The ‘dead zone’ for 4G is -120 dBm, but the connection would have to deteriorate to unusable speeds before the signal strength gets that low. The connection is unlikely to cut out entirely if the strength deteriorates, but speeds would noticeably slow down at -105 dBm. Signal strength of -100 dBm is also required to transfer data over 4G while maintaining decent speeds. In general, your signal strength needs to be around -100 dBm to hold a conversation over a cellular connection. How Strong of a Signal Do You Really Need? Unfortunately, while the maximum theoretical speeds for 5G are higher, the technology is more susceptible to interference and signal degradation, so some people may find they experience very poor 5G signals while in office buildings or built-up areas. Recommended signal strengths for 5G will be different again. For 3G service, -110 dBm is considered a ‘dead zone,’ but represents merely a ‘poor signal’ for 4G.Signal strength of -70 dBm is considered excellent for 3G, whereas a reading of -90 dBm would be considered excellent for 4G.This is because 3G and 4G operate on different wavelengths. 3G vs 4G Signal Strengthsįor the most part, desirable signal strengths for 3G and 4G are similar, but they are not identical. An increase of 6dB is enough to approximately double the signal strength of a cell tower or antenna. This guide to putting your phone into test mode works for most iOS and Android devices, allowing you to access tools that show the signal’s strength in dB, which is something that integrators can work with more easily.Īs was previously mentioned, the dB scale is logarithmic, so an increase of 3dB means the power has doubled. Instead, users can get an accurate idea of the strength of a cellular signal by unlocking the diagnostic tools found on their phones. Another person could see two bars and have their SMS messages stuck on “sending” for several minutes. One person could have their phone showing one bar on the signal strength reading and still be able to make calls and receive text messages. Unfortunately, there’s no fixed standard for what ‘four bars of signal’ means among mobile phone manufacturers. But unlike a dB measurement of signal strength, these bars don’t tell you much. Most cell phone users judge the strength of their phone’s signal according to the number of bars they see. In the case of dB, each increase of three dB means that the signal strength has doubled, as shown in this chart below: Logarithmic scales are used to make it easier to represent very large numbers on a convenient scale. This means the way most of us think about magnitude doesn’t apply.Īn increase from -80 dB to -77dB may not sound like a lot since it’s an increase of just 2.4% on a linear scale, but it’s a much bigger difference on the dB scale. It’s easy to underestimate how strong a signal is when you’re looking at a decibel reading.īoth dB and dBm are logarithmic, not linear. Higher Means Stronger: The Power of Logarithmic Scales Understanding the meaning of the two measurements and what they are used for is essential if you wish to understand how cellular signal boosters work. The two dBm that are being compared can be converted into watts, but dB cannot be. You can use dB as a tool to measure the difference between two dBm figures. It should be noted that dB is a measure of relative power and cannot be converted into watts. This is incredibly oversimplified and incorrect. There’s an often repeated ‘formula’ that dBm = dB+30, so 0dB is 30dBm. Note that dBm and dB are measures of entirely different things.
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