I was just tipped about a cool app called AR signal master by Trend Micro Incorporated. This app allows you to keep track over the Wi-Fi signal strength in your home or wherever you are. You have an option for a non-AR display, where the app just records the signals and shows you a list of recorded values.
However, the highlight of this app is its really cool AR mode. In this mode, the user can tap and place a signal strength sample on any surface detected by ARKit. You can sample an unlimited amount of points.
The signals are presented in the real world in large very clear text so you can see which area has the best reception. The app shows you both the dB level and with a friendly textual description like “Good Signal”, “Poor Signal”, “Very Good”, etc.
There is also an option to view the signals in a 2D and 3D display and share it with others as an image.
I really liked this app, because this is the first time I get to visualize the WiFi signal strength in such a very clear user-friendly way. I remember when I was in Portugal, I had to use a signal booster. I didn’t know where to put it and if I had this app it would have taken much less time. The thing is that when you sample the signal strength, you want to know its highest and lowest points to know which area needs to be boosted. How can you know that if you don’t have a log of all the recorded points?
Now without AR what are you going to do, use a GPS? Probably not because it’s not very accurate for this type of measurement. AR is the perfect solution and it’s super accurate. I’ve also seen the 2D and 3D visual log and it’s much less user-friendly compared to the AR mode. You don’t need to write a log or anything just take a look at the areas in front of you and see all the sampled signal strengths. The app also uses colors to create a clear distinction between low and high signal strength so you can quickly tell the quality of the reception in a specific place.
I wonder how if the app knows how to deal with several routers are in the same place and their signal is aggregated. I have only one router at home so I can’t check that. I don’t think that it can do that though, but again, I wasn’t able to test it out.
Just so you know, here is the dBM and their equivalent Signal Strength (from the app itself):
- > -30: Strong signal
- -30 ~ -67: Able to watch video
- -68 ~ -70 Able to surf the Internet
- -71 ~ -90: Week signal
- < -90: No signal
A really great app. I highly recommend checking it out if you need to check out which area in your house has the best signal strength and which areas are affected by a low signal strength.