Tower / Cell Range

[dms76]

Does anyone know what the theoretical ranges of a cdma tower and a cdma phone is? I'm wondering over flat desert like terrain.

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[TrivialTweeter]

From the Wikipedia page on Cell Site Range:

CDMA and IDEN have no built-in limit, but the limiting factor is the ability of a low-powered personal cell phone to transmit back to the mast. As a rough guide, based on a tall mast and flat terrain, it is possible to get between 50 to 70 km (30?45 miles).

The working range of a cell site - the range within which mobile devices can connect to it reliably - is not a fixed figure. It will depend on a number of factors, including

The frequency of signal in use (i.e. the underlying technology).
The transmitter's rated power.
The required uplink/downlink data rate of the subscriber's device [2]
The transmitter's size.
The array setup of panels may cause the transmitter to be directional or omni-directional.
It may also be limited by local geographical or regulatory factors and weather conditions.

Generally, in areas where there are enough cell sites to cover a wide area, the range of each one will be set to:

Ensure there is enough overlap for "handover" to/from other sites (moving the signal for a mobile device from one cell site to another, for those technologies that can handle it - e.g. making a GSM phone call while in a car or train).
Ensure that the overlap area is not too large, to minimize interference problems with other sites.

 

[dms76]

Thank you for the assist! I'm up in the upper peninsula of Michigan with limited service. I wad picking up a tower on the other side of the bay about 25-30 miles away and that didn't seem right. Guess cell has a greater range then I realized.

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