How to check for phone signal in dB?

One very common question we get asked at the booster store is that what is a dB, and how to measure it? Because, when you talk to people working in the communication industry, they tend to understand better in terms of numbers. A dB is short for decibels and it is the measure of signal strength, taht corresponds to the number of bars. Well the table below should give a better understanding.

	-105 dB
	-90 dB
	-75 dB
	-60 dB
	-40 dB

The above numbers has an +/- 5dB error compensation.

Almost all phones can be turned into a signal reading device, that can tell you precisely how many decibels you receive at any given location. We call it a test mode and visit here to determine your phone specific test mode.

Once you have determined your signal strength in dB, our goal is to increase that dB number. Here is where it can be a little tricky, because the dB are measured in negative(-) numbers, so to increase the speed we have to reduce this number. As you can see above that a 5 bar corresponds to approximately -40dB and 1 bar is -105 dB. Let is take the home unit 80059, this unit is a 55dB gain system. If you installed this system and you had 1 bar before installation, or -105dB strength. After installing this unit the result must be = -105 + 55 = 50dB or 4 bars!