Troubleshooting workflow
Cell Site RF Troubleshooting Guide
Use measurements, physical checks and configuration context to narrow a fault without treating one KPI as proof.
Symptom → measurement → check
For degraded coverage or quality, compare the affected sector with a baseline, identify whether the symptom is geographic or cell-specific, then verify the feeder, connectors, antenna configuration and interference context.
Feeder and antenna checks
Calculate VSWR and return loss to understand matching measurements. A result must be correlated with sweep setup, frequency, cable data and physical inspection. Read the feeder troubleshooting guide before drawing conclusions about water ingress or connectors.
Don’t change yet
Do not change RET, tilt, azimuth or power solely from a single quality trace. Validate azimuth with the GSM Azimuth Checker, assess geometry with the downtilt calculator and account for link margin with the link budget calculator.