There are four values that are measured when determining an LTE signals’ strength and performance.

*Note: metrics and grades below are typical and relevant to LTE signals (2016 to 2021)

- RSSI - Received Signal Strength Indicator. RSSI is a negative value, and the closer to 0, the stronger the signal.

- RSRP - the Reference Signal Received Power is the power of the LTE Reference Signals. Reference signal is used to determine bandwidth on a given cell channel.

- RSRQ - Reference Signal Received Quality indicates the quality of the received reference signal.

- SINR - Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio indicates the throughput of the channel. SINR is the signal strength divided by interference strength.

They are measured in negative dBm except for SINR where a positive value points to a stronger signal with better throughput overall. Below are a few charts explaining the readings and the quality of performance in general.

Factors to consider

There are several things to consider when measuring the quality outside of just the RF readings. Below is a list of the most common factors outside of the RF readings that will affect quality of the connection and throughput.

- Load on the tower (the more users on a given tower, the less overall bandwidth that will be available, regardless of signal quality and strength)

- Distance to nearest tower. (the further from the tower, the weaker the overall RF will be

- Interference from other signals)

- Physical (buildings and building material types, mountains, semi-trucks with trailers, trains, large bodies of water can all impede the signal potentially)

- Weather (cellular is essentially just radio waves and can be impacted by severe weather)

In the above examples for instance, you could have excellent RF readings on all values, but if a tower is overloaded with users the carriers will load balance how much bandwidth each user is allowed and your overall throughput could be affected. In the case of physical barriers, it may be necessary to install an external antenna for a better signal if the building itself is not conducive to a strong signal.

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