diff --git a/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp b/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp
index 5888ddce6..cad963b29 100644
--- a/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/ethernet/ethernet_component.cpp
@@ -381,7 +381,10 @@ void EthernetComponent::dump_config() {
       break;
   }
 
-  ESP_LOGCONFIG(TAG, "Ethernet:");
+  ESP_LOGCONFIG(TAG,
+                "Ethernet:\n"
+                "  Connected: %s",
+                YESNO(this->is_connected()));
   this->dump_connect_params_();
 #ifdef USE_ETHERNET_SPI
   ESP_LOGCONFIG(TAG,
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
index 817419107..33aa6c813 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp
@@ -743,6 +743,14 @@ void WiFiComponent::start_connecting(const WiFiAP &ap) {
 }
 
 const LogString *get_signal_bars(int8_t rssi) {
+  // Check for disconnected sentinel value first
+  if (rssi == WIFI_RSSI_DISCONNECTED) {
+    // MULTIPLICATION SIGN
+    // Unicode: U+00D7, UTF-8: C3 97
+    return LOG_STR("\033[0;31m"  // red
+                   "\xc3\x97\xc3\x97\xc3\x97\xc3\x97"
+                   "\033[0m");
+  }
   // LOWER ONE QUARTER BLOCK
   // Unicode: U+2582, UTF-8: E2 96 82
   // LOWER HALF BLOCK
@@ -1022,7 +1030,10 @@ void WiFiComponent::check_scanning_finished() {
 }
 
 void WiFiComponent::dump_config() {
-  ESP_LOGCONFIG(TAG, "WiFi:");
+  ESP_LOGCONFIG(TAG,
+                "WiFi:\n"
+                "  Connected: %s",
+                YESNO(this->is_connected()));
   this->print_connect_params_();
 }
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
index 713e6f223..5023cf342 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.h
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ extern "C" {
 namespace esphome {
 namespace wifi {
 
+/// Sentinel value for RSSI when WiFi is not connected
+static constexpr int8_t WIFI_RSSI_DISCONNECTED = -127;
+
 struct SavedWifiSettings {
   char ssid[33];
   char password[65];
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp8266.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp8266.cpp
index bcb5dc4cf..bdaae5382 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp8266.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp8266.cpp
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ bssid_t WiFiComponent::wifi_bssid() {
   return bssid;
 }
 std::string WiFiComponent::wifi_ssid() { return WiFi.SSID().c_str(); }
-int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() { return WiFi.RSSI(); }
+int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() { return WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED ? WiFi.RSSI() : WIFI_RSSI_DISCONNECTED; }
 int32_t WiFiComponent::get_wifi_channel() { return WiFi.channel(); }
 network::IPAddress WiFiComponent::wifi_subnet_mask_() { return {(const ip_addr_t *) WiFi.subnetMask()}; }
 network::IPAddress WiFiComponent::wifi_gateway_ip_() { return {(const ip_addr_t *) WiFi.gatewayIP()}; }
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp_idf.cpp
index fd7e85fb6..8c27fe92d 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp_idf.cpp
@@ -1029,7 +1029,8 @@ bssid_t WiFiComponent::wifi_bssid() {
   wifi_ap_record_t info;
   esp_err_t err = esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info(&info);
   if (err != ESP_OK) {
-    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+    // Very verbose only: this is expected during dump_config() before connection is established (PR #9823)
+    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
     return bssid;
   }
   std::copy(info.bssid, info.bssid + 6, bssid.begin());
@@ -1039,7 +1040,8 @@ std::string WiFiComponent::wifi_ssid() {
   wifi_ap_record_t info{};
   esp_err_t err = esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info(&info);
   if (err != ESP_OK) {
-    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+    // Very verbose only: this is expected during dump_config() before connection is established (PR #9823)
+    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
     return "";
   }
   auto *ssid_s = reinterpret_cast<const char *>(info.ssid);
@@ -1050,8 +1052,9 @@ int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() {
   wifi_ap_record_t info;
   esp_err_t err = esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info(&info);
   if (err != ESP_OK) {
-    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
-    return 0;
+    // Very verbose only: this is expected during dump_config() before connection is established (PR #9823)
+    ESP_LOGVV(TAG, "esp_wifi_sta_get_ap_info failed: %s", esp_err_to_name(err));
+    return WIFI_RSSI_DISCONNECTED;
   }
   return info.rssi;
 }
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_libretiny.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_libretiny.cpp
index 2946b9e83..8c6c28ac7 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_libretiny.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_libretiny.cpp
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ bssid_t WiFiComponent::wifi_bssid() {
   return bssid;
 }
 std::string WiFiComponent::wifi_ssid() { return WiFi.SSID().c_str(); }
-int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() { return WiFi.RSSI(); }
+int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() { return WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED ? WiFi.RSSI() : WIFI_RSSI_DISCONNECTED; }
 int32_t WiFiComponent::get_wifi_channel() { return WiFi.channel(); }
 network::IPAddress WiFiComponent::wifi_subnet_mask_() { return {WiFi.subnetMask()}; }
 network::IPAddress WiFiComponent::wifi_gateway_ip_() { return {WiFi.gatewayIP()}; }
diff --git a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_pico_w.cpp b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_pico_w.cpp
index 7025ba16b..073b75288 100644
--- a/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_pico_w.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_pico_w.cpp
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ bssid_t WiFiComponent::wifi_bssid() {
   return bssid;
 }
 std::string WiFiComponent::wifi_ssid() { return WiFi.SSID().c_str(); }
-int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() { return WiFi.RSSI(); }
+int8_t WiFiComponent::wifi_rssi() { return WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED ? WiFi.RSSI() : WIFI_RSSI_DISCONNECTED; }
 int32_t WiFiComponent::get_wifi_channel() { return WiFi.channel(); }
 
 network::IPAddresses WiFiComponent::wifi_sta_ip_addresses() {