Subscriber Discussion

Cell Signal Strength/Quality For Alarm Panels

U
Undisclosed #1
Dec 01, 2015

What is an acceptable RSSI for a cellular alarm panel/cell communicator? I need to know when an external antenna (or amplifier) would be required.

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Brian Rhodes
Dec 01, 2015
IPVMU Certified

Usually the panel or module will include a feature that gives you feedback on cell strength, ie: bars on the LCD or LED lights. There is not a good method of checking by sight or during pre-install surveys that I am aware of.

The signal strength depends on the type of network used by the panel. I know the basic impulse is to use a cellphone to see if the signal is strong in an area, but this method can be pretty inaccurate.

(1)
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Mark Jones
Dec 01, 2015

There are also some apps, some pretty good ones frankly that will do that. I am sure the manufacturer can give you the DB strength needed.

(1)
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Daniel S-T
Dec 02, 2015

My experience with Honeywell and DSC indicated anything lower than -90dbi is considered bad, and warranting re-location or an antenna.

The honeywell GSM's require you to either have the GSM programmer, or log into the GSM programming through the system programming (*29 menu) and the DSC GSM's just give you two LED's (GS3060/3070 models) not sure if they've improved with newer models..

(1)
U
Undisclosed #1
Dec 02, 2015

There is a RSSI mode for the unit and I have a couple of android apps that show signal strength, but I get conflicting results when switching modes, i.e. LTE, GSM, CDMA. So if I get a -80db average, I should be OK. Thanks for everyone's input.

DW
Dennis Widdows
Dec 02, 2015

Yes

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