What do those bars on your phone really mean?

Via Gizmodo:
Reception: The Truth About Cellphone Reception Bars

Originally Posted by gizmodo

The reception bars on your cellphone represent EC/I0 values, which is the scientific measurement that signifies how much of a cellphone's available reception is actually usable. Well, according to the chaps at Ask Metafilter, the bars that are actually present on your cellphone are a watered down representation of the true values. Why so?


Apparently, the EC/I0 readings are far from stable and fluctuate many times a minute. Due to this fact, the approximation that is employed is largely meaningless. On the flip side, if you are constantly in an area with strong reception, the deviations in readings are not going to be large, so the vague representation shall be accurate enough. Still, you conspiracy whores, get your hats off and do some sweating. For more information on the EC/I0 rating standard, hit the link and get your read on. [Ask Metafilter via Boing Boing]

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› See More: What do those bars on your phone really mean?

Well..... I would question that. Rx Ec/Io is one measurement. Rx Power is the measurement that affects the signal bars..... everything from -50 dbm up to -110 dbm (anything higher than -110 dbm is a no signal environment).

So I can remove my antenna so the bars can go down and still have coverage? Sweet!! @$%^#^ antennas.

well, I think your antenna maybe an important part in getting reception.

Most modern phones (at least ALL the ones we sell) don't have an antenna. Even if there is one sticking out on top of the phone, the actual antenna on the mainboard is generally at the bottom of phone (near the microphone). The "antenna" that sticks out at the top in most cases is a placebo, there to make the customer feel the phone is doing a better job than it is.

And the thing with digital vs analog is, if you have a digital signal, you will place a call. Doesn't matter if your signal is strong or weak, the call will have the same voice quality. Where-as in analog, you can get the introduction of interference, which causes static-like sounds during your conversation.