WiFi Stats From Terminal on Linux

Scan available WiFi networks from terminal, analyze the signal strength, channels, transfer rates, etc. There are multiple tools that can scan for available WiFi networks and list their details, we'll be using nmcli.

Here is the usage help of it:

Usage: nmcli [OPTIONS] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }

OPTIONS
  -t[erse]                                       terse output
  -p[retty]                                      pretty output
  -m[ode] tabular|multiline                      output mode
  -c[olors] auto|yes|no                          whether to use colors in output
  -f[ields] <field1,field2,...>|all|common       specify fields to output
  -g[et-values] <field1,field2,...>|all|common   shortcut for -m tabular -t -f
  -e[scape] yes|no                               escape columns separators in values
  -a[sk]                                         ask for missing parameters
  -s[how-secrets]                                allow displaying passwords
  -w[ait] <seconds>                              set timeout waiting for finishing operations
  -v[ersion]                                     show program version
  -h[elp]                                        print this help

OBJECT
  g[eneral]       NetworkManager's general status and operations
  n[etworking]    overall networking control
  r[adio]         NetworkManager radio switches
  c[onnection]    NetworkManager's connections
  d[evice]        devices managed by NetworkManager
  a[gent]         NetworkManager secret agent or polkit agent
  m[onitor]       monitor NetworkManager changes

nmcli, a command line tool for controlling and reporting the network status. It does not require specifying the interface name, and usually can work without super user (sudo) privileges by default.

Show Available Wireless Networks

nmcli dev wifi

Show Detailed Information About Wireless Networks

nmcli -f ALL dev wifi

Show Detailed Information in Multiline View

nmcli -m multiline -f ALL dev wifi

Raw Output (for scripting)

To show all information and quit use the -t option.

nmcli -t -f ALL dev wifi

Rescan Wireless Networks

To force a rescan of the available WiFi networks use the rescan option:

nmcli dev wifi rescan

Conclusion

nmcli can be a very helpful tool. It can scan and stat the Wifi networks in range, but also can control the interface in oh so many ways. To know more about it visit the nmcli Gnome dev page