Along the same lines as what Lee said, you need to make sure all the client devices are connecting to the same AP and radio. I also don't recommend relying on bars for anything. Perhaps there's a standard for them now, but if there is I'm not aware of it. To see the connection details:
* On Mac, Hold the option key while clicking the wireless icon. * On Android, download any of the myriad apps which provide network connection details. You can also enable developer options (Google the steps), then enable Wi-Fi verbose logging to see more connection details right in the wi-fi menu on your device. * On Windows, the OS reports Wi-Fi strength in % instead of dB, so I recommend an app. If you haven't purchased any Wi-Fi diagnostic apps for Windows, then there's a free one in the app store called Wi-Fi Analyzer that will give you the basic info. I wouldn't trust everything in the app (it seems to think all channels are 20Mhz) but I've found the other basic info (channel, rssi, protocol, bssid) reliable. * Sadly, I'm not aware of how to get any useful network information from iOS devices. From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Community Group Listserv <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> On Behalf Of Tim Tyler Sent: Friday, June 4, 2021 10:43 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Apple product antenna strength vs other? Chuck, We checked bar strength. Macs were in the 2nd out of 3 bars. PC's were getting 4 out of 5. I didn't check the phones. We did bandwidth testing and Macs were below 10Mb while PC's were averaging around 150Mb. I did check Airwave for possible issues. It suggested a poor SNR value for at least one of the Macs. I didn't know what to make of that since the PC's were not having that issue. Health was not good. Also, the Macs would drop connections and sometimes have random difficulty in connecting. No issues with the PC's or droids. It was basic testing at this point, but there was no doubt that Macs struggled performance wise while PC's didn't. I do need to go back and make sure they are all using the same AP. I did check on one Mac, but I didn't verify it for all of them. Tim From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Community Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU<mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] On Behalf Of Enfield, Chuck Sent: Friday, June 4, 2021 9:28 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU<mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Apple product antenna strength vs other? Tim, If you don't mind my asking, how are you assessing the performance? Chuck Enfield Manager, Wireless & Cellular Penn State IT 814-863-8715 From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Community Group Listserv <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU<mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> On Behalf Of Tim Tyler Sent: Friday, June 4, 2021 10:18 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU<mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Apple product antenna strength vs other? Wifi experts, We are running Aruba MM with two controllers on 8.7.3. Our AP's are mostly AP-225's. I have had complaints from one of our tech rooms that they were getting a poor signal. I finally got around to testing that room out. The location of the AP to this room is in an adjacent room. When I test with Windows PC's and Droid phones, the signal and performance is just fine. When we tested with Macs and iphones, the signal strength was amazingly weak for all of them. We tested with two Macs and two iphones as well as multiple PC's and Android phones. Only the Apple devices had weak signals. Have any of you experienced a weaker antenna performance with your Apple devices on your campuses? If I put an AP in the room, the Apple devices are fine. But I am surprised I would have to do this. I would not have expected Apple devices to have weaker antennas. I did check in Airwave to make sure at least one of the Macs was still connecting to the same AP. Any thoughts from anyone? 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