# Why the wifi signal quality is not displayed in % ??

## jetboo

Hi, i need to see the wifi  signal quality in % 

but 

```
cat /sys/class/net/eth1/wireless/link
```

returns me a value beetween 1to 5.

same for iwconfig eth1 :  *Quote:*   

> eth1      IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"myessid"  Nickname:""
> 
>           Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.417 GHz  Access Point: 22:89:B4:27:68:2C   
> 
>           Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:24 dBm   
> ...

 

How can i get a more precise value in % ?? 

(plz dont tell me to multiply by 20  :Sad:  )

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## gerdesj

Well, I get these at the moment:

```

#cat /sys/class/net/wlan0/wireless/link 

70

# iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"<my ssid"  

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: <my ap>   

          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   

          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:off

          Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-39 dBm  

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

```

Now I'm not sure what that means either although I seem to have 1 Mb s-1, which is rubbish! Power management perhaps?  Also I appear not to get a Noise level from iwconfig.

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## jetboo

thx for your answer, what hardware do you use ? i think it's driver related, i use a broadcom wifi device, with broadcom-sta driver.

I emailed broadcom, maybe i will get an answer... 

Anyway you got a much better precision than me.

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## gerdesj

 *jetboo wrote:*   

> thx for your answer, what hardware do you use ? i think it's driver related, i use a broadcom wifi device, with broadcom-sta driver.
> 
> I emailed broadcom, maybe i will get an answer... 
> 
> Anyway you got a much better precision than me.

 

Not sure if 70/70 means that there are 70 degrees of precision on my device!  I doubt it very much.

I have an Intel WiFi Link 5100 (iwlagn).

Cheers

Jon

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## jetboo

here is the answer of broadcome support : 

 *Quote:*   

> The brcm driver is not constructing  that file, so it must be happening somewhere higher in the stack and you’ll have to consult
> 
> The appropriate Linux docs or source code.
> 
> Sounds like your hunch is correct and it likely indicates link strength using 5 ‘bars’.
> ...

 

but i dont see what doc he is refering to ..

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## Amity88

hey jetboo,

I also have a broadcom wifi device. I have an output similar to gerdesj, I don't use broadcom-sta.

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