by Mishra Planeswalker

Created on: January 26, 2009

If you want to check how strong your wireless internet signal is, all you need do is check a small indicator in the corner of your screen. If you're running a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, you can look in the bottom-right corner of the taskbar. You'll see an icon that looks like 4 green bars of varying lengths, some of which will be lit up. If all four bars are an illuminated shade of lime green, you have full reception, and your internet experience should be a pleasant and fast one. This is colloquially referred to as "having four bars," and is a sign that both your computer and your internet provider are working at their maximum potential.

If the number of lit bars starts to decrease, you may notice that your internet connectivity will start to lag, or slow down. Videos may halt periodically, and downloads may take much longer than you would hope. If ever the number of lit bars reaches zero, you'll notice that your connection to the internet has been completely halted, and you won't be able to do anything that requires a network connection, like browsing the internet or sending email.

If, however, you are running a version of Apple's Mac OS X, you'll notice the AirPort icon on the menu bar at the top of your screen. Instead of being a series of green bars, you'll notice an icon that has 3 curves protruding from a dot, each of which may be either black or gray. Like the Windows taskbar icon, the bars will become solid (as opposed to gray) as your signal strength increases.

If you find yourself lacking in signal bars, there are a few things you can do to speed up your internet connection and regain your lost bars. First, you should move closer to your router or modem, whichever device is responsible for broadcasting your internet signal. Reducing the number of barriers (walls, etc.) between yourself and the device in question should also provide a more direct and efficient wireless connection. The last thing you may consider is changing the frequency on which your network is being broadcast.

Due to the wide variance in networking topologies and techniques, many users will experience a wide variety of signal strengths, all of which are easily found and identified. Every operating system commonly used provides an easy way to check your signal strength, and recovering those lost bars is as simple as moving to a different location in your house.

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