RSRP, RSRQ and SINR

RSRP, RSRQ and SINR are the three measurements that describe an LTE or 5G radio link. RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) measures how strong the serving cell’s signal is; RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) measures how clean it is relative to everything else received; and SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio) measures how far the wanted signal rises above interference and noise.

What each metric measures

• RSRP is the average power of the cell’s reference signals, per resource element, in dBm. It drives cell selection and handover, and LTE devices report it over a range of −140 to −44 dBm (3GPP TS 36.133).
• RSRQ is N × RSRP / RSSI, where RSSI is the total power received across the N resource blocks measured. It falls as load and interference rise, and its base reporting range is −19.5 to −3 dB.
• SINR compares the reference signal with interference plus noise. It was not part of LTE’s original reported measurements, so values can differ between modem vendors, but it tracks achievable throughput most closely.

In 5G NR the equivalents are SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ and SS-SINR, measured on the synchronization signal block.

Rule-of-thumb ranges

3GPP defines how these values are measured, not what counts as “good”. Field engineers commonly use guidelines like these for LTE:

Quality	RSRP (dBm)	RSRQ (dB)	SINR (dB)
Excellent	above −80	above −10	above 20
Good	−80 to −90	−10 to −15	13 to 20
Fair	−90 to −100	−15 to −19	0 to 13
Poor	below −100	below −19	below 0

These are not pass/fail thresholds. NB-IoT and LTE-M use repetitions to work at much lower RSRP, so a “poor” value for a smartphone can be workable for a meter.

Reading them together

• Strong RSRP, poor SINR: plenty of signal but heavy interference, often from neighboring cells — common in dense urban areas.
• Weak RSRP, good SINR: a faint but clean signal, typical of rural coverage; throughput is limited but stable.
• RSRQ falling while RSRP holds steady: the cell is getting busier.

Why it matters for testing

A failed or slow test means little without the radio conditions it ran in. Capturing RSRP, RSRQ and SINR with every result separates coverage problems from network or subscription problems. SimCheck.ai’s Network Connection Test reports registration, operator, RAT, band, RSRP, RSRQ and SINR for every run — see quick tests.