Android 8.1 will now display Wi-Fi speeds before connecting

If you are hoping to save your time and boost the speed of your WiFi usage then switch to Android 8.1 Oreo because Google is rolling out some significant features which will make online life much easier. This new update measures the speed of WiFi networks before connection. The feature does not provide detailed Wifi information and exact bandwidth readings instead it will give you categories that help users to identify which WiFi connections are better than others.

Free Public WiFi is present all over and sometimes, it’s difficult to choose a Wifi from a list because some of them have a strong signal strength and some have bad. To be helped before connecting (until you realize that the connection is slower), Google is providing a new “Speed Label” on the Wifi list for Android.

These Speed labels give an overview of the speed of the connection. The labels show up under the network name in the list of available WIFI connections. The speed of the connection is categorized into four general tags i.e Slow, Ok, Fast, or Very Fast. Google further explained these tags on its Google’s Support page.

• Slow: If you can use Wi-Fi calling, you can make phone calls and send texts.
• OK: You can read web pages, use social media, and stream music.
• Fast: You can stream most videos.
• Very Fast: You can stream very high-quality videos.

If you want to turn off this feature, you can go into your phone’s WiFi preferences and open the Advanced section. From there, just have to locate the Network rating provider and switch it to None.

Google mentioned this Speed Label feature as they announced the rollout of Android 8.1 back in December last year. For this Speed Label feature, one must own a smartphone that is running an Oreo 8.1 update. For the time being, Andriod Oreo 8.1 is only available on Google’s Pixel and Nexus devices.