Leases - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2020 USD ($) ft²	Jan. 31, 2019 ft²	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Leases [Line Items]
Right of Use Asset | $			$ 2,317	$ 2,696	$ 2,100
Rent abatement duration			14 months
Lease description	In July 2020, the Company signed a one-year lease renewal for its engineering design center in Beijing, China.  Under the new lease, the square footage was reduced from 11,210 square feet to 5,393 square feet. The lease period ends on June 14, 2021	In January 2019, the Company entered into an eleven-year lease ending February 28, 2031 for 21,030 square feet of office space in Clarksburg, Maryland for the Company’s test & measurement product line. The Company moved the operations for its test & measurement product line from its Germantown, Maryland office to the new office in January 2020.	On March 5, 2020, PCTEL (Tianjin) Wireless Telecommunications Products, Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“PCTEL Tianjin”), entered into a letter agreement with Wang Zhuang Village Committee of Tianjin, China (the “Letter Agreement”) specifying the terms for extension of the lease of the premises on which PCTEL Tianjin currently conducts its manufacturing activities in Tianjin, China (the “Tianjin Lease”) to October 2022. The Letter Agreement did not, however, effect the lease extension. The Tianjin Lease expired on October 8, 2020 without extension.  On October 16, 2020, the Wang Zhuang Village Committee issued a notice informing PCTEL Tianjin that the Chinese Party Central Committee and the State Council are accelerating the layout optimization and transformation of the industrial park in which the leased premises is located, and accordingly leases and lease extensions for all premises in the industrial park have been suspended and rent collection has been postponed. The letter indicates that if the Tianjin Lease extension is subsequently approved, the rent for the period from October 9, 2020 to the date of the Tianjin Lease extension (the “Intervening Period”) will then be due and payable.  If the Tianjin Lease extension is not approved, PCTEL Tianjin will need to vacate the premises and no rent will be due for the Intervening Period.  PCTEL Tianjin has not received an indication of the likelihood of approval of the Tianjin Lease extension, the length of the Intervening Period or the notice period for vacating the leased premises; provided, however, based upon past practices and verbal assurances, the Company believes that PCTEL Tianjin will have not less than 30 days to vacate the leased premises if the Lease Extension is not approved.  See risk factors in Section IA for additional information on the Tianjin lease.
Total lease obligation | $	$ 100
Test & Measurement Product Line [Member]
Leases [Line Items]
Operating lease term of contract		11 years
Area of lease | ft²		21,030
Tenant improvement incentives in form of cash reimbursements | $			$ 1,500
Lease expiration date		Feb. 28, 2031
Beijing Design Center [Member]
Leases [Line Items]
Operating lease term of contract	1 year
Area of lease | ft²	11,210
Lease expiration date	Jun. 14, 2021
Area of land reduced by square footage under new lease | ft²	5,393