View source for EC/IO

The '''EC/IO''' is a measure of the quality/cleanliness of the signal from the tower to the modem and indicates the signal-to noise ratio (the ratio of the received/good energy to the interference/bad energy). It is measured in decibels (dB). In a perfect world, where there is no true interference, the interference level is equal to the noise level resulting in an EC/IO = 0 dB. Once the EC/IO is above ~ -7.0 dB, your connection is going to suffer.

There are several factors that can contribute to a higher EC/IO value, including florescent lighting, electric motors, equipment, power supplies, bad/poor cabling, trees, hills, buildings, walls, shorted connectors, inaccurate antenna alignment, wrong antenna polarization, congestion at the tower, etc.

More information on EC/IO values can be found in the [[Mobile Signal Strength Recommendations#3G_.28WCDMA.2C_TDSCDMA.2C_CDMA.2C_EVDO.2C_CDMA-EVDO.29|3G]] section of the [[Mobile Signal Strength Recommendations]] page.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ style="text-align: left;" | EC/IO
! style="width: 200px; background: black; color: white;" | EC/IO
! style="width: 200px; background: black; color: white;" | Signal quality
! style="width: 950px; background: black; color: white;" | Description
|-
! style="text-align: left; background: #6ACE61;" | 0 to -6 
| style="text-align: left; background: #6ACE61;" | '''Excellent''' 
| style="text-align: left; background: #6ACE61;" | Strong signal with maximum data speeds
|-
! style="text-align: left; background: #FBFB43;" | -7 to -10
| style="text-align: left; background: #FBFB43;" | '''Good''' 
| style="text-align: left; background: #FBFB43;" | Strong signal with good data speeds
|-
! style="text-align: left; background: #EC031D;" | -11 to -20
| style="text-align: left; background: #EC031D;" | '''Fair to poor'''
| style="text-align: left; background: #EC031D;" | Reliable data speeds may be attained, but marginal data with drop-outs is possible. When this value gets close to -20, performance will drop drastically
|-
|}