Any way to identify a small cell using Field Test mode on an iPhone?

[Brad The Beast]

I'm detecting new PCIs on my phone and I can't tell what they are or where they are exactly. Is there any information in Field Test mode that would indicate if a particular PCI is a small cell or mini macro?

[lilotimz]

A good rule of thumb is PCI > 400 is highly likely to be a small cell or mini macro of some type.

PCI > 480 is usually a femto cell class device like an Airave 3 or a Magic box. 

[RAvirani]

47 minutes ago, lilotimz said:

A good rule of thumb is PCI > 400 is highly likely to be a small cell or mini macro of some type.

PCI > 480 is usually a femto cell class device like an Airave 3 or a Magic box. 

We have lots of macros in Seattle with PCIs up to 440. 

[lilotimz]

38 minutes ago, RAvirani said:

We have lots of macros in Seattle with PCIs up to 440. 

Very true. I've noticed some in my market as well. Though generally speaking it's a good rule of thumb. 

[ingenium]

Does field test show the earfcn? That could be used as well.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[RAvirani]

7 minutes ago, ingenium said:

Does field test show the earfcn? That could be used as well.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Yes it does. I was going to suggest looking at that. 

[Flompholph]

So there is no more cell identity on the iphone anymore? That used to equal gci when converted.

[RAvirani]

40 minutes ago, Flompholph said:

So there is no more cell identity on the iphone anymore? That used to equal gci when converted.

There is. Oftentimes the fields just take a while to populate. 

[anthony.spina97]

10 hours ago, Flompholph said:

So there is no more cell identity on the iphone anymore? That used to equal gci when converted.

 

10 hours ago, RAvirani said:

There is. Oftentimes the fields just take a while to populate. 

Yup. On Intel devices it should be under LTE > Serving Cell Meas > phy_cell_id I believe.

 

-Anthony

[Brad The Beast]

earfcns I got are: 8109, 8109, 8775 and, 8109.  

[RAvirani]

1 hour ago, Brad The Beast said:

earfcns I got are: 8109, 8109, 8775 and, 8109.  

Not a small cell. That's likely a new macro. 8109 is a typical 5x5 L1900 A block carrier and 8775 is the 3x3 L800 carrier by the canadian border. 

[Brad The Beast]

11 minutes ago, RAvirani said:

Not a small cell. That's likely a new macro. 8109 is a typical 5x5 L1900 A block carrier and 8775 is the 3x3 L800 carrier by the canadian border. 

Quite curious as to where they could be. I know where one of them is but not the other three.

[belusnecropolis]

Find signal
drive until -75
Take pics
????
Profit

[Brad The Beast]

1 hour ago, belusnecropolis said:

Find signal
drive until -75
Take pics
????
Profit

I know where all the macros in town are. I have no idea where these new ones would be. It's a town of 50,000 so there's no high capacity sites. 

[belusnecropolis]

1 minute ago, Brad The Beast said:

I know where all the macros in town are. I have no idea where these new ones would be. It's a town of 50,000 so there's no high capacity sites. 

Sorry until signal RSRP reads -75 dBm, not speeds, if that was what you were after.