When you buy a WiFi router, it shows on the box the signal strength in decibels, the download speeds possible and other exciting things. But you neither receive the maximum possible signal strength from your WiFi router, nor you get all the promised download speed from it. The reason is that the advertised signals and speeds are from a laboratory test of the manufacturer performed in a location without any obstructions like walls or furniture. When you use the WiFi router in your home or office, the signal may become weak in certain spots while it could still remain very strong in some other locations depending on the structure or furnishings of your home or office.
If you want to find the spots where you can get the maximum strength signal (and thereby the maximum possible download speeds), then you can make use of of the free Android app called Wi-Fi SweetSpots. As the name suggests, it finds the sweet spots where you can get the most juice out of your WiFi network.
The app works by measuring the signal strength in terms of the download link speed available in a certain location. You have to tap on the Start and then walk slowly around in your place to find the speeds available in that location. This is not very different from the situation when you try to find the mobile network signal in some far off locations – just hold the phone in your hand and walk around like a zombie, looking at the phone screen. It is no brainer that you will get the best speeds near the router itself.
The app usually displays the speed every second and displays a graph of the download speed versus time. If you want to find the average download speed at a certain speed over a long time, then you can tap and hold the Record button. This will average the speed at that location over the duration of time for which you held the button. This may help you find if there is some fluctuation of download speed in that location.
Conclusion: If you are not happy with the weak WiFi signal of your WiFi router, then you can find the best location to get the strongest WiFi signal from it using the Wi-Fi SweetSpots.
You can download Wi-Fi SweetSpots from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.assia.sweetspots.