5
One of the most common questions we get asked is:
how do I get better data rates?
To understand how to get the highest data rates we need to dig into the details a little. In
this section we'll give you a quick primer on how cell signal works.
a. Signal Bars
Your phone’s signal bars attempt to give you an idea of how
“good” your signal is.
How does your phone decide how many bars to show? Well,
it measures both the
signal strength
and
signal quality
, and
converts those measurements into a simple indicator.
Having either low signal strength
or
low signal quality can
limit the number of bars your phone displays.
For example, you can have a strong signal, but if the signal quality is low, you won’t have
many bars. Or your signal quality might be perfect, but if it's very weak, you still won’t see
many bars.
However, the real secret is this:
signal bars aren’t all that important
.
You can have full bars and very slow data rates. Or you can have 1 bar and super high data
rates. We regularly see both!
That’s why we don’t recommend judging your signal by the number of bars your device is
showing. Instead,
use a speed test app
to measure your data rates indoors before and after
you install your GO X.
You can download our favorite speed test app ("Speedtest by Ookla") by visiting this URL:
Go ahead and download that speed test app now, and run a couple of speed tests indoors.
You’ll notice that your results will fluctuate a little between tests – that’s normal.
If your phone's connected to WiFi, the speed test will measure the speed of your WiFi
instead of your cellular connection.
Disable your phone’s WiFi
and run the test again.
A Quick Introduction to Cellular Signal
02
LTE
