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What is the unit of the signal returned when I run nmcli dev wifi list? The confusing part is that the signal result is different when I run iwlist wlan0 scan

nmcli output:

SSID                              BSSID               MODE             FREQ       RATE       SIGNAL   SECURITY   ACTIVE  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'CantDoSteam'                     C0:::::7D   Infrastructure   5180 MHz   54 MB/s    72       WPA WPA2

and iwlist scan result:

Cell 02 - Address: C0:56:27:BA:3B:7F
                    Channel:36
                    Frequency:5.18 GHz (Channel 36)
                    Quality=44/70  Signal level=-66 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"CantDoSteam"
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
                              36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s

Can someone help me understand what signal in nmcli means and what Quality and Signal level are? Which of these two is the most accurate?

Cabral A.
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1 Answers1

5

It looks like the SIGNAL value is a percentage. Maximum signal is 100. The more is the better.

iwlist gives output in dBm. It is always negative. The more is the better too. "-20" is better that "-50".

I tested it with a powerful router close to the client machine. It shows 100.

Pilot6
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