Have you ever thought about how the power of a mobile signal is measured? Yes, we are accustomed to talking about signal bars. But let’s admit that this “measure” can’t be considered to be scientific.
Actually, these bars are a representation of a real measure but not a real unit of the measure itself. They help us to see how the strength of our signal changes depending on our location (or it’s better to say, depending on the possibility of a signal transmitted by our carrier to reach our mobile device). But what they really do is represent the power of the received signal in decibel-milliwatts. Or we can name this unit of measure just dBm.
As our signal bars are just a representation of real power it may happen so that different devices have different values of one bar. This thesis easily explains the cases when you have just two bars of your 4G signal but can enjoy a rather stable connection while your friend who is now at the same location has 3 bars but can’t even send a message on WhatsApp. The reason for that may be hidden in the fact that you have different models of your smartphones.
However, it would be wrong to say that these bars are not helpful at all. In any case, they help to understand the general state of your network. Moreover, when you own a smartphone for some time, you get accustomed to its signs and can better understand it. But to know more about the signal itself, it’s important to learn more about decibels and decibel-milliwatts.
dBm: What is it?
The decibel (dB) is a relative unit used for representing the voltage strength and power of different electronic devices and equipment, including cables and wires. But decibels are dimensionless. That’s why for measuring power (or strength of signal), we should take such unit as decibel-milliwatts (dBm) which will show us power measured in reference to 1 milliwatt. Only thanks to dBm it is possible to estimate the changes in decibels as decibels can only quantify the ratio of two values (and the values can be measured in dBm).
Decibel-milliwatts are used for measuring radio signals, microwaves, and, as we’ve already mentioned, the power of cellular signals.
What dBm value is good for signal power?
A good signal is usually somewhere between -50 and -70 dBm. And a poor signal is usually below -100 dBm.
But is it possible to improve the signal power at a particular location? Yes, yes, and one more time yes. That’s exactly what signal boosters are intended for. And modern boosters demonstrate amazing efficiency in improving the signal strength. How to measure the power of your signal?
When signal bars are not enough for you to estimate the quality of your signal, you can use dBm signal strength measurements. Today there are a lot of free mobile apps that allow you to measure the power of your signal in real-time. Just install one of them and track the signal when it is necessary.
But it is not the only solution. Many Android smartphones have an in-built feature that is intended for reading decibels, at the same time if you have an iOS phone you can turn on a so-called test mode to get the desired information.
By knowing the accurate signal power, you will have the possibility to solve your signal issues more efficiently and greatly boost the performance of your phone. Let us highlight once again: you can use signal bars for a general understanding of what is happening to your signal but for more precise data, please, turn to the measurements in dBm.
How we can help you to improve your connection
If you are not satisfied with the quality of your signal at home or in the office, you’ve found just the right company to help you. Mobile signal boosters that you can find in our online catalogue can become a good weapon in your fight for the perfect signal.
Today there are models for amplifying:
And what is very convenient, some of our boosters can improve different types of a signal at the same time. Our repeaters have different coverage which means that you can buy a good device for buildings of any type and size. But even that’s not the end of all the options. If you like cat or boat trips and are types of dropped calls and lost connection, you can order a booster for vehicles and have a stable signal regardless of your location.
Our boosters have already helped thousands of our clients from all over the world. So, maybe it’s now your turn to stabilize your mobile connection? We would be happy to answer all your questions. Do not hesitate to contact us.
