A signal strength compensation unit for mobile radio receivers is connected upstream of the channel estimator and the channel equalizer and compensates for, in particular, the great, brief signal strength fluctuations within a data burst. Likewise, a method for signal strength compensation compensates for brief signal strength fluctuations within the data burst. To these ends, a signal strength average is determined from the signal strengths for the previously received data symbols. The current signal is then aligned with this signal strength average. The inventive signal strength compensation allows the bit error rate during data equalization to be significantly reduced.