University of Balamand

Computer Networks Laboratory

Fall 2018

Lab 8: Testing Wifi Signal

Compiled by Nayla Greige & Hanna Daoud

Edited by Dr Riad Saba

Objectives:
This lab introduces students to two linux-based tools such as
kickthemout and nmcli. These utilities are used when a wireless
connection signal is seen to be attenuated when the number of hosts is
incremented. The goal is to allow students to see that the number of
hosts is independent of the signal strength and attenuation

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Part 1: kickthemout
The first tool, kickthemout, is a python script found on GitHub -an open source community for
sharing free open source apps, scripts, codes and so on- which is used to scan a network and kick
unwanted connected devices on this network. In this research, it is used only to map the network
and display connected devices so that the signal can be compared to the number of connected
hosts.

Only one user is connected which is the testing device

Execute the command again, we will another online IP

Multiple users are seen connected

Part 2: nmcli
The second utility is nmcli which is used to monitor the signal rate. After each phase of the
research, i.e. connecting or disconnecting users, nmcli d wifi command is executed in the
terminal to see the signal strength.

When only one user is present we will see the below result

When two users are connected along the modem, nmcli d wifi command is executed twice to

make sure the signal is stable. As seen below, the signal is at 69-70%.
When multiple users are connected we will see the below result :

nmcli d wifi command is executed six times to make sure the signal is stable. As seen, the signal

is at 69-72%

As shown in the tests above, the signal range is between 69% and 71% and which shows that no

matter what the number of hosts is, the wireless signal is stable.