A mobile network tower presumably uses tons of power to pump radio waves capable of reaching my phone, but how does my phone – with its comparably tiny power source – manage to send a response all the way back?

Question

A mobile network tower presumably uses tons of power to pump radio waves capable of reaching my phone, but how does my phone – with its comparably tiny power source – manage to send a response all the way back?

In: Technology

Answer 1

4G radios have a range of about 10 miles – 5G significantly less. Your phone has more than enough power to deal with this. 

Mobile phone masts need a lot of power because of the volume of signals they’re dealing with – not for range. They suffer the same limitations in that certain bandwidths fundamentally can only travel so far.