What is RSSI Level Meaning and its Real-World Implications

This article talks about the RSSI level meaning, its implications in the current wireless networks, and its use in real-world scenarios. Read till the end to understand these crucial network concepts. 

What is RSSI?

The power contained in a radio signal received is measured by RSSI, also known as received signal strength indicator or received signal strength indication. It demonstrates how effectively your device can pick up a signal from an access point or router in domestic wireless networks already set up in your house or workplace. 

It's a number that may be used to figure out whether you have an adequate signal to establish a solid wireless connection. It should be noted that an RSSI value is not the same as transmit power from a router or AP since it is obtained from the Wi-Fi card of the client device. It should be noted that despite having no absolute value, RSSI is just a number used to assess the relative strength of a signal received by a client device. 

RSSI levels and power levels expressed in milliwatts or decibels concerning one milliwatt are not explicitly correlated in the 802.11 standard. The precision, granularity, and range for the real power and the range of RSSI values are provided by the vendors and chipset manufacturers. Since we know that signal strength is represented by both the units of measurement dBm and RSSI. The difference is that dBm is an absolute figure that represents power levels in mW while RSSI is a relative index.

Each chipset manufacturer is allowed to establish their own "RSSI_Max" number as permitted by the IEEE 802.11 standard. The specification states that RSSI can be measured on a scale from 0 to up to 255 but many OEMs also come up with their max RSSI values like 0 to 60 or 0 to 100. 

What is RSSI Level Meaning?

Before understanding levels, we need to look into how it is measured in terms of units. A negative dBm value is used to represent RSSI and the value closer to 0, the better your signal strength is. 

Sounds confusing? well, consider this: This number refers to how strongly the cellular signal travels from the tower to the modem. The stronger the signal, the higher the number. Various cellphone providers have different precise figures. However, readings of -70 dBm and above often indicate that the modem is in a good coverage region. 

The signal's strength increases as it approaches 0 dBm. Because the quality of the connection is determined by more values than simply RSSI, there comes a point where striving to increase signal quality yields diminishing results.

Different RSSI level Meaning from OEMs

Your device can have different output signal strengths depending on where it is and how good it is at doing its job. These different power levels throughout pf signals are referred to be RSSI levels and determine the overall efficiency of your device. For example, if the RSSI level for your device is >=-70 dBm, then expect a strong signal with the highest data rates. If in between -70 dBm to -85 dBm, you still will get a strong signal and fast data rates. 

If things start to go down from here, let's just say that your device is giving -86 dbm to -100 dbm then it's still considered fair performance. You will still get fair but fast and consistent data rates with occasional hiccups but if you go further down the road, then expect frequent drop-outs and marginal data problems at -100 dBm. Once, you cross -110 dBm, then things will start to become worse. 

Although RSSI is still very much alive, it is being quickly replaced by the Received channel power indicator or RCPI. It is a measurement of the received radio frequency power in a chosen channel across the preamble and the whole received frame. Since RCPI is only related to 802.11, IEEE 802.11k-2008 has imposed some accuracy and resolution requirements on it which was not the case for RSSI.

Conclusion:

This article talked about the RSSI level meaning, its basics, and the different units to represent it. RSSI is measured in arbitrary units and is the relative received signal intensity in a domestic wireless environment in our home and offices. After antenna and potential cable loss, RSSI shows the power level that the receiving radio is receiving.