Why does a cell tower need to be massive to transmit data to a smartphone but the phone’s extremely small antenna can transmit data back over the same distance?
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A lot of people have mentioned that having a large cell tower allows for smaller phone antennas, but one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is that cell towers also need to include equipment for separating and routing a large volume of individual signals.
Edit more in keeping with eli5: A phone only has to process a handful of signals at a time, a cell tower has to handle thousands, and needs special equipment to do that.
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