Talk:Received signal strength indicator

The linked article from WildPackets (Converting_Signal_Strength.pdf) says that Cisco's RSSI_Max is 100, not 101. 101 values; 0 to 100. Can't find anything from a quick sitesearch on cisco.com, and other sites around the net seem to disagree in the same capacity... -- Jeffschuler 16:45, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

Scale Factor

Although the scale as directed by Cisco is 0 - 100, is this a definitive scale that the RSSI should be matched against? what about negative values, i.e. -69? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.129.247.66 (talk • contribs) 16:26, 24 August 2006‎ (UTC)

Negative values are a measurement of signal strength in dB. RSSI is not. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.175.225.22 (talk • contribs) 16:03, 20 June 2007‎ (UTC)

I saw an airport extreme showing a RSSI of -1, that's why i searched for the definition. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.210.83.114 (talk • contribs) 14:31, 22 December 2008‎ (UTC)

Tomato shows RSSI values in dBm (in Tools|Wireless Survey). So are they wrong in calling it RSSI? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.162.19.129 (talk) 01:07, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

IEEE Std 802.11-2012 uses "RSSI" in at least two difference senses. Section 14.3.3.3 "RXVECTOR RSSI" clause ("The RSSI is an optional parameter that has a value of 0 to RSSI Max. This parameter is a measure by the PHY of the energy observed at the antenna used to receive the current PPDU. RSSI shall be measured between the beginning of the SFD and the end of the PLCP HEC. RSSI is intended to be used in a relative manner. Absolute accuracy of the RSSI reading is not specified."), which is the RSSI that's in the range 0-{whatever}, and Table 6-7—ESS "Link Parameter Set" talks about "DataFrameRSSI" and "BeaconRSSI" ("The received signal strength in dBm of received {Data,Beacon} frames from the network. This may be time- averaged over recent history by a vendor-specific smoothing function."), which is a dBm value. I guess anything that Indicates the Signal Strength of a Received signal could be called an "RSSI". Guy Harris (talk) 03:22, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

what causes RSSI and the solution

Am ABU OLU by name working as a telecom engineer in transmission department,we have a problem of RSSI in some our sites,
pleas sir i want to known the cuase and the possible solution.
Thanks. my email is abusalime2001@yahoo.com  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.100.68.125 (talk) 07:50, 20 June 2008 (UTC) 

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a technical support forum. Please use talk pages for discussing changes to the article in question. Thank you. --J. Atkins ^{(talk - contribs)} 16:54, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Article too technical?

As has been stated on the article page -- on the tag itself -- it was misplaced; IMHO it's unlikely that non-technical ('general' audiences) would be researching RSSI. I've removed it. If you feel it is required, please don't hesitate to readd it, but also explain on the talk page. Thanks. --J. Atkins ^{(talk - contribs)} 16:51, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

What is it used for?

The article describes where the circuit can be found, and what form the outputs take, but it doesn't describe why RF receivers go to the trouble of implementing the RSSI circuit in the first place. How is the RSSI data used in RF receivers? (especially if it is "usually invisible to the user") --Underpants 01:50, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Most basic question unanswered here

Is a high RSSI value a good thing or a bad thing for a connection to a WiFi network? I'm sure the answer is in there somewhere in this article, for people who already understand the terms enough not to have to read it! Maybe the answer is indeterminate and that's why it isn't here, but I suspect the a high RSSI is either always a good thing for a WiFi user or always a bad thing, but that information just hasn't been delivered here. I'll find it elsewhere and won't likely return, but hopefully this comment can make this article more pointful.--173.34.103.251 (talk) 12:12, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

From article: "Therefore, the higher the RSSI number (or less negative in some devices), the stronger the signal." i.e.good. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.159.70.60 (talk) 20:04, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Range?

The article says "RSSI measurements are unitless and in the range 0 to 255", but my Mac is reporting "RSSI: -26", and elsewhere in the article it says "the higher the RSSI number (or less negative in some devices)". What does the first sentence mean, given that the article (and actual devices) sometimes report negative numbers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.232.11.50 (talk) 15:51, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Which program in OSX is reporting the -26 value? The -26 is likely a value reported in dBm, which is a signal strength, and not RSSI. The "less negative" part of that sentence should be removed from the article. As a reference point for your -26 value, in system profiler under AirPort, my current signal strength is reported to be -52 dBm with a noise level of -92 dBm. ~ Justin Ormont (talk) 00:54, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Option+click on the 802.11 menu extra (the 802.11 icon on the menu bar) will pop up information including something labeled as "RSSI" that is -45 for our network right now. A recent capture with Wireshark shows "SSI signal" values, which are in dBm, close to -45, so that's probably what they're calling RSSI. Assuming they're following the radiotap spec, that field is antenna signal], which is "RF signal power at the antenna" as "a single signed 8-bit value, which indicates the RF signal power at the antenna, in decibels difference from 1mW", so that (which is, in fact, dBm). It's certainly a "received signal strength indicator", but it's not the received signal strength indicator in, say, the 802.11-2012 section 14.3.3.3 "RXVECTOR RSSI" clause ("The RSSI is an optional parameter that has a value of 0 to RSSI Max. This parameter is a measure by the PHY of the energy observed at the antenna used to receive the current PPDU. RSSI shall be measured between the beginning of the SFD and the end of the PLCP HEC. RSSI is intended to be used in a relative manner. Absolute accuracy of the RSSI reading is not specified."), but it is an RSSI in the sense of DataFrameRSSI or BeaconRSSI in Table 6-7—ESS Link Parameter Set ("The received signal strength in dBm of received {Data,Beacon} frames from the network. This may be time- averaged over recent history by a vendor-specific smoothing function."). Guy Harris (talk) 03:03, 12 February 2013 (UTC)