Maximum BLE Range on nRF51822 Beacon Kit

[Sarah]

Hi,

I'm trying to see what the communication range would be for different transmission powers. I set the transmission power to 0 dBm, and observe that I can still receive signal from the beacon even at a distance of more than 100 meters indoor (I have line of sight to the beacon though). If I lower the transmission power, I believe the range is going to be even more than that. According to this post (which is what I was expecting too), the range is about 10m indoors and 50m outdoors. I'm a bit dazzled about why I can still hear the beacon from so far, even with a high transmission power like 0 dBm. Is this in line with the BLE protocol itself? Any help and pointers would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Dave_couling]

RF Range is quite a doozy to estimate. Even with +4dB, certain indoor enviroments can reduce the range to 20ft. Range will depend on the Antenna of both TX and RX side, any obstacle that is inline, scatter interference, Wifi interference, proximity to human body, what kind of surface the RX and TX sides are one. Generally 100m is your max best cast. 20m is a more realistic reliable range.