Need to be able to run Hyper Terminal, also need Hyper Terminal

I have a wireless broadband connection (Huawei USB modem dongle), and after a first 6-8 months of shaky, unreliable performance, it's getting to be really good - speeds are occasionally very good.

However, the Huawei/ISP application that manages the connection has no built-in tool for measuring signal strength, and the Notification Area icon is of course only a rough indication - you get no figures.

The other day while casting about for some third-party application to show momentary signal strength I came upon this excellent guide: How to Measure & Improve Mobile Broadband Reception | Mobile Fun Blog.

In it, the author suggests simply using good old Hyper Terminal while also noting that it for some reason went out with Windows XP and is not a part of Windows 7 and on.

But wait! There was hope yet in the form of HyperTerminal Private Edition from hilgraeve.com. I downloaded a trial version a week or so ago and - lo and behold - it worked flawlessly and I was for a time transported to the past and issued Hayes-commands like it was 1989.
Here's what it looked like in my case:


and using a conversion table in the article, the 24,99 figure translated to a signal strenght of about 63 dBm which was about what I had expected so this solution is the real deal.

I was happy as a pig in muck until I saw the price HILGRAEVE was asking for adapting this, essentially freeware, applet to run under Windows 7: $64.99 which is to my thinking way too much for their 'trouble' as well as money I can't spare anyway.

So, I was thinking maybe I could run a virtual XP machine using my old XP installation disk and do it that way.
Any thoughts on that?


Thanks

If all you are trying to do is get a measure of signal strength/quality it would be easier to use a wifi scan tool that will show you everything you need and more
Two I have used in the past that were pretty handy - inSSIDer & WifiInfoView
Will give you details on strength/quality/encryption/channel ID + more for yours and all nearby networks

Thank you Pauly. Yes, get a measure of signal strength/quality is exactly what I want to do. I will try inSSIDer and WifiInfoView and report back, although it will take a couple of days before I do as I like to be sure whereof I speak.
Cheers

In addition, have you tried Phone and Modem which is basically the replacement for HyperTerminal? Phone and Modem is accessed from the Control Panel and is available on Win 7, 8 and 10.

strollin said:

In addition, have you tried Phone and Modem which is basically the replacement for HyperTerminal? Phone and Modem is accessed from the Control Panel and is available on Win 7, 8 and 10.

Thanks strollin (Keep on Truckin'!) No I haven't. I wasn't even aware of Phone and Modem, yet it was only a few mouse clicks away. I got on the Hyper Terminal track from reading that article which seems to be written when Vista was current.

Perhaps Phone and Modem came with Windows 7 and this is why the author says "Windows Vista users can download a free trial version of HyperTerminal here"? I.e. perhaps Vista didn't have a counterpart?

Anyway, thx for the tip, I will of course try it. But...it felt like old times what with the clunkiness of the HT screen and sending Hayes commands like back in the day...