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Signal Strength

Signal strength widget

The Signal strength widget displays the current wireless signal level as a Wi-Fi arc or cellular bar icon, with the active bars colored to reflect signal quality. Use it on device monitoring dashboards to visualize connectivity strength at a glance — without reading raw dBm values.

  • Two icon styles: Wi-Fi (arc) and Cellular bar — choose the one that matches the device’s radio technology.
  • Active signal bars color with four modes — constant, gradient, value range segments, or a JavaScript function — for threshold-based coloring without custom code.
  • Independently configurable inactive bars color.
  • Optional hover tooltip showing the raw value with unit (e.g., dBm) and last-update timestamp.
  • Optional date label on the card face showing how long ago the last reading arrived.
  • On card click and Widget header button actions.
  1. Open the dashboard in edit mode. Click Add widget in the top toolbar, or click the Add new widget icon in the center of an empty dashboard.
  2. In the widget bundle selection dialog, find and click Status indicators.
  3. Select the Signal strength widget.
  4. Configure the datasource and appearance, then click Add.

All settings are on the Basic tab. Switch to Advanced for card-level controls — title font, tooltip, border radius, and CSS overrides.

Select the source of the signal level value:

  • Device — a specific device; the widget reads the latest value from this device.
  • Entity alias — a set of entities matched by an entity alias; use when the target device is selected dynamically at runtime.

Add exactly one data key — a telemetry key or attribute — whose numeric value represents the signal strength (typically a negative dBm value such as rssi or rssl).

Layout Description
Wi-Fi Displays a Wi-Fi arc icon. Use for Wi-Fi connected devices. Default.
Cellular bar Displays vertical cellular signal bars. Use for cellular (2G/3G/4G/LTE) devices.
Setting Description
Title Label shown on the card. Enabled by default, value Signal strength. Supports {x} dynamic placeholders: entityName and entityLabel. Configure font and color independently.

An optional icon placed on the card. Disabled by default. Configure size (px) and color when enabled.

An optional line on the card showing when the last data value arrived.

Setting Description
Date Toggle to show or hide the last-update timestamp on the card face.
Date format Format of the displayed date. Default: Last update N ago.
Setting Description
Active signal bars color Color of the filled (active) bars. Supports four color modes — see below.
Inactive signal bars color Color of the unfilled (inactive) bars. Grey by default.
Mode Description
Constant Single fixed color for all active bars.
Gradient Color transitions smoothly across the value range. Configure start and end values and color stops.
Range Assigns a specific color to each value segment. Add multiple From / To rows for threshold-based coloring — for example, green for strong signal (−55 to 0 dBm), yellow for moderate (−75 to −55 dBm), red for weak (below −75 dBm).
Function A JavaScript function f(value) that returns a CSS color string. Use for custom or non-linear coloring logic.

A tooltip shown when the user hovers over the widget, displaying the raw value and the time of the last update.

Setting Description
Value Toggle to show or hide the raw value in the tooltip. Enabled by default.
Unit Unit suffix appended to the displayed value. Default: dBm.
Decimals Number of decimal places. Default: 0.
Setting Description
Date Toggle to show or hide the last-update timestamp in the tooltip. Enabled by default.
Date format Format of the date shown in the tooltip. Default: Last update N ago.
Setting Description
Background color Tooltip background fill. Empty by default.
Background blur Blur radius applied to the tooltip background. Default: 3px.
Setting Default Description
Background — Card background color.
Show card buttons — Toggle Data export and Fullscreen buttons in the widget header.
Card border radius 0px Corner rounding.
Card padding 12px Spacing between card content and its border.
Source Description
On card click Triggers a configured action when the user clicks anywhere on the widget card.
Widget header button Adds a custom button to the widget header that triggers a configured action when clicked.

Goal: Monitor the wireless signal quality of IoT gateways deployed across multiple sites, with the icon changing color based on connection strength.

Prerequisites: Gateways reporting rssi (dBm, typically −30 to −90) as a telemetry key.

Step 1. Add the widget. Open your dashboard in edit mode, click Add widget, select Status indicators, then choose Signal strength.

Step 2. Configure the datasource. Set Datasource type to Entity alias, select an alias that resolves to your gateways, and add rssi as the data key.

Step 3. Set the layout. In Appearance, set Layout to Wi-Fi for Wi-Fi gateways, or Cellular bar for cellular modems.

Step 4. Configure threshold colors. Click Active signal bars color, select Range mode, then add three segments:

From To Color
— −75 Red
−75 −55 Yellow
−55 — Green

Step 5. Configure the tooltip. In the Tooltip section, set Unit to dBm and leave Date enabled so operators can see when the last reading arrived.

Step 6. Save. Click Add, arrange the widget, then save the dashboard.

Result: Each gateway card shows a signal icon that colors green for strong connections, yellow for moderate, and red for weak — with the exact dBm value available on hover.

Icon Shows No Active Bars

Cause Solution
No data received Open Devices → Latest telemetry and verify the device reports the configured data key. Key names are case-sensitive.
Value is null or non-numeric Ensure the device sends a numeric value for the configured key.
Entity alias resolves to no entities Open Entity aliases in the dashboard and verify the alias returns results.

Active Bar Color Does Not Change with Value

Cause Solution
Active signal bars color set to Constant Switch to Gradient, Range, or Function mode for value-dependent coloring.
Range segments don’t cover the actual value range Signal strength values are typically negative (e.g., −90 to −30 dBm). Verify your From / To range rows match the expected value range.

Tooltip Does Not Appear

Cause Solution
Tooltip toggle is off Enable the Tooltip toggle in the Appearance section.
Both Value and Date toggles are off Enable at least one of Value or Date inside the Tooltip section.