Why Do I Not Have T-mobile Service When I Show Bars?

Y'all probably know that the bars graphic on the home screen of your mobile phone is meant to bespeak indicate strength. Simply what do those bars on your cell phone really mean, and can you make any decisions based on them? Nosotros've got all the answers below, besides equally a tip for increasing your jail cell phone signal (despite what the bars might bear witness).

man holding a smartphone with reception bars

The Cell Telephone Bars Measure Decibels

Technically, bars measure how many decibels of power your telephone is getting from the jail cell telephone tower it's connected to. That's the definition of indicate strength.

How Are Decibels Related to Cell Phones?

A decibel is a technical unit of measure used with ability and sound which measures how intense an electrical signal is. If you've worked or played with stereo equipment earlier, then you lot've probably heard this term one or twice.

What Decibels Do Jail cell Phone Bars Represent?

The bars (or dots, depending on your phone model) don't relate to actual decibel numbers — instead, they indicate the relative strength of the available signal.

The central discussion hither is relative.

One bar indicates lower signal strength than two bars. And 2 confined represent lower signal strength than 3 confined — and so on. Unfortunately, that's about all the information you get from looking at this little graphic.

You can tell that your indicate forcefulness has gone upwards or down compared to where it was earlier or in a different location considering the bars appear and disappear accordingly. But that doesn't actually tell you how much signal strength you take in measurable decibels.

What Do the Four Bars on My Phone Actually Mean?

The only thing the bars on your phone give you is a rough approximation of relative forcefulness. Viewing the bars graphic lonely doesn't tell you how stiff the available signal really is, nor how much stronger a four-bar indicate is than a iii-bar signal. For example, you can't say "I went up a bar, now I have 25 more decibels of signal."

In fact, in some cases, the performance of your phone doesn't align with what'due south going on with those confined at all. Y'all might have had this feel: Your telephone shows four bars, but when y'all try to text or download a picture show, your telephone tin't do it — despite the iv cellular bars you see, you have no service.

The truth is, there are no standards for the signal strength bars that you see on your phone.

Each mobile phone manufacturer — Apple, Samsung, Google and others — uses their own proprietary technology to approximate the strength of available cellular signals. Each as well has its own algorithm to measure and compare that signal and present it to you in the form of bars.

Then, one telephone's 2-bar betoken might be -88 decibels while another'southward two-bar signal could be -lxx decibels. The ane with -70 decibels has a stronger connection, simply of course, there's no way to tell that from looking at confined solitary.

That ways it's impossible to compare betoken strength between different phone models just past looking at how many bars are displayed on the screen. Yous might exist sitting in the same location with a friend, each with a different blazon of phone. You could have two bars and accept no problems connecting to the internet or sending texts. Your friend could take four confined and feel issues because his or her four bars are representative of less signal force than your two bars.

The lesser line is this: The bars ultimately don't mean much.

How to Measure Signal Strength on Your Phone

4G LTE and 5G cellular reception bars

So the bars don't tell yous much almost the signal strength of your phone. What if yous want to know the bodily numbers and then you can decide whether y'all need a new phone or demand to take action to boost that indicate of yours?

To accurately measure your jail cell signal force, yous must take a reading of the signal in decibels or dBm.

Even though phone companies all present telephone strength measurements differently, decibels are a standard unit of measure. So, when you accept a dBm reading, you lot know the absolute strength of the available point.

Decibels are typically expressed as a negative number such as -88. The closer to zero the reading is, the stronger the jail cell phone point. So, like in the example above, -70 dBm is a stronger point than -88 dBm.

A reading of -50 is likely the strongest signal you will come across. Signals weaker than -100 dBm are pretty bad, and if the indicate gets much weaker than that, you likely won't have prison cell service at all.

To measure the dBm reading on your telephone, yous'll need to put your phone into field test mode. The steps are different for each telephone type. Detect how to detect the signal strength on your Android telephone or notice the point strength on your iPhone.

Taking this step is the only fashion to know how strong your available cell betoken really is.

Why Do I Only Have One Bar on My Phone?

Usually, one bar of service on your phone means you're receiving poor signal because you're too far from the nearest cell tower or something is blocking the betoken from getting to your device. As yous read above, how "poor" a one-bar point actually is will depend on your phone, but it's the worst the signal can exist, relatively speaking, for each device before you don't have service at all.

Some common indicate blockers tin include building materials such as concrete, steel, brick, fiberglass insulation or wood.

If you're in a densely populated expanse such as a major urban center, the issue of network traffic can too ascend. People assume there's plenty of cell coverage to go effectually, but cellular tower resources are express. If a lot of people are on the same network and belfry, downloading things, sending messages or otherwise taking up bandwidth, the tower might struggle to support that level of usage.

How Practice I Go More Confined on My Jail cell Phone?

Measuring your actual bespeak force tin assist yous understand what might be causing lackluster performance with your phone. For instance, you might find that your signal strength is 10 decibels higher when yous're exterior than when you're inside your home — even though you go three bars regardless.

Those ten decibels aren't enough to motion the bar to two or 3, only they could exist enough to touch performance. And the reason y'all might become better signal outside is because the walls of your habitation or other aspects of the structure could be blocking some of the signal from the belfry.

A cell phone point booster is a great solution that can boost signal into your vehicle or home so you lot tin can take a strong, reliable cell signal (and more cell bars) whether you're indoors or out.

All weBoost signal boosters work with all carriers and are FCC-approved, so you can rely on them working with your setup. Yous also don't have to pay recurring fees. When you buy a cell phone signal booster, you're buying the hardware that gets the chore done — non a service you subscribe to.

It'due south important to note that prison cell phone betoken boosters won't create a betoken if you accept no bars on your cell telephone at all. But they will heave a weak existing cell signal into your home or vehicle.

Shop weBoost prison cell signal boosters to become faster data speeds and ameliorate vocalization quality on your device.

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