Reliable Wireless Transmission Distance

How far will a radio signal transmit reliably? A radio signal is transmitted at a certain signal (power) leve, but recived at a much lower level. Radio signals are attenuated (decrease) as the pass through air or other media.

The amount of signal loss over the radio path determines how far a radio signal will travel. When a radio signal falls below the data sensitivity, then it is no longer recived reliably. When the radio signal falls below the "fade margin", the signal becomes marginal.

There are many factors which affect signal power levels and signal attenuation:

• RF Power
• Reciver Sensitivity
• Frequency
• Nature of the radio path
• Multiple path effects
• Antennas
• RF Noise