Network Cell Info Manual 

Provided you have read the description of the Network Cell Info, as well as the FAQ inside the app (or at the bottom of this manual), you may find below some more details:

 

Gauge TabStart tab showing essential network signal strength and informationfor the serving as well as the neighbor cells.The top gauge "Serving Cell" provides the signal strength about thecell you are currently connected to. The other gauges "Neighbor #x" are the signal strengths of the neighbor cells you are most likely toswitch to, if you move or if the network judges so.

(1) App close, Network Settings, and App Settings buttons(2) Available tabs (functionalities)(3) Signal level, Wireless network type, and Network provider name(4) Data and Roaming on/off indications(5) Signal Strength Gauge and

Signal Strength and Quality "LCDs"(6) Serving cell identification details(7) Neighbor cell gauges(8) Tapping on individual gauge you can turn it off (CPU easing)

 

Plot tabThis tab shows the evolution of the signal strengths of serving and neighbor cells over time, allowing for better network quality exploration, especially when moving.

(1) Y-axis : Signal strength in dBm(2) X-axis : Time(3) Plot legends (colors) for Serving (S) and Neighbor (N#) Cells(4) Signal Strength plots over time(5) Wireless network type, and Network provider name(6) Serving cell details(7) Neighbor cell details in order

 

Stats tabThis tab gives essential information on the robustness and coverage of your network. For example you might have a 4G plan, but the network most of the time connects you to a 2G or 3G wireless network.

(1) Connection statistics on each of 2G, 3G or 4G technologies, when cellular data are ON or OFF, along with the counted number of samples.(2) Bar graph(3) Reset button to reset statistics counters(4) Checkboxes to control the bar graph.

Raw TabProvides all the information available about the Network Signal Strength in a nice UI.(1) App close, Network Settings, and App Settings buttons(2) Signal level, Wireless network type(3) Network country, provider name, roaming status, SIM state(4) Serving or Neighbor Cell type indication(5) Wireless network type(6) Number of neighbor cells (dynamic)(7) Neighbor cell info (1st)(8) Neighbor cell info (2nd), and so on(9) Empty fields: The empty fields are due to the Android,and/or the device manufacturer not providing these values

Map TabTab where measurements are done, and visual location and cell info is provided.

(1) App close, Network Settings, and App Settings buttons(2) Wireless network type, and Network provider name(3) Serving cell gauge along with cell info(4) Neighbor #1 cell gauge along with cell info(5) Current location Lat, Lon, with location accuracy in m(6) Number of measurements and cell locations, with distance and accuracy limits(7) Speed in km/h(8) Current location(9) Serving cell location (marker has relevant info)(a) Measurements taken (markers have also relevant info,and the connecting line is according to signal level)(b) Start/pause updates(c) Lock (unlock) the cursor in the center(d) Clear measurement markers and lines(e) Clear map completely(f) Save log files(g) Zoom in(h) Zoom out(i) Move cursor in the center

(1) Map settings button(2) Export database type (select one out of 5 options: CMWF v.1, MLS Geosubmit v.2, OpenCellID, CLF v.3, Legacy)(3) Set the minimum distance between consecutive measurements(4) Set the maximum location accuracy to get a measurement (if location accuracy is larger than this value then no measurementis taken)(5) Select map type: Normal, Satellite, Terrain, or Hybrid(6) Save Map settings to be used even if app is restarted(7) Reset Map settings to the default values

 

 

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

 

A. General Questions

 

Questions about neighbours

 

Q: What is the Network Cell Info support web page?

A: http://wilysis.com/networkcellinfo

 

Q: Why my device doesn't show neighbour signals? 

A: Some devices don't provide neighbour signals' information.

 

Q: Why I don't see LTE neighbour signals (I can see for other system)?

A: If the device's Android API is less than 17, then Android doesn't report LTE neighbour signals.

 

Q: In UMTS, the first neighbor cell shows higher signal strength, yet the phone doesn't switch to that cell.

A: Note, especially in UMTS, some phones have issues with neighbor signals (Android and/or manufacturer issue). Please have a look at the end of the support page: http://wilysis.com/networkcellinfo (Issues)

 

Q: Is Dual-SIM supported?

A: Not yet. If problems arise, please contact us. If you have a dual-SIM phone, it is recommended to remove SIM2 to get reliable results.

 

Questions about map/cell locations

 

Q: Are the Cell Locations real Tower locations?

No, the cell locations we get from MLS and show in the map as antennas, are not real tower locations, but roughly an indication of the cell locations (if no cell location is shown in the map, it means MLS has no data for your cell).

** MLS doesn't support CDMA any more.

 

Q: How can I contribute to the cell locations?

A: You may use Mozilla Stumbler app ( https://goo.gl/sysSNQ ) to update the MLS database in your area.

 

Q: I can see LTE (4G) cell locations, but not 2G (e.g. EDGE). Why?

A: It is possible that MLS doesn't have data on your area with 2G, in which case no cell locations will be shown. You could use the Mozilla Stumbler app with 2G connection to get some measurements on 2G in your area and send them to MLS. After you send the measurements, then in 2 days or earlier the cell locations should appear.

 

Q: In the Map tab all settings are ok, but I don't see any signal/updates.

A: In few devices, due to Android vendor bug, you may have to disable and enable again the "Location" (from top drop-down Android menu).

 

Q: Why this app shows different cell locations than others?

A: Only network providers have the exact tower locations. Each app uses a database to depict the cell locations, hence if two apps are using different databases they 'll show different locations. The cell locations of each database, are made using algorithms on measurements that their users provide. We use the MLS database (please see the app's description in the store).

 

Questions about logs

 

Q: Can I take the Log of the measurements as a file?

A: In the MAP tab after you turn ON the updates you can save a log file by pressing the checkmark button. You may select export database type, CMWF v.1, OpenCellID csv, CLF v.3 or the legacy one, by clicking in the Map/DB Settings icon.

 

Q: What is the CMWF v.1 measurements' database header (row entry)?

A: radiotype,radio,mcc, mnc,area, cellid, unit, lat,lon, signal,extra, acc,time, speed,bearing, alt,api,device

 

Q: What is the OpenCellID csv measurements' database header (row entry)?

A: mcc,mnc,lac,cellid, lat,lon, signal,measured_at, rating,speed, direction, act,ta, psc,tac,pci, sid,nid,bid (http://wiki.opencellid.org/wiki/API)

 

Q: What is the CLF v.3 measurements' database header (row entry)?

A: mcc+mnc;cellid;lac; rnc;lat; lon;ratio; data; rfu

 

Q: Where is the Log file saved?

A: It is saved under "\Network Cell Info" folder in your device

 

Q: Can I take the Log of the Cell Locations as a file?

A: In the MAP tab after you turn ON the updates you can save a cell locations' log file by pressing the checkmark button. The file is saved in the same folder as the measurements log file. You may select export database type, CMWF v.1, CLF v.3, OpenCellID csv, by clicking in the Map/DB Settings icon.

 

Other topics

 

Q: Can I take screenshot using this app?

A: Such feature is not developed in this app version. You may though use any screenshot app from the Play Store.

 

 

B. Acronyms:

 

Generic:

 

MCC: Mobile Country Code

MNC: Mobile Network Code

 

LTE (4G):

 

ECI: E-UTRAN Cell Identifier (28-bit)

eNB: eNodeB Identifier (20-bit)

LCID: Local Cell Identifier (8-bit)

TAC: Tracking Area Code (16-bit)

PCI: Physical Cell ID (0-503)

NID1: Network ID 1 (0-167)

NID2: Network ID 2 (0-2)

RSRP: Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ: Reference Signal Received Quality

 

WCDMA, HSPA, HSPA+ (3G, 3.5G):

 

UCID: UMTS Cell Identifier (28-bit)

CID: Cell Identifier (16-bit)

RNC: Controlling RNC/BSS Identifier (12-bit)

LAC: GSM Location Area (16-bit)

PSC: Primary Srambling Code of Cell

RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSCP: Received Signal Code Power

 

GSM, EDGE (2G, 3G):

 

CID: GSM Cell Identifier (for Base transceiver station (BTS) or sector of a BTS)

LAC: GSM Location Area (16-bit)

RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator

 

CDMA, EVDO (2G, 3G):

 

SID: System Identifier (15-bit)

NID: Network Identifier (16-bit)

BID: Base Station Identifier (16-bit)

BSLat: Base station latitude

BSLon: Base station longitude

RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator

 

 

C. Terms (Highly simplified)

 

Base Station (BS): Wireless Communications Station transmitting/receiving wireless signals to/from the Mobile Phones (Users).

Cell: A wide geographical area.

Sectors: Imagine a Base Station is in the center of a circle. Base Stations deploy directional antenna systems (not omni-directional like in old systems), therefore they divide the 360deg space (circle) into a number of Sectors (e.g N Sectors, covering 360/N degrees each), and they use a separate transceiver (transmitter/receiver, TRX) per Sector. 

Serving Cell: The single Sector which serves (i.e. is in connected mode with) a specific Mobile Phone (User) at a specific time instance.

Neighbour Cells: The Sectors that are neighbours to the Serving Cell at a specific time instance.