How it works
Fast link, slow connection?
Three numbers get mixed up when Wi-Fi feels slow. nOversight keeps them apart, and then reads them together.
Link rate is a promise, not a delivery
The link rate is the speed the phone and access point agreed for each transmission. It moves with signal and channel width, and it is always higher than what you actually get, because Wi-Fi shares the air and resends what was lost.
nOversight shows the link rate as you walk and judges it against your design target. It never presents it as a download speed.
A speed test measures the whole path
A speed test measures what actually got through: Wi-Fi, router, broadband and the test server together. With Orb turned on, the phone runs tests by itself as conditions change. On a Mac you can also start one.
For each test, nOversight compares the result with the link rate at that moment. When the delivered speed sits close to the link’s capacity, the Wi-Fi was probably the limit. When it sits well below, look further down the path. When it falls in between, nOversight says it cannot tell.
Lag tells you where to look
Orb also measures how long replies take, both from your router and from the internet. A quick router with a slow internet reply points past the Wi-Fi. Both slow at once points closer to home.
On the station walk shown here, the router answered quickly while internet replies were slow at times. That moves the question from the Wi-Fi to the connection beyond it.
What it cannot tell you
One device, one time
Results describe the device you tested, where and when you tested it. Other devices can behave differently.
A cause is a lead
Retries or a busy channel beside a slow result are evidence to investigate, not proof of a single cause.
Compare like with like
Before calling a change an improvement, repeat the test with the same device, route and time of day.