diff --git a/src/trx-server/trx-backend/trx-backend-soapysdr/src/dsp/channel.rs b/src/trx-server/trx-backend/trx-backend-soapysdr/src/dsp/channel.rs
index fd23fedc..af41daa2 100644
--- a/src/trx-server/trx-backend/trx-backend-soapysdr/src/dsp/channel.rs
+++ b/src/trx-server/trx-backend/trx-backend-soapysdr/src/dsp/channel.rs
@@ -837,12 +837,6 @@ impl ChannelDsp {
             }
         }
 
-        let signal_power = decimated
-            .iter()
-            .map(|s| s.re * s.re + s.im * s.im)
-            .sum::<f32>()
-            / decimated.len() as f32;
-        let signal_db = 10.0 * signal_power.max(1e-12).log10();
         const WFM_OUTPUT_GAIN: f32 = 0.50;
         let mut audio = if let Some(decoder) = self.wfm_decoder.as_mut() {
             let mut out = decoder.process_iq(decimated);
@@ -884,7 +878,14 @@ impl ChannelDsp {
                 raw
             }
         };
-        if !self.squelch.update(&self.mode, signal_db) {
+        // Against the meter reading, not the block level after the IQ AGC.
+        // The threshold arrives in the scale the operator sets it from — the
+        // S-meter and the spectrum — while the level measured here had been
+        // through the AGC, whose whole job is to hold it at a setpoint. For
+        // every mode that has one (FM, PKT, AIS, AM, SAM) the squelch was
+        // therefore comparing against a near-constant, and for the rest it was
+        // still off by the decimation correction the meter applies.
+        if !self.squelch.update(&self.mode, self.last_signal_db) {
             audio.fill(0.0);
         }
 
@@ -933,6 +934,93 @@ mod tests {
         dsp.process_block(&block);
     }
 
+    /// Feeds one signal twice, with the squelch threshold set from the channel's
+    /// own meter reading: 6 dB above it must gate the audio, 6 dB below it must
+    /// pass. FM runs an IQ AGC, so a squelch measured after that stage compares
+    /// against a level pinned near the AGC setpoint — some 20 dB adrift of the
+    /// scale the operator reads the threshold off, and open on plain noise.
+    #[test]
+    fn squelch_follows_the_meter_the_threshold_is_set_from() {
+        const AMPLITUDE: f32 = 0.0025;
+
+        let (pcm_tx, mut pcm_rx) = broadcast::channel::<Vec<f32>>(4096);
+        let (iq_tx, _iq_rx) = broadcast::channel::<Vec<Complex<f32>>>(8);
+        let mut dsp = ChannelDsp::new(
+            0.0,
+            &RigMode::FM,
+            48_000,
+            8_000,
+            1,
+            20,
+            12_000,
+            75,
+            true,
+            false,
+            VirtualSquelchConfig::default(),
+            NoiseBlankerConfig::default(),
+            pcm_tx,
+            iq_tx,
+        );
+
+        // A 1 kHz tone on the carrier, so an open gate is audibly non-zero and
+        // a closed one is unambiguously silent.
+        let mut phase = 0.0_f32;
+        let mut mod_phase = 0.0_f32;
+        let mut feed = |dsp: &mut ChannelDsp, blocks: usize| {
+            for _ in 0..blocks {
+                let mut block = Vec::with_capacity(4096);
+                for _ in 0..4096 {
+                    mod_phase += std::f32::consts::TAU * 1_000.0 / 48_000.0;
+                    phase += std::f32::consts::TAU * (3_000.0 * mod_phase.sin()) / 48_000.0;
+                    block.push(Complex::new(
+                        AMPLITUDE * phase.cos(),
+                        AMPLITUDE * phase.sin(),
+                    ));
+                }
+                dsp.process_block(&block);
+            }
+        };
+        let drain = |rx: &mut broadcast::Receiver<Vec<f32>>| {
+            let mut audio = Vec::new();
+            while let Ok(frame) = rx.try_recv() {
+                audio.extend_from_slice(&frame);
+            }
+            audio
+        };
+        let peak = |audio: &[f32]| audio.iter().fold(0.0_f32, |acc, s| acc.max(s.abs()));
+
+        // Settle the meter on this signal, then read what the operator would.
+        feed(&mut dsp, 24);
+        let meter_db = dsp.signal_db();
+        assert!(
+            meter_db > -120.0,
+            "the meter never moved off its floor ({meter_db} dB)"
+        );
+
+        dsp.set_squelch(true, meter_db + 6.0);
+        let _ = drain(&mut pcm_rx);
+        feed(&mut dsp, 24);
+        let gated = drain(&mut pcm_rx);
+        assert!(!gated.is_empty(), "no audio frames were produced at all");
+        // From the second half on: the first frame out still carries the audio
+        // that was already buffered when the threshold changed.
+        assert_eq!(
+            peak(&gated[gated.len() / 2..]),
+            0.0,
+            "squelch set 6 dB above the meter ({meter_db} dB) still passed audio"
+        );
+
+        dsp.set_squelch(true, meter_db - 6.0);
+        let _ = drain(&mut pcm_rx);
+        feed(&mut dsp, 24);
+        let passed = drain(&mut pcm_rx);
+        assert!(!passed.is_empty(), "no audio frames were produced at all");
+        assert!(
+            peak(&passed[passed.len() / 2..]) > 0.0,
+            "squelch set 6 dB below the meter ({meter_db} dB) gated the audio"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn channel_dsp_set_mode() {
         let (pcm_tx, _) = broadcast::channel::<Vec<f32>>(8);