A link budget accounts for every gain and loss
Received power equals transmit power plus antenna gains minus path loss and other losses. Missing clutter, cable or penetration losses can make an estimate optimistic.
Fade margin protects against variation
A positive link margin above receiver sensitivity is not automatically sufficient. The required margin depends on reliability, environment and propagation variability.
Cellular networks are not simple point-to-point links
Antenna sectors, tilt, interference, scheduling, device transmit limits and serving-cell selection affect live performance beyond this downlink baseline.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good link margin?
There is no universal target. Planning commonly reserves a positive fade margin, but the correct value depends on service reliability and propagation conditions.
Does this calculator include building loss?
Only if you add it to total other losses. The free-space component excludes walls, terrain, foliage, polarization and implementation losses.
Can it predict 5G coverage?
It provides a transparent RF baseline. A real 5G prediction requires terrain, clutter, antenna patterns, network configuration and interference data.