Free Space Path Loss
Simply put, Free Space Path Loss is the amount of dissipation of a radio signal, the further it gets from its point of transmission / origin.
Imagine blowing up a rubber balloon. As it expands, we say that the balloon gets "bigger" - the balloon's surface area grows - and the rubber of the balloon skin gets thinner.
Signal strength can be compared to your breath blowing the balloon, because a signal expands ("propagates") in three dimensions (up, down, sideways / 360 degrees around) through the air, as it is transmitted from its source. (Directional antennas are a slightly different story, which is not addressed here.)
Signal strength dissipates because the signal must spread over an ever-increasing imaginary "surface area", as it moves away from its source of transmission. The recipient receives less and less strength-of-signal depending on how far from the source of transmission they are located. (You can think of signal strength in the same way as how thin the skin of the balloon becomes as it gets bigger.)
To understand the effect of distance on signal strength, I recommend you view this graphic from my good friend, Francois Verges, on his website: Free Space Path Loss
The graphic is shown here, with a great explanation: https://semfionetworks.com/blog/free-space-path-loss-diagrams/
It is awesome, and explains Free Space Path Loss in a simple way.
Well, I was thinking, what would it be like for 6GHz* and also for 60GHz. And, while I am there, how about calculating for 1GHz (approximation of sub-1GHz) as well? So, I did some math.
Here are the calculations:**
A fillable copy of the calculation spreadsheet is available by emailing amy@nc-expert.com
Enjoy.
*Francois has updated his site for 6GHz as well.
**The reason I added a 7GHz line, is 6GHz actually goes from just below 6GHz to just above 7GHz. So, if you are using one of the higher channels, it is more applicable to 7GHz than 6GHz.
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