Link budget estimation on companion device

A device, system, and method estimate a link budget on a companion device. The method is performed at a first device connecting to a second device over a first connection and a network over a second connection, the second device connecting to the network over a third connection. The method includes receiving initiating data from the second device based on radio conditions associated with the third connection. The method includes, when the first device disconnects from the second device and establishes the second connection, determining an initial network metric value based on the initiating data that is used to estimate radio conditions associated with the second connection. The method includes selecting a data exchange mode of the first device based on the initial network metric value which is used until a further network metric is determined by the first device.