Bluetooth Communications and Signal Strength

Having good Bluetooth signal strength between a COMPUSHIFT controller and your device.

In the CS Setup app, there is a switch called "Show Signal Strength In dB" in the "Settings" menu.  When on, it will show relative signal strength indication (RSSI) values in addition to the bar chart.  This gives greater fidelity when comparing / assessing signal strength of radio signals, in this case, Bluetooth, though RSSI is used for WIFI and cellular signals also.

RSSI  is measured in decibels  (dB) starting at 0 (meaning the most signal possible) and going more negative as the signal strength decreases.   You might think of it as the reverse of a volume control in this regard, in that 0 is full volume with numbers decreasing from there.  

A general guide might be as follows:

•  A very strong connection is between -30 to -55.   

•  A good connection starts from -55 to -67.

•  A poor connection starts from -80 to -90.

• An unusable connection starts from -90 and below.

Note that you will rarely see the an RSSI of -30 unless you are very near (touching) the transmitter 

The bar chart signal strength indicator is more or less based on that list, though the exact numbers can vary.