How can I monitor my broadband signal strength in real time?

[donkey]

Hi
I want to monitor my broadband signal in real time, so that I can move around my antenna for the strongest signal. My router gives this info, but not in real time. I have to constantly refresh to see the data. Also the router info can be different four or five times, without moving the antenna, so not a lot of good.
I want (that's what She says "I want") to be able to look at my tablet while I play around with different antenna positions and configurations,
I have found loads of apps that show the wifi signal strength, but I want the input to the router not the output.
The router is a TP-Link MR 600 Archer and I have a Poynting antenna, a TP-Link antenna plus the rabbit ears supplied with the router.

Geoff

 

[Guigsy]

There's no easy method. You need to know signal strength, the signal to noise ratio and the current congestion on the network at that moment. It all continuously changes even if you don't move due to changing conditions and the tower continuously adapting to maximise the level of service. If you were serious, you'd do several speed tests over the space of a few minutes at each location...

Just take a best guess and don't worry about it.

 

[Manic]

You could try ‘internet speed test’
Plenty around if you Google it

 

[Hagstrom]

You could load the Net Monitor app on your phone, put your sim card in it and find the phone's best performing position/orientation using Net Monitor's signal strength, its quality and signal to noise ratio readouts in real time. Having found the optimum position/direction you could swap the sim back and and align your router antenna(s) accordingly. Net Monitor will also tell you the transmitter frequency bands being received and their strengths so you can lock your router onto the optimum band. Fiddly but maybe worth a try.

 

[donkey]

Thanks for the replies, I got the feeling it was not going to be as easy as checking WIFI strength.
We tend to camp in remote areas with poor reception, so wanted to optimise the broadband. Also want to install a fixed antenna at home, also in a very weak transmission zone and would therefore want to site it in the very best place.

Geoff

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[Hagstrom]

Have a look at Andrew McNeil's video where he breaks down a cheap chinese (directional) log periodic antenna and copies it.

He uses a network Analyser to test the antenna's frequency response in the circa 800mz, 1800 Mz and 2400- 2700Mz Bands. He is quite impressed with the antenna's gain of 9-11dB. Using two of these, at £30 each, as a cross polarised MIMO antenna, at 90degreees to each other, into a twin aerial socket router ought to really improve signal strength.

In rural Lincolnshire, the cell mast transmissions may likely be around the 800Mz LTE band, for distant coverage, and the antenna's frequency response should improve signal strength and quality considerably. These Band 1 fequencies pass through objects better than the higher Band 2 and 3 frequencies so you could mount the antenna in your loft and still get an improved signal.

You can learn a lot about your signal strength and quality with the Net Monitor app. You could lock your router to your Net Monitor optimum Band.