Good Android cell tower location app

[InTheRough]

Is there a more accurate app than Netmonitor to locate the exact position of cell towers? Netmonitor can be off be hundreds of feet and makes it difficult to ID the towers used. Antennasearch.com has exact coords of towers, but going back and forth between the two and trying to figure out if the tower shown on Netmonitor is the one showing on Antennasearch is not working too well.

[S4GRU]

Is there a more accurate app than Netmonitor to locate the exact position of cell towers? Netmonitor can be off be hundreds of feet and makes it difficult to ID the towers used. Antennasearch.com has exact coords of towers, but going back and forth between the two and trying to figure out if the tower shown on Netmonitor is the one showing on Antennasearch is not working too well.

 

The problem with the NetMonitor app accuracy is not the app's fault. It's Sprint's fault. For whatever reason, some Sprint market sites do not provide accurate info to NetMonitor. However, in other markets its fine. Like here in New Mexico, NetMonitor is wonderfully accurate.

 

Sprint has no interest in fixing the issue, because they don't want you to know which site you're connected to. Some carriers even block the info. Have you checked out our site maps?

 

Robert

[InTheRough]

If the developer could compare the approximate coords of the Netmonitor located tower to the registered tower database, they could determine a likely match in most areas. Probably a lot of work though.

Yes, I have checked the site maps which are great, but I'm looking for something dynamic, easier to use on the phone.

[boomerbubba]

The problem with the NetMonitor app accuracy is not the app's fault. It's Sprint's fault. For whatever reason, some Sprint market sites do not provide accurate info to NetMonitor. However, in other markets its fine. Like here in New Mexico, NetMonitor is wonderfully accurate.

 

Sprint has no interest in fixing the issue, because they don't want you to know which site you're connected to. Some carriers even block the info. Have you checked out our site maps?

 

Robert

 

Just to amplify on Robert's response, Netmonitor and several other Android apps, such as CDMA Field Test, are getting the coordinates from the underlying Android API, which is just capturing the coordinates broadcast by Sprint's base station transmitters. Each tower typically has multiple directional sectors (usually three). Each sector has its own base station ID, and under the CDMA standard it squawks coordinates that are programmed in by the carrier.

 

There seem to be two distinct cases:

• All sector base stations on a given tower broadcast the same coordinates, which are the actual location of the tower.
  
• Each sector base station on a given tower broadcasts different coordinates for just that sector, forming a triangle apparently proportional to the shape of that cell's antenna pattern. Those coordinates may even be miles away from the tower site.
  

We don't know why this. (There is a fuller thread discussing this phenomenon in the Sponsors' forum, but this is a decent summary.)

[InTheRough]

Just to amplify on Robert's response, Netmonitor and several other Android apps, such as CDMA Field Test, are getting the coordinates from the underlying Android API, which is just capturing the coordinates broadcast by Sprint's base station transmitters. Each tower typically has multiple directional sectors (usually three). Each sector has its own base station ID, and under the CDMA standard it squawks coordinates that are programmed in by the carrier.

 

There seem to be two distinct cases:

• All sector base stations on a given tower broadcast the same coordinates, which are the actual location of the tower.
  
• Each sector base station on a given tower broadcasts different coordinates for just that sector, forming a triangle apparently proportional to the shape of that cell's antenna pattern. Those coordinates may even be miles away from the tower site.
  

We don't know why this. (There is a fuller thread discussing this phenomenon in the Sponsors' forum, but this is a decent summary.)

Thanks for the info, I will check out the thread. Link to the thread Boomer mentions: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1367-cdma-towers-that-squawk-the-wrong-coordinates/