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Can I locate the LTE tower I am connected to?

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jamisonshaw125 Member Level: LTE Advanced

jamisonshaw125

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Recently I started getting a 4G LTE Signal on my LG G2 and I want to find out where the tower that is serving me is located.

 

Am I able to find the location of the LTE tower from my signal data? If so, how?

 

Thank you.

Well, for one you could throw a few dollars in and donate to become a sponsor   :) . This gives you access to nv sites completed maps for the entire country. From there you can actually pinpoint which towers around you have been accepted. I am not sure as to apps on android for that. I know iPhone doesn't have any. 

 

It's sponsors who keep the website alive. Without everyones contributions, this site couldn't exist.  :tu:

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bmoses Member Level: 4G LTE

bmoses

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Recently I started getting a 4G LTE Signal on my LG G2 and I want to find out where the tower that is serving me is located.

 

Am I able to find the location of the LTE tower from my signal data? If so, how?

 

Thank you.

 

no, there is no way for your phone, or an app, to tell you where the LTE signal is coming from. however there is a way you could find out. if you become a sponsor you can see where all the LTE accepted sites are and try and track it down from there. also if the market you are in is tracking the updates on their own they will record PCI and GCI numbers from the LTE sites, with that info then you can tell where your signal is coming from based on the info your phone is giving you.

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uh60james Member Level: 1x Advanced

uh60james

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That's the location of the voice connection, not data.

Which unless you are in a Spark market or connected to 800 voice should still be accurate most of the time for the data site.

 

Edit: Or if you have tight tower spacing I suppose but that is definitely not an issue where I am.

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clbowens Member Level: 4G WiMax

clbowens

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Which unless you are in a Spark market or connected to 800 voice should still be accurate most of the time for the data site.

Maybe if you're in a market where LTE is widely available.  I know that sometimes while driving, I'll pick up a LTE signal from a site (I know where that site is from the sponsor map) but the voice connection will say it's connected to a closer site.

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uh60james Member Level: 1x Advanced

uh60james

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Maybe if you're in a market where LTE is widely available.  I know that sometimes while driving, I'll pick up a LTE signal from a site (I know where that site is from the sponsor map) but the voice connection will say it's connected to a closer site.

 

I haven't experienced that myself, in my experience LTE will drop sooner than voice and reconnect after switching to voice on another site.  Could be an issue of terrain and obstacles here.  I suppose your results will vary on many factors if you are trying to find a 4G site with Signal Check Pro, what works for some may not work for others.

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mikejeep Member Level: LTE Advanced

mikejeep

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Which unless you are in a Spark market or connected to 800 voice should still be accurate most of the time for the data site.

 

Edit: Or if you have tight tower spacing I suppose but that is definitely not an issue where I am.

It's more like that will only work if you are in a rural area with very sparse coverage; in a majority of markets, there is always a possibility of connecting to multiple sites at the same time, depending on the capability of your device. You can be connected to Site A for 1X (voice) and Site B for EV-DO (data), and they could be a few miles away in opposite directions. Site C could have LTE and jump in the mix as well, and be in a different direction.

 

Only CDMA 1X sites broadcast a location. It's part of the protocol. There is no comparable provision in any other mobile technology (including EV-DO, eHRPD, LTE, or any of the WCDMA flavors). Unless you have a network map like others have referred to in the sponsor areas here, the only way to find sites is to seek them out. Drive around and follow the signals until they lead you to a site, make a note of it, and drive around some more. If you see better than -80 dB RSRP, you are very close to an LTE site. Sensorly.com can give you a rough idea of where the strongest signals may be, but that also depends on users mapping out that data.

 

-Mike

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bmoses Member Level: 4G LTE

bmoses

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Just a note about the address Signal Check Pro reports. 

 

It's not the location of the tower itself, but of an address away from the tower in the direction the radio you're connected to is pointed.

 

 

this is true and false. it depends on if you are connected to legacy, or NV and if NV what OEM your market has. legacy in my area broadcast offset coordinates but now that the towers are running NV, which is Samsung in my area, all the towers are broadcasting their exact locations (on the voice side only, just to be clear).

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JONBOY345 Member Level: 1x Advanced

JONBOY345

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this is true and false. it depends on if you are connected to legacy, or NV and if NV what OEM your market has. legacy in my area broadcast offset coordinates but now that the towers are running NV, which is Samsung in my area, all the towers are broadcasting their exact locations (on the voice side only, just to be clear).

Didn't realize this. Here in Ac-Lu I'm not getting an exact address, new or old equipment. :/

 

Assumed it was the same everywhere. Thanks for keeping me straight. Learned something new today.

 

Sent from my Rooted HTC ONE running ViperOne 3.5.

 

 

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mikejeep Member Level: LTE Advanced

mikejeep

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this is true and false. it depends on if you are connected to legacy, or NV and if NV what OEM your market has. legacy in my area broadcast offset coordinates but now that the towers are running NV, which is Samsung in my area, all the towers are broadcasting their exact locations (on the voice side only, just to be clear).

 

It definitely varies by market, but I haven't seen any evidence pointing to a consistent pattern where you can positively say that one vendor's sites do or do not broadcast offset coordinates, regardless of NV status. If there is a pattern, it is more market- or contactor-specific. There are certainly many examples likes yours though, where the exact locations have started broadcasting once the NV equipment went online. I've wondered if this was intentional or not, but it certainly makes things a bit easier for those who go tower hunting.

 

-Mike

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