Evaluating the strength of your AirPort network

Reader Dwayne Ahern has a question about the strength of his Wi-Fi network. He writes:

I have an AirPort Extreme Base Station in my home office, and I’m not sure I’ve positioned it in the best place for good reception around the house. As I walk around with my MacBook Air, I see the Wi-Fi fan in the menu bar drop a bit in some places, but that seems like a pretty rough estimate. Is there a way I can get a better idea of how strong the signal is?

There is, but it requires math.

Before I outline that math, let’s give credit where it’s due: A person going by the name Tesserax has written a helpful guide on optimal base station placement. In that guide he spells out the following steps.

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