Complete guide to analyzing routers and WiFi access points

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Set up, analyze and optimize a home or professional WiFi network It goes far beyond plugging in the ISP's router and crossing your fingers. If you really want to know how your routers and access points perform, you need a serious test bench, and you need to understand the differences between modems, routers, and access points. wifi extenders and WiFi Mesh, and to be clear about how the physical environment, client hardware and the wireless configuration itself influence them.

In this article we will break down, in great detail, theLearn how to professionally analyze routers and access points, what hardware and software are used, what types of Wi-Fi cards are used as clients, how to design a realistic physical test scenario, and the role of concepts like signal strength, channels, Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 standards, roaming, and band steering. You'll also see when a neutral router is the best option, when it's worth investing in additional access points, and what common problems can ruin your connection.

Professional test bench for routers and access points

To push a router or access point to its limits The first step is to ensure the bottleneck isn't on the wired side. It's useless for the Wi-Fi to be lightning fast if the test PC is limited to 1 Gbps. That's why a wired server with a 10GBASE-T interface and NBASE-T standards is used, capable of synchronizing at 10 Gbps, 5 Gbps, 2,5 Gbps, and 1 Gbps depending on the capabilities of the equipment being analyzed and the presence of... Multigigabit LAN/WAN ports in current teams.

This server is always connected to the local network via cable. It acts as an "iperf server," so any WiFi performance measurement truly reflects the wireless capabilities of the router or access point, without the Ethernet component hindering the tests. With this configuration, devices with multi-gigabit LAN/WAN ports and the latest generation WiFi 6E or WiFi 7 can be evaluated without issue.

WiFi Test Laptop

The primary wireless client is usually a modern laptop.The device moves through the different rooms where measurements are taken: adjoining room, lower floor, attic, storage room, etc. This allows you to check not only the speed in each location, but also how advanced features such as WiFi roaming between Mesh nodes or access points and band steering between 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands behave.

A very representative example is an ASUS Zenbook UX3402It's equipped with an Intel Core i7-1260P processor (4 high-performance cores, 8 efficient cores, and up to 16 threads), 16 GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512 GB NVMe SSD. The key to wireless testing lies in its Intel AX211 WiFi card, a dual-band/tri-band WiFi 6E AX3000 solution with 2T2R MU-MIMO configuration and 160 MHz channel support.

This card theoretically achieves speeds of up to 574 Mbps at 2,4 GHz (thanks to a 40 MHz channel width and 1024-QAM) and up to 2.402 Mbps on both 5 GHz and 6 GHz. This allows you to verify if the router or access point is capable of delivering real-world speeds consistent with these figures under good signal conditions.

Furthermore, the laptop has USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports2,5G and 5G to USB adapters can be added for wired testing from different locations, which is very useful when comparing wired vs WiFi performance at each point in the home or office.

Performance measurement and testing software

On the software side, the star tool is hyperf3This involves launching multiple concurrent TCP threads (up to 100 simultaneous connections) between the client and the server. This completely saturates the WiFi link's capacity and overcomes the limitations of older tools like Jperf, which fell short above 1 Gbps.

OpenSpeedTest is also used to complement the synthetic measurements.A web-based speed test that runs locally. The server runs on the main PC, and from any client, simply open a browser to launch tests and obtain download and upload speed graphs. This is very useful as a quick reference without depending on an internet connection.

Windows 11 Pro, updated to the latest version, is the base operating system This applies to both the server and the client laptop, ensuring a consistent environment. In smartphone tests (as we'll see later), the latest version of Android is used to take full advantage of WiFi 6E and WiFi 7.

In addition to third-party tools, the wireless network status in Windows itself It provides key information: synchronization speed, encryption type, standard used, band, and signal quality. This data helps to interpret why, in a specific location, the speed drops or remains high.

WiFi cards and devices used in the analysis

Test a router or access point with a single WiFi client It's a half-baked approach. Different chipsets, antenna designs, and standard versions can behave very differently with the same access point. That's why a serious test bench uses several cards and devices to cover varied scenarios and truly push the capabilities of the equipment being tested.

Intel AX211 (WiFi 6E) graphics card

The Intel AX211 is one of the current benchmarks in WiFi 6E For laptops. It offers selectable dual-band plus support for 6 GHz, 2x2 MU-MIMO configuration, 1024-QAM, OFDMA, Beamforming, and compatibility with all 802.11k/v/r roaming protocols, which makes it an ideal candidate for evaluating modern networks and Mesh systems.

In terms of practical performance, this card allows you to validate the top of the range in WiFi 6E.This applies both in high-capacity scenarios (160 MHz channel width) and in saturated environments where OFDMA and MU-MIMO make a difference. If the router doesn't perform as promised with the AX211, the problem almost certainly isn't with the client.

ASUS Zenfone 11 Ultra smartphone (WiFi 7)

For real-world user experience testing —streaming, online gaming, video calls, roaming between Mesh nodes— it is key to incorporate a latest generation mobileOne example is the ASUS Zenfone 11 Ultra with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and FastConnect 7800 platform, compatible with WiFi 7.

This phone operates as a 2x2 client on 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHzIt supports channels up to 320 MHz at 6 GHz and offers theoretical speeds of up to 688 Mbps at 2,4 GHz, 2.882 Mbps at 5 GHz, and 5.764 Mbps at 6 GHz. In real-world use, it's used to see what the actual speed is for a typical user and how the network performs when moving around the house or office.

Physical WiFi test scenario: three-story house

A good analysis of routers and access points needs a reproducible scenarioThis allows for a level playing field when comparing devices. A typical example is a three-story house, with approximately 65 m² per floor, where fixed locations are defined for the main router and for the test clients.

Living room: main location of the router

The router, professional access point, or main Mesh node It should always be placed in the living room, on the ground floor, in the most central position possible. This recommendation applies to any home: the more centrally located the device is, the better the coverage.

This is where the maximum speed tests are carried out.The laptop and mobile phone were placed approximately 2,5 meters apart in a straight line, with no obstacles. This yielded the reference values, which represent the maximum WiFi performance of the device under ideal coverage conditions.

Kitchen: nearby horizontal coverage

The kitchen is usually the room closest to the living room.about 10 meters away in a straight line. The signal enters through the door and passes through several walls, which helps measure horizontal attenuation. In many analyses, this location is the second best in terms of speed after the living room itself.

In this area you can check if the router or AP maintains high transfer rates when it has to go through one or two partitions, something very representative of what happens in medium-sized apartments and houses.

Master bedroom: immediate vertical coverage

The master bedroom is located on the upper floor just above the living room., about 3 meters in a straight line but with a full floor slab in between. Here it's interesting to see how the vertical roof behaves and how well MU-MIMO and Beamforming are used to "point" towards the client.

In this location, a speed similar to that of the kitchen is usually achieved.This is a good indicator of how well the router performs when passing through floors, which is crucial in two-story homes.

Room 2: combination of horizontal and vertical distance

In the second bedroom upstairs, located above the kitchenThe distance from the router is approximately 10 meters both vertically and horizontally. The signal has to travel through an entire floor and laterally, making it one of the most demanding positions.

Many routers and access points clearly suffer in this area., with noticeable drops in speed and even stability problems if the signal strength approaches poor values ​​(below -70 dBm).

Attic or loft: the worst-case scenario

The attic, on the second floor, is the highest location.about 6 meters in a straight line from the router and with two floors in between. In this scenario, the network usually "looks for alternative paths" through stairwells, hallways and less dense walls.

Speed ​​here makes the difference between a basic and an advanced deviceA good WiFi Mesh system or a well-designed network of managed access points can still offer usable connectivity, while a simple router may barely provide minimal coverage.

WiFi signal strength, interference, and network quality

WiFi signal strength is one of the most critical parameters To ensure a good user experience, it's not enough to simply subscribe to your internet provider for "lots of megabytes" if the wireless network then becomes the bottleneck due to poor coverage, interference, or channel saturation.

We can measure the state of the network in several waysThe most basic way is to look at the typical signal bars on your mobile phone or laptop; they give a quick but imprecise idea. On Windows, using PowerShell or the command prompt (cmd) with `netsh wlan show interfaces`, you can obtain more detailed information about link speed, encryption type, and signal strength as a percentage.

Specialized tools are used for a more comprehensive analysis like Acrylic WiFi Analyzer, which in seconds displays occupied channels, signal-to-noise ratio, security level, congestion, maximum theoretical speeds, and quality of each detected access point. These types of solutions are invaluable when there are multiple routers or overlapping networks, such as in apartment buildings or offices.

Signal strength is measured in dBm using the RSSI indicatorOn a scale that usually ranges from 0 to -100. Values ​​between -30 and -50 dBm indicate an excellent signal; from -51 to -60 dBm, very good; between -61 and -70 dBm we are talking about adequate coverage; from -71 to -80 dBm there is already a risk of interruptions and low speed, and below -81 dBm the connection may be unstable or non-existent.

The WiFi bars we see on devices do not follow a single standard.But as a guide, in a 4-bar icon, 4 bars are equivalent to about -50 dBm or better, 3 bars are around -60 and -70 dBm, 2 bars usually imply between -70 and -80 dBm, and 1 bar most likely points to -80 dBm or worse.

Factors that affect WiFi coverage and performance

Beyond the router or access point itselfMany environmental factors can weaken the signal or introduce interference. Understanding them is key both for analyzing devices and for improving your home network.

The router's location is the first factor to checkPlacing it hidden behind the TV, in a closed cabinet, or flush against the floor is a recipe for problems. Ideally, you should find a spot that's as centrally located as possible, elevated, and free of immediate obstacles.

Distance to the access point also plays a role.The further away you are, the weaker the signal and the worse the speed. The 2,4 GHz band offers greater range but less capacity; the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands provide higher speeds, but their coverage is more affected by distance and walls.

Walls, floors and ceilings with metal structures or a lot of reinforcement They can behave almost like a Faraday cage, blocking or severely attenuating radio waves. In some older houses with thick walls or buildings with a lot of concrete, this is a real headache.

Other electronic devices can also cause interferenceMicrowaves, older cordless phones, wireless cameras, or even neighboring Wi-Fi networks saturating the same channel can reduce connection quality. The good news is that, especially in the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands, there are plenty of channels available to bypass some of that congestion.

WiFi heat maps and network planning

If you want to take the analysis a step furtherYou can create a heat map of your home or business. This involves walking around the area with a laptop or tablet that records the signal strength at each point, and then representing the data on a color map.

Using a WiFi planning tool or WiFi Heatmaps Generating this map is relatively simple. Just upload or draw a floor plan of your house, indicate the location of the router or access points, and walk through the different rooms while the application measures RSSI and other parameters.

The result visually shows the areas with excellent coverage, correct areas and corners where the signal drops off. With this information, it's much easier to decide whether it's worth moving the router, adding an access point, switching to a Mesh system, or even run a couple of Ethernet cables strategic.

Tools like Acrylic WiFi Heatmaps They also allow you to simulate new locations and see how coverage would change before doing any construction or buying additional hardware, saving time and money.

Modem, router and access point: what each one is

In everyday language we tend to call everything a "router".But in reality, your installation houses several logical devices (sometimes integrated into the same physical box) with very different functions: modem, router, switch, and WiFi access point.

What does a modem do?

The modem is responsible for modulating and demodulating the signal It arrives via the operator's line, whether copper, coaxial, or fiber. It converts the provider's analog signals into digital data that your local network can understand, and vice versa when you send information to the Internet.

In practice, the modem is the gateway to the Internet in your home.Nowadays it almost always comes integrated into the equipment your ISP installsSo most people don't even see a separate modem like they did years ago.

What does a router do?

The router is the brain of your local networkIt handles routing traffic between the LAN (your devices) and the WAN (Internet), assigning IP addresses via DHCP, applying firewall rules, managing NAT, QoS, parental controls, and many other management and security functions.

Modern home routers usually also integrate the WiFi access point and a small Ethernet switch with several LAN ports. That's why we talk about a "router" to refer to a device that, in reality, combines several devices into one.

What is an access point (and how is it different from a repeater)

The access point (AP) is responsible for creating a WiFi network It connects to a router or switch via Ethernet and creates one or more wireless networks (SSIDs) with their own security settings, channels, and bands.

When you want to improve the connection in an area where the router's signal is weak.The most robust option is to run an Ethernet cable to that area and place a access point configured as such. This way you get the maximum performance the network offers, without any cuts due to signal repetition.

If the device connects to the router only via WiFi and not via cableSo we're not talking about a classic access point, but a WiFi repeater or extender. These devices take the existing signal and retransmit it, but with the usual penalty of speed loss because they have to receive and retransmit each packet.

In large or multi-story homes, the combination of a router and wired access points This is usually the cleanest strategy. Mesh networks can also be used, which internally function as a mesh of access points (sometimes with wireless backhaul, sometimes wired), offering better roaming and centralized management.

Routers versus WiFi access points and extenders

A router and an access point can both broadcast WiFi.However, their roles within the network are very different. The router connects and manages different networks (LAN and Internet), while the AP is limited to providing wireless access to an existing network.

In a typical home network, a router is essential. so that all your devices can access the Internet, while access points are optional, designed to extend coverage, increase capacity or segment the network by areas or uses.

WiFi extenders or repeaters, on the other hand, are used when running a cable is not feasible.They are placed at an intermediate point where a decent signal from the router still reaches and rebroadcast it to more distant areas. They are plug-and-play and inexpensive, but they sacrifice performance, so they are not the best solution for online gaming, 4K streaming, or environments with many devices.

In professional environments (offices, hotels, educational centers) usually deploy managed access point networksSometimes using physical controllers, other times through cloud platforms. This allows for centralized configuration, consistent policy application, and easy network status monitoring.

Typical configurations of managed access points

When the network grows and a single isolated AP is no longer sufficientDifferent management architectures come into play that make life easier for the administrator and improve the user experience.

In very small networks, a standalone AP, configured one by one.That might be enough. But as the number of access points increases, managing each device separately becomes cumbersome and error-prone.

A classic solution is the controller-based approachA central device (or virtual machine) collects the configuration, pushes it to all access points, manages roaming, balances the load, and gathers statistics. This is common in medium and large companies.

The cloud-managed model has gained a lot of ground Because it offers the advantages of a controller without requiring it to be physically present at the installation. The access points simply need internet access to connect to the manufacturer's platform, from where they are monitored, updated, and managed.

Mesh networks are also a very popular configurationIn these networks, an AP acts as a gateway to the wired network, and the rest are linked to each other wirelessly or in a hybrid fashion, forming a resilient mesh in which, if a node fails, traffic can be redirected through other routes.

In addition, there are point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links.These are used to connect buildings to each other or to provide access to several apartment blocks or outdoor areas from a central base station. In these cases, robust outdoor access points are typically used, with hardware designed for weatherproofing and long distances.

Evolution of access points: from WiFi 4 to WiFi 7

WiFi technology has advanced at a breakneck pace from the old days of 802.11ba 11 Mbps. With 802.11n (WiFi 4) came MIMO and better speeds; 802.11ac (WiFi 5) brought wider channels and MU-MIMO; WiFi 6/6E It added OFDMA, more efficiency and the 6 GHz band; and now WiFi 7 (802.11be) is shaping up to be an even bigger leap.

WiFi 7 promises maximum aggregate speeds above 40 GbpsVery low latency and enormous capacity, thanks to 320 MHz channels, 4096-QAM modulation, and improvements in link aggregation and interference management. This opens the door to demanding applications such as 8K video, extended reality, and massive real-time social games.

Manufacturers are adapting their catalogs to accommodate simultaneous three-radio architectures (2,4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz), which allows for optimized use of each band and provides dedicated wireless backhaul in advanced Mesh systems without penalizing customers as much.

An example of this new generation are enterprise-class WiFi 7 access points.which integrate AI management, dynamic spectrum optimization, full WPA3 support and are ready for future firmware updates that further enhance the standard.

Choose and build your own WiFi test bench

If you're feeling the itch and want to set up your own test bench —whether for work or as a hobby—, you don't need to replicate a professional laboratory down to the millimeter, but it is advisable to follow some guidelines to ensure consistent results.

The first thing you need is a decent WiFi routerThe one from the operator can be a good place to start, but if you're looking to maximize speed and coverage, a neutral router from a well-known brand will give you more options and better performance.

Secondly, you need several test devices: at least a laptop with WiFi 6 or 6E, some modern mobile phone, maybe a tablet or a desktop PC with a WiFi adapter, and, if you can, some USB ac or ax card to compare performance.

Testing software is the third pillariPerf3, analysis tools like Acrylic WiFi Analyzer, local speed tests like OpenSpeedTest, and, if you want to take it a step further, heat map software, will allow you to see the network much more clearly.

Don't forget the settings and security sectionChoosing good channels, positioning the router correctly, using WPA2/WPA3 encryption with strong passwords, disabling features you don't use (WPS, unnecessary open networks), and always keeping the firmware updated are basic steps but they make a big difference.

Finally, remember that older devices can slow down the entire network.If you mix very old Wi-Fi clients with Wi-Fi 6/6E or 7 equipment on the same band and SSID, the network will tend to operate in more conservative modes. A smart option is to separate slower devices on the 2,4 GHz band or even on a dedicated access point, and reserve the 5 GHz/6 GHz band and the main router for faster devices.

With a good understanding of how routers and access points are analyzedUnderstanding the roles of modems, routers, access points, and extenders, and how the physical environment, signal strength, and modern WiFi standards influence them, will make it much easier to choose the right equipment, plan the placement of access points, and get the most out of your connection, whether in a two-story house, a coworking space full of laptops, or a small business that needs a robust and future-proof network.