many WiFi devices can affect the range and quality of signal
  
  
  • Distance can influence RSSI
    
     
• RSSI is expressed in Merlin in decibals per meter or db with the db notation omitted
  
   
• A few RSSI signal quality examples (Higher quantity in negative is worse):
  
   
  • High quality: -55db
  
  
  • Medium quality: -75db
  
  
  • Low quality: -85db
  
  
  • Unusable quality: -96db