Measure your WiFi Throughput with Fritz!App WLAN

Depending on where you live, setting up a wireless network may be as easy as plugging in the router and connecting your devices to the network. If you are unlucky, however, you may run into performance issues right away with the default settings.

Maybe reception works fine in one room but not another, or it is not fine at all once you move a couple of steps away from the router.

You find lots of advice online on how to optimize a wireless network. Check used channels and switch to one that is used by the least number of access points in the vicinity. You may also get advice to buy a wireless repeater, or a stronger antenna for the router if that is supported.

Fritz!App WLAN

Fritz!App WLAN is a free application for Android devices that you may use to measure the throughput if WiFi networks.

The application works with all kinds of wireless networks and does not require a Fritz router. It displays information about the wireless network that the Android device is connected to on start. You get a reading of the signal strength right on the start page.

A click on "measure WiFi Throughput" starts a speed test. The app runs the speed test continuously until you hit the stop button. The test highlights the signal strength and the bandwidth utilization.

You can run a baseline test near the wireless router or access point, and then additional tests in other rooms or even outside to test the output and signal strength.

After you ran the first series of tests, you may modify router settings, e.g. the channel or orientation of the antenna to see if it improves the reception. This requires some measuring on your part but helps you determine the best settings for WiFi throughput.

The connect tab assists you in finding the best channel for the signal. It highlights all wireless signals that the device picks up, and displays them on a graph.

You may want to check the channels in all places you require wireless network access as new signals may be picked up in different places.

The app displays the strength of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signals; just scroll down on the page to display the chart for 5 GHz networks.

Fritz!App WLAN's connect page lists all wireless networks that the device picked up when you open it. It supports filtering options to display only known/2.4 GHz/5GHz networks and to sort the listing by the reception, name, or average dBm.

The listing may be useful, especially if you have access to multiple networks and need to pick one from the listing. You can connect to any of the listed networks directly from within the application.

The app comes with extra features besides the ones mentioned above. It supports WPS, the scanning of wireless information using QR codes, NFC, and the scanning for home network devices.

Closing Words

Fritz!App WLAN is a handy application for Android devices to test the WiFi throughput and assist users in finding the best access point and settings.

You may find apps like Network Tester for Android, WiFi Analyzer, or TekWiFi for Windows useful as well in that regard.

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