Strong Signal, Slow Data: Explaining the Throughput Paradox of a 4G LTENetwork in a Vegetated Highland Tourist Area

Abstract

Users commonly equate a full signal-strength indicator with fast internet, yet the two are governed by different physical mechanisms and can diverge sharply. This study documents and explains that divergence, the throughput paradox, in the 4G LTE network at Cimory Dairyland, a hillside tourist area in Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi, using a walk test conducted with Tems Pocket and Nemo Handy and analysed against RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, RSSI, and throughput. The measurements show that received signal strength was uniformly excellent, with RSSI above the strong-signal threshold across 82.14 to 100 per cent of the routes, while the useful reference signal was weak, with up to 80.34 per cent of the Telkomsel route in the poor RSRP classes and SINR confined to the moderate band for both operators. Downlink throughput consequently varied, reaching 61.18 to more than 74 per cent of area above the high-speed threshold but leaving substantial low-speed pockets. The novelty of this study is a mechanistic explanation of the paradox: because throughput is governed by signal quality (SINR and RSRQ) rather than by aggregate received power (RSSI), a strong signal indicator can coexist with slow data whenever the wanted signal is attenuated relative to interference and noise, a condition produced here by terrain and vegetation