Measuring speed

Signal strength tells you where the Wi-Fi is weak. Speed tells you how fast it actually is where you stand. A strong signal is not always fast: interference, a busy channel or a slow link between mesh nodes can make a spot slow that looks fine on the signal map. Technically the app measures throughput, the amount of data that gets through per second, in Mbps.

To measure speed, choose Signal and speed under What to measure in Settings. The choice is saved with each survey, so one floor plan can measure signal only and another signal and speed.

#The second computer

A speed test needs something to send data to and receive it from. Wi-Fi Heatmapper uses iperf3, a free tool, on two computers:

• This laptop, the one you walk around with. The app runs iperf3 here.
• A second computer on your network that stays put while you survey: a desktop, a Raspberry Pi or a NAS. It runs iperf3 -s (the "speed test server") and waits.

Connect the second computer to the router with a cable. Then the test measures only the Wi-Fi between the laptop and the router. If the server is on Wi-Fi too, every test crosses the air twice and the results come out at roughly half, and they vary with where the server is.

Each spot tests both directions: download (server to laptop) and upload (laptop to server). Wi-Fi is often slower in one direction than the other, for example when the laptop's antennas are weaker than the router's.

#Set it up

1. Install iperf3 on this laptop. Homebrew (on a Mac) and the Linux .deb do this for you. On Windows, install it so it is on your PATH, for example scoop install iperf3 or choco install iperf3; the app also finds iperf3 installed by winget. iperf3 --version should work in a terminal. Tools called iperf or iperf2 are different and incompatible.
2. Install iperf3 on the second computer and start it with iperf3 -s.
3. In Settings, choose Signal and speed and enter the second computer's address as the Speed test server: 192.168.1.10, nas.local, or with a port, 192.168.1.10:5201. IPv6 works too: [fe80::1]:5201, or a bare address without a port. The port defaults to 5201.
4. Click Test connection. The checklist under the field shows whether iperf3 is installed on this computer and whether the server answers.

A version newer than 3.17 is recommended on both ends, ideally the same one. On Windows, running from source, you may need to add iperf3's folder to PATH yourself (setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\iperf3") and open a new terminal.

#When the speed test can't run

The signal is always saved. If iperf3 is not installed on this laptop, no server is set, or the server does not answer, the app skips the speed test, saves the signal reading, and says so: the panel in the corner shows Saved without speed with the reason instead of a green tick, and the strip under the header warns that the newest point has no speed. The same happens if a test fails part way, for example because the server is busy with another test. This works the same on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Fix the cause (start iperf3 -s, check the address, or open port 5201 in the server's firewall) and measure the spot again, or switch the survey back to Signal only.

#What each spot runs

With speed on, every spot tests download and upload speed (TCP), reading the Wi-Fi signal before, between and after the tests. Turn on Jitter and lost packets in Settings to add two fixed-rate tests (UDP); it doubles the time per spot. New surveys start with it off; older surveys keep it on.

The download and upload tests send as fast as the connection allows. The fixed-rate tests send at a steady rate and show how evenly the data arrives, which matters for calls and games. For "how good is the coverage here", signal and download/upload speed are enough.

The fixed-rate (UDP) tests are capped at 100 Mbps by -b 100M in their extra iperf3 options, which is safe on most networks. If your UDP results sit at exactly 100 Mbps, the connection can do more: raise the cap under Advanced: iperf3 options, for example to -b 500M.

Test duration sets the seconds per test, 5 by default, so a spot takes about 13 seconds in all (about 25 with the UDP tests). A connection takes a second or two to reach full speed, so shorter tests read low and vary more: 3 seconds is the least that gives useful numbers, and longer tests are steadier still. Extra iperf3 options per test (for example -P 4 for parallel streams, or the UDP cap) go under Advanced: iperf3 options in Settings; the server, port and duration come from the settings above.

#Comparing before and after

Use Colour scales on the Heat maps tab to fix the lower and upper value of each map, for example download speed 0–500 Mbps and fixed-rate upload jitter 0–20 ms. Use the same ranges in your before and after surveys (say, before and after adding a mesh node) and the colours mean the same numbers. Ranges are saved with each survey and used in downloaded maps. See heat maps for units and details.