# Signal Strength Ratio
**URL:** https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873
**Category:** PMP
**Created:** [February 10, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873 "2016-02-10T15:40:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Steph](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/u/Steph)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873/1 "2016-02-10T15:40:30Z")
Hi there,
Hope everyone is doing well.
I'm I correct in my thinking that when reading the Signal Strength Ratio , the differance between Vertical and horizontal should be as small as possible ?
-steph
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### Author:  [@Cambium\_Sri](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/u/Cambium_Sri)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873/2 "2016-02-10T17:30:01Z")
Hi,
Yes, In the absence of moderate to strong interference, they should be as small as possible. But in many cases, there can be a interferer on one of the pols leading to a difference in SNR.
A misalignment can also cause this. If the SM is on its side lobe for instance, this will result in a difference in Signal strength of each pol which in turn will result in difference in SNR. But the first indication of a misalignment will be the signal strength on the two polarizations.
Thnaks,
Sriram
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### Author:  [@Steph](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/u/Steph)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2016, 8:26am UTC](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873/3 "2016-02-11T08:26:32Z")
Ah thanks for the reply , makes more sense now :)
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### Author:  [@Ted\_Stewart](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/u/Ted_Stewart)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873/4 "2016-02-11T19:29:24Z")
I've found that it can be an indicator of reflections or multipath as well. If I get a large difference, then I keep aligning to see if I can bring it down without sacrificing overall signal strength. An 80/80 signal should be a more stable than a 78/82.
Ultimately, though, link capacity is king. If I have a really wide area of what appears to be good signal, I'll use link capacity to determine where the best spot really is.
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### Author:  [@George\_Skorup](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/u/George_Skorup)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t/signal-strength-ratio/43873/5 "2016-02-18T03:21:03Z")
I've also seen where (unnamed antenna manufacturer's) dual-pol omni pattern really sucks. Lots of nulls that lead to imbalanced SSR and in turn SNR, which then leads to MIMO-A operation.