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How do you find the -dB value for your signal and what is it?

Vbnmm

Member
I read about how the number of bars indicating your signal does not necessarily mean it is a good connection and that what you really need is the dB value for your signal. What is this and how do I find it. I have always measured my connection strength by using an online internet speed test.
 
dB or dBm means decibel milliwatt and there are actually several different measures for this, although Reference Signals Received Power (RSRP) is one of the most important ones on 4G (LTE) networks.

This is one measure of mobile signal quality where, in simple terms, the closer to 0dBm the better (negative dBm values are perfectly normal here but past a certain point you won't see much real-world benefit).

If you have an Android smartphone then I'd recommend the 'Network Cell Info Lite' app as it's quite good and showing the values.
 
Cool, very helpful answer and btw it was from a post of yours saying why you really need is the dBm value. I was confused as to why the numbers were negative but it turns out that they are actually representations of positive numbers using a logarithmic scale.

“The reason for the negative values is that they are representing small but positive numbers, on a logarithmic scale. In logarithms, the value indicated represents an exponent... for example, under a log 10 scale, a value of -2 represents 10 to the -2 power, which equals 0.01.” -from: https://community.cisco.com/t5/smal...-everything-negative-in-wireless/ta-p/3159743
 
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A love of science, a mindset that doesn't allow me to walk away from anything without first finding an answer to that eternal question - "how does that work?" and 20 years of doing ISPreview :giggle:.
 
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