What is the Range of a Single Cell Site?
Many people have looked at my maps and wondered how far a single site is able to operate. The answer to this question is more complex than I suspect they were imagining. However, the short answer is “it depends”. In an area where there are many sites, the range of a single one is usually limited by the distance to the next. Providers don’t want too much overlap between sites, otherwise they will suffer from high levels of interference. This is rather like the age-old question “how long should a man’s leg be?” The answer is simple: it should be long enough to reach from his body to the floor. In a similar way, the range of a cell site should be great enough to extend to the area covered by the next site. When sites are closely-spaced, the range of a site is short. When sites are far a field, the range of a site is rather long. That brings us to the obvious question: what is the maximum range of a site? This too will vary upon circumstances, such as the height of the site, the terrain su
