Related
Hi,
I need to read CellID and RxLev by my program. I have no idea how to do this. Could anyone to help me? Thanks
Unfortunately it's not been implemented by HTC, so the simple answer is no. You could try and use the SMS system directly through RIL, although because Cell based positioning is quite a hot topic and nobody has yet done it, I'd guess it't not possible.
Anybody know if XDAII has a working API for this?
Just use tracelogger, pwd is htc, choose MMI + Event then run the tracelogviewer provided by the XDA developers site you'll get your CID and rx Level
andyclap said:
Unfortunately it's not been implemented by HTC, so the simple answer is no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is I would guess why RIL_GetCellTowerInfo always returns 0x80004001, which I belive means not implemented. (XDA I) But I might be using the wrong call... ??
If this information is available on the XDA II, then there must be programmatically a way through RIL, so either I am using the wrong call, or RIL has been fixed, or something else I haven't thought of... Any ideas?
Ben.
Yeah, it would be great if the XDAII supported this (Cell based min-GPS!), so does anybody know for definite the scope of the new RIL on the XDAII?
andyclap said:
Cell based min-GPS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You read my mind!
I think this might be why this information is so hard to find. This data, once calibrated (which using, say, TomTom, would not be hard) is a considerable asset, to which the various phone companies are trying to protect. Which sounds like a challange to me...
Ben
Yeah - O2 at least are marketing this info as a developer program, with a lookup charge "from 5p per lookup". What a bargain, considering the device already has the information (though it really applies to mobile phones that don't have SDK access).
Don't they realise that if they helped us create an app for them to do this and, say, link to multimap.com, it'd be a killer app and they'd sell hundreds more XDAs.
Good idea. They would get the GPRS service charge for the multimap lookup as well. Although I think the cell id is too course. But some part of the phone knows far more accuratelly where it is, so that it knows when to change cell. Although this is not yet an area I know much about.
I belive, if you jump through enough hoops, O2 gives grants for programms which enhance the XDA, there's a project for somebody.... If anybody can work out how to get the s***ding cell id out of the XDA
ben
Yeah - O2 at least are marketing this info as a developer program, with a lookup charge "from 5p per lookup". What a bargain, considering the device already has the information (though it really applies to mobile phones that don't have SDK access).
Don't they realise that if they helped us create an app for them to do this and, say, link to multimap.com, it'd be a killer app and they'd sell hundreds more XDAs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The idea of the Location APi is not as good as what we want. The idea is that an office queries O2 servers for the cell location of the target unit, for which they charge the office (end-user). O2 are looking for software solutions that draw on this to provide added content so that some poor sap carries on paying 5p a hit to get back the rough cell based location of a unit. Bloody expensive as a tracker or SatNav. Might as well just stick a GPS unit on the back & send that data back via GPRS - cheaper!
O2 actually have a website with the info on their cell sites on it BUT they have 8500 of them at least, so getting all that info out is a hard task.
Site is Here
We need to crack getting Cell ID, Signal Strength, Nearest Other Towers, Nearest OT Signal Strength + I daresay a few more before applying that to a database, after which we could probably have a device that told us our position to within 100m, which we could then send back via GPRS, thus not allowing the network to charge 5p a hit.
That's why the Cell Location database is not available - they stand to make/lose too much revenue.
Wonder how much the database is worth?
It wouldn't be too difficult to scrape the site - while it gives no true positional information, it can return a list of cell towers within a radius (upto 5km ish) of a known tower, with their distance: we could triangulate three sets of this information to get the real locations of towers. Once these locations are known, we can recursively triangulate from them to eventually get all the data for the UK at least.
But, the main thing to do, as you say, is to find a programmatic way of getting the current cellId, signal strength, and preferably as much information about other local towers too to further refine the result.
Hmmm, just thought - as the XDA developers here are "jolly nice and clever people", they have supplied the source to tracelogview. It wouldn't be too difficult to modify this to scan for tower information messages and do the appropriate things. It just means that the users have to enable tracelog manually, though perhaps we could send some keyboard messages to start it up and enter the password. It's hacky, but it just might work!
Might have a go at this tomorrow!
Overview of Location APi as offered by O2 - taken from Source02 website
The first of our APIs to be delivered is the Location API which has been developed by our partner Redknee.
The service enables you to create and sell innovative new applications and services based on a mobile phone user's location.
The O2 service is charged from 5p a lookup and provides the longitude and latitude co-ordinates of the centre of the cell site sector the phone is located within. Cell sites are typically split into three sectors and range in size from several hundred metres in urban areas up to 15 kilometres in more remote regions.
Third parties are able to develop location-enabled applications utilising real time location data from the O2 UK network. Application owners will have the opportunity to validate their applications in a test environment prior to connecting to the live O2 UK network. Location information will only be passed to third parties who have a contract with O2 and have the consent of the end user to determine his/her location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may be wrong, but...
I belive the telco and the phone have a different idea of where the device is, as they plot the position of the device using different mechanisms and for different uses. They use this when they have to contact a phone to send an incomming call. This application is making use of the telco's permanent database of the location of all their devices. This is easy money for the telco.
We do not have access to this data, and the positional information we can get will be in a different format, accept for the Cell ID. We will have to infer the position of the XDA from RIL, TAPI, AT, using the data listed in previous postings. As was suggested, getting an idea of the strength of local transmitters, and calculating a position. Which in it's self may be a real challange, as there is not likelly to be a linear relationship between the strength of the transmitter and the distance to it.
It may be likelly that the cell size (~200m, -> ~15km) is the nearest we'll ever get. I note that people in Dover very often get routed through transmitters in France due to the cliffs on the coast of England. In this case, any meaningful positional data is getting more unlikelly.
PS, can any kind person with an XDAII tell me whether the RILL call:
HRESULT RIL_GetCellTowerInfo(HRIL hRil);
Returns something other than 80004001?
Ben
PS, can any kind person with an XDAII tell me whether the RILL call:
HRESULT RIL_GetCellTowerInfo(HRIL hRil);
Returns something other than 80004001?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunatelly this still returns '80004001 Unsupported' on XDA II.
But the RIL_GetSignalQuality does return valid data when connected to GPRS, unlike XDA I, so some things are getting better...
Ben
Hi all,
i just saw a programm that uses the cell ID and convert this one °, but it just works with received data from any handy via Irda or cable.
So if u want to take a look visit (german site):
http://www.wolfgang-back.com/navigauss.php
That works but it would be the first way, to use the XDA cellID instead of external data...perhaps any idea on this?
With greetings from germany
Harry
Cell ID
Guys u can get the cell id using java.
The cell ID is memorized in the sim card and the mobile phone compares always whether the CID he is receiving from the signal, is the same one memorized in the sim card.
If yes the mobile does nothing. If not the mobile phone updates the CID in the sim card. this is done almost every 5 seconds.
Now we need the API !!! and maybe the AID of the sim applet. :roll:
Once more,
could the following be a walkable way?:
1. cell-Id could be shown (tracelog and traceview says how)
2. If that is fact, then it is with calculating gauss-to- longitude/latidude (visit www.nobbi.com) makable to view the actually position.
3. The last step it would be, to bring Information like longitude/latidude in ° to the standard gps-format (it is known or free i think) and send it via comm1 to all navigation-software.
4. So if this all is nonsens tell me because i am not really a programmer ( my code would be as fine as my english is :-((
bye Harry
Hiwi said:
1. cell-Id could be shown (tracelog and traceview says how)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right, but cell id says nothing about position.
2. If that is fact, then it is with calculating gauss-to- longitude/latidude (visit www.nobbi.com) makable to view the actually position.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see comment 1. Only O2 Germany transmits GK/coordinates over Cell Broadcast....
3. The last step it would be, to bring Information like longitude/latidude in ° to the standard gps-format (it is known or free i think) and send it via comm1 to all navigation-software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If 1. and 2. would be possible this is still a problem since most (all) GPS-Software only accept input from COM-Port (you have to emulate a COM-Port ... not trivial)
4. So if this all is nonsens tell me because i am not really a programmer ( my code would be as fine as my english is :-((
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:wink:
John
Having written a DLL to get the CellID from the XDA, and then comparing the result with the O2 cell tower map info as described by 'Puff the Magic Wagon' on Nov 4, I find there is a discrepancy of 10000
e.g. in a clients office in Blackburn
Cell ID returned = 3AAF( Hex) = 15023 (Dec)
From www.webmap.o2.co.uk Higher Audley Cell = 5023
This seems to be the case for all cells I have tried.
There also seems to be some Cell ID's which I cannot reconcile with the o2 map results.
mjgermain
The problem you've encountered arrises from the fact that there are more than 9999 CSR (Cell Site References) that are registered with the RA.
O2 identify cells in the following way.
AXXXX
Where A = the direction the transmitter is facing (directional transmitters)
(roughly)
1=North
2=South East
3=West
then 4, 5, 6 & sometimes 7, 8, 9 depending on how many transmitters on the aerial - always in 3s
So in your example 1XXXX, the transmitter is facing north (so should be to the south of you) but depending on that aerial (yours only has 3)
We then get to the XXXX
I believe that CSRs are allocated by the government and are a 5 figure number. Therefore CSRs upto 9999 are able to be placed quite simply.
15023 is correct.
However, what happens when transmitter number 10001 comes along? According to O2 numbering system, that 0001 number is already allocated. So they have to use another method of identifying cells.
Somewhere else in the country there might be transmitter that IDs as 15023 :shock: :?
So having a database of CellIDs and transmitter numbers is not all that is needed, the additional "identifier" is required and together that gives the CSR which has a lat/long applied to it.
The identifier is the LAC or Local Area Code
So AXXXX + LAC = CSR
There are still a few anomolies in this as well it would seem. Fill-in transmitters and "private" or "mini" transmitters the likely cause.
I had access to the O2 CellID db when I was last working & we were able to create a basic Cell tracking system, but the company went titsup.com before we were able to factor in LAC and signal strength etc.
Does your program work on XDA2?
My TyTN arrived on 8/9. I have a 2GB microSD card.
General
It's serial number is HT628.
The kbd backlight timeout on this device is 30 seconds . This one only has a detent on the right side. The caps lock mode is different: you now have to hit <alt>CAPS to lock caps mode. In fact, this is graphically displayed by showing the "Caps" function in blue on the Shift key. Doing another <alt>CAPS disables. Locking Alt mode still requires a double press on the blue dot key, but now its disabled by pressing the blue dot again once.
I have not tested UMTS since its not available in my area yet.
Processor Speed-wise, it feels about the same as my 8125 overclocked to 240mhz
I set up exchange direct push with no problems. Vibrate on new mail alert works just fine when the device is in powersave mode.
I have not been successful at enabling the Edge Icon using the known reghack. I also tried installing the Cingular EdgeIconEnable cab from the extrom and this had no effect either. However, speed comparisons between the TyTN and my 8125 produced startling results. Using www.2wire.com, my 8125 turned in 50-70 KB/sec. The TyTN never dropped below 100KB/sec in 5 successive tests. In fact, one test ran 294KB/sec :shock: I didn't think edge ran that fast.... Nevertheless, the Edge issue is icon only. The performance of this device on Edge networks is better than my wizard by about 2X.
WiFi connects well and switches smoothly from GPRS.
Bluetooth
This device set up perfectly with my BMW bluetooth handsfree system. All contacts were downloaded correctly and connect time is very fast
This device set up perfectly with my ThinkOutside bluetooth keyboard. I used the latest kbd driver available on think outside's website. However, if my TyTN is in landscape mode and it enters powersave mode, portrait mode is re-selected when I exit powersave mode. This is a bit of a PITA if I've got the TyTN on the keyboard stand....
A2DP
I'm testing with the HP iPAQ Bluetooth stereo headphones, also sold by Logitech. This device was one of the best of all devices tested on the HTC Wizard btw.
Where do I start.... My current impression is: not ready for prime time. I'm thinking of installing the A2DP cab from the Torando hack as it loads different versions that may have a positive effect on functionality.
I applied all the reghacks suggested and still get breakups.
A2DP stops working if you place the TyTN in powersave mode by tapping the power button
After playing for a while, I actually lose my ability to use the digizer. Taps aren't recognized. Fixing this is touch and go without resetting. I am generally able to go into powersave mode then return. However, the audio stream becomes so distorted when I do this that I have to kill TCPMP then shut off/turn on my headset again.... Major PITA!
WMP doesn't even recognize the headset and still plays through the speakers. It will completely lock up my TyTN if I pair my headset while its playing music.
Everything eventually slows to a crawl when A2DP is active. Something is using up more and more of the processor and this may have some bearing on the breakup issue because interestingly, when you first start using A2DP, everything is fine; it just degrades slowly over time and eventually even trashes the digitizer.
edit: I installed the dll's and associated cert from the Tornado A2DP project and these had no impact on performance. In fact they may have made performance a little worse. I also tweaked the registry settings to match the Tornado project and these had no effect either. What seems to have worked the best so far is tweaking the Priority256 settings of the bluetooth and WAVE processes to lower values (somewhat counter intuitive). More on this later if I find these settings are significant to a successful tweak. My gut feeling is that they are not and that the real issue lies elsewhere.
Applications
Spb Pocket plus installed with no issues
Spb Backup installed with no issues
Sbp Time throws a SpbTimeNotify.exe execution error on startup. Usually auto-timezones is the culprit here. However, the timezone page reghack didn't enable the timezone page in phone settings.
Novii Remote appears to work just fine (although, with IR on the bottom instead of the side I'll need to re-work all my setups). IR range is dismal though, about 1 meter max vs. my 8125 which easily did 4-5 meters. Bummer here
My SipChange app works just fine (naturally)
Initial Conclusions
As a business device, this thing is rock solid. Push email works great and the jog dial makes one-handed use much more possible. The faster Edge processing makes data retrieval better even if you don't have a UMTS signal.
The good stuff isn't working though. There's a major bug in the A2DP implementation. Some process slowly eats up processor cycles when its running until the entire device slows to a crawl. I'll keep working on this.
It took all day to wear down the battery. On GSM, at least, this device seems to have the same battery life as my 8125. I'm also thinking this might use the same battery as the CDMA Apache. If so, there's drop in replacements that add more capacity. I'll be checking into this too...
More posts to follow....
sleuth,
Thanks for the post. I'm using the 8125 currently on T-mobiles network. I consistently get Edge speeds of 70 to 124 kpbs using www.dslreports.com. I tried the www.2wire.com and it was even faster (134 kbs). Though I have measured speeds with other services, it is unusual. Please try the speed test on dslreports.
I also find it odd that the A2dp isn't working. Have you tried the I-Phono, Motorola, or Jabra stereo headsets. I thought they had better reviews?
Thanks again for the heads up. I may wait a bit before getting the TyTN. I've also considered getting an Apache which I've tested between 300 and 700 kpbs on the Verizon network.
Keep in mind how I did the Edge test: I put my SIM in my TyTN and did 5 successive tests. Then I put the SIM in my 8125 and did 5 tests. Thus I compared the performance of the two devices with the exact same tower layout/signal strength. My TyTN operated, on average, about twice as fast in this test. Now I know that in the Chicago area, I consistantly got better than 100KB/sec out of my 8125 too so this test indicates the TyTN's ability to achieve the same high thruput in conditions where my 8125 (running AKU2.3 and the 02.25.11 Radio ROM) didn't.
DSLReports tests with Cingular 3G
All of these were at 9:20 PM EDT and using the wireless.cingular.com proxy server.
Test 1: 839 kb/s
Test 2: 915 kb/s
Test 3: 929 kb/s
Test 4: 900 kb/s
Test 5: 894 kb/s
Avg for Test: 895.4 kb/s
At other times, I have seen as high as 1.2 Mb/s.
hjkl;' why no delete?
Update:
I have bad "." and uparrow keys. They only work if I press them really hard. I am exchanging this TyTN for a new one because of this.
In general, UMTS/HSDPA speeds and the ability to simultaneously handle voice/data is the only reason to upgrade from a Wizard IMHO. I believe that the A2DP issue will eventually be fixed, but for now you must be prepared to trade A2DP for high speed data.
more A2DP settings info
I've got to say this: lowering the priority256 value of the WAVE process sure does improve things. I made it 255 and the btaudio driver 254 and its the best I've had it. Damn near usable. There may be other issues with the WAVE driver priority being so low though like stuttering notifications.
However, after 5 minutes or so, the problem slowley builds up until its bad again. This leads me to believe that there are two problems. One having to do with processor slowly being eaten up by an unknown process and the other having to do with priority interactions between the wave and bt audio drivers. If you want to play with the relevant priority256 values yourself, here's the values:
HKLM/Drivers/BuiltIn/BtA2dpSnd/Priority256 = 254
HKLM/Drivers/Builtin/WaveDev/Priority256 = 255
The system seems to work best if the btaudio driver has a higher priority than the wave driver. Priorities are higher if their Priority256 values are lower btw.
I'm still working to understand what is slowley eating the processor. Has anybody here seen a task manager that shows %proc utilization by process like the Windows Taskmanager does?
more A2DP settings info
....suc6....
goestoeleven,
Thanks for the report. Those speeds are amazing. They are similar to the EVDO speeds of the Apche on the Sprint and Verizon networks.
I may just have to give my son the wizard and go for this phone.
sleuth,
Have you tried the zokie a2dp .cab? It worked well adding a2dp to wizards which had ROMs without a2dp.
I'm sure a future ROM will cure any a2dp or other software problem I'd the phone is adopted widely which it will be.
Sleuth255, have you tried this Taskmanager from buzzdev http://buzzdev.net/component/option...view/id,18571/catid,27/limit,15/limitstart,0/
looks perfect. Tks!
Hey Sleuth you made any progress with the A2DP yet?
Great notes btw!
Can someone try these reg settings and report what they find? I applied them and did a quick test and didnt have any skips. But i'm at work and my battery is in the red (charged 2 days ago) so i cant test it extensively and be without a phone till i get to a charger.
Note: decimal values are in brackets
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Drivers\Builtin\Wavedev]
"Priority256"=dword:00000080 (128)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Bluetooth\A2DP\Settings]
"UseJointStereo"=dword:00000000 (0)
"BitPool"=dword:0000003a (58)
"MaxSupportedBitPool"=dword:00000050 (80)
"MinSupportedBitPool"=dword:0000000e (14)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Drivers\Builtin\BtA2dpSnd]
"Priority256"=dword:0000003c (60)
cam05 said:
Hey Sleuth you made any progress with the A2DP yet?
Great notes btw!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for my replacement TyTN. s/b late next week I'm hoping, then I can get back on it.
Great! Out of curiosity I didnt see you mention anywhere that you had to send it back... what for?
The period and uparrow keys wouldn't work with normal pressure and the camera flash was inoperative: turning on the flash instead seemed to just short out the screen backlight.
Regarding the replacement of my TyTN...
My online supplier, www.phonesource-usa.com hasn't yet responded to any of my emails and phone calls into the status of my replacement. The device was returned within their 3 day exchange policy period and they received it on the morning of 8/18. I'm not concerned about this yet, however I will carefully document my ongoing experience, either good or bad here with regards to this online seller as well as with the replacement process here in the US for the TyTN itself.
Interestingly, phonesource-usa also no longer offers the TyTN on their website. This may be because they are out of stock and may very likely be having some impact on my replacement.
edit:
Christian from phonesource-usa got back to me today and they are indeed waiting on their next shipment of TyTNs. Apparantly there's also some issues with email correspondance and his earlier replies didn't reach me. At any rate, he's hoping that my replacement TyTN will be in my hands next week. Then I can start playing around again. I live for this btw.
Sleuth255 I also bought from phonesource and sent him an email on Saturday and havent heard anything back. Others though seem to have had good results with him so keep trying to contact him. Keep us updated on how things work out.
@efjay: see the edit to my post above yours. Christian at phonesource seems to be having issues with email deliveries. I did an explicit accept to my Spam filter on him and his reply got right through. Maybe a spam filter has locked into his address for some reason.
Thanks Sleuth255 for the info. I will probably try again later today.
Surprise me that I read nothing about the poor receiving quality of the Hermes when I one meter away from the router the signal drops down dramatically with 50% and after ten meters I read only 10% or something is there something to do about this? Maybe a bad antenna inside the Hermes or Faraday effect?
Any suggestion is welcome or am I the only one with this matter.
Heijdemann said:
Surprise me that I read nothing about the poor receiving quality of the Hermes when I one meter away from the router the signal drops down dramatically with 50% and after ten meters I read only 10% or something is there something to do about this? Maybe a bad antenna inside the Hermes or Faraday effect?
Any suggestion is welcome of am I the only one with this matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid the TyTn (Hermes) does not have a strong reception on wifi. Fine up to 10 metres and if not too much in the way upto 15 or so. Ok generally in and around normal house but if it's Buckingham Palace not too hot. Just the compromise we pay for having to pack in allthe other features I'm afraid.
Mike
I believe part of the problem is the antenna placement. While I don't know exactly where the antenna is located, I do know that when the device is held in your hand it has a considerable lower receive signal strength (as much as 10dB).
Give it a try. Set the device on the table and see what you measure. Then hold the device in your hand and see the difference.
Tim
tolson said:
I believe part of the problem is the antenna placement. While I don't know exactly where the antenna is located, I do know that when the device is held in your hand it has a considerable lower receive signal strength (as much as 10dB).
Give it a try. Set the device on the table and see what you measure. Then hold the device in your hand and see the difference.
Tim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right. The antenna is along top edge. When in landscape your left hand tends to obscure it.
Mike
The WIFI reception on these devices is exteremly horrible. There must be a problem in the design, as it don't do more than 10 meters. We have a Andes in the house as well and it has no problems at all with wifi reception.
There must be a fix out there. I purchased this device specifically for the wifi .
have you noticed the connector for spar external place on the back of the TYTN? an is found rubberizes near the camera. I have attentively looked at the photos of the inside and I believe that this is related to the form radio and not to the wifi.
I would like so much to realize a connector wifi for external spar (you see PSP wifi connector) even replacing that connector radio with a wifi and connecting a cable on the chip wifi TNETW1250.
the welding of the cable should be made on the chip TNETW3422M.
Is there someone who has photo more detailed of those that are on the forum of xda?
Have y'all tried the Best Performance setting?
I have not used Wifi, nor will I ever (that is what 3G is for - since 3G is faster than my DSL connection...), but others have reported that changing to Best Performance helps...
I had three TyTN's and the last one had a horrible WiFi reception....10 meters at best. I had a Loox 720 (from a friend) for reference...with this PDA I could walk about 50 meters before reception became unusable. When it comes to WiFi reception this device has a major production tolerance. It makes me wonder if there is some kind of QC over there at HTC. My devices shouldn't have shipped in the first place.
b.t.w. I used all available settings and at in economy mode reception was even worse....signal meter at 30-40% only a few feet away from my wireless router (my reference Loox... 100%!!)
worst of all...instead of fixing it they just release a new device.
Ce said:
I had three TyTN's and the last one had a horrible WiFi reception....10 meters at best. I had a Loox 720 (from a friend) for reference...with this PDA I could walk about 50 meters before reception became unusable. When it comes to WiFi reception this device has a major production tolerance. It makes me wonder if there is some kind of QC over there at HTC. My devices shouldn't have shipped in the first place.
b.t.w. I used all available settings and at in economy mode reception was even worse....signal meter at 30-40% only a few feet away from my wireless router (my reference Loox... 100%!!)
worst of all...instead of fixing it they just release a new device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a curious thing - yes I get good reception up to 15 meters then drops off badly. BUT if I'm driving around with wifi on it detects an endless stream of home networks that in many cases must greatly exceed 10/15 meters.
Mike
jeffreycentex said:
Have y'all tried the Best Performance setting?
I have not used Wifi, nor will I ever (that is what 3G is for - since 3G is faster than my DSL connection...), but others have reported that changing to Best Performance helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion I think you correct with this setting only the interval of the cheksum when connected and not the sensivity of wifi receiver.
Hi,
I would like to know if there are any registry value to change or modify interval time to refresh the cell-id searching procedure more often.
I need to grab cell-id with my HTC and when I travel in a big town with a hight density of BTS antenna I can found some cell id but I think there are missing a lot of BTS because numbers of Cell-id is low.
For example in France on a highway, coverage is one BTS every 2-3 kilometers and in a big town I think it is more depending of the GSM traffic (maybe between 800meters and 2000meters)
Regards
Richard
Richard, your mobile checks a certain number of cells (towers not handset) in the millisecond internal range (GSM Standard); this is true for when your phone is idle as well as in dedicated mode (during call/data transfer). Number of cells it looks for it decided by the operator and depends on the cell plan. you cannot control how often this happens no matter what, you can however control what frequencies to check but you need special software and hardware for this.
I hope this explains it sufficiently as if tried to not be too technical in the details.
I recently moved into a new ‘cell phone death trap’ apartment (apt).
I’ve seen my phone connect, I’m guessing; connect to four different cell towers from my apt. I’ve sat and watched it go from 2 bar E, disconnect, to 1 bar G, disconnect, to no bars 3G, disconnect, and so on….
But here’s the clincher…
Sometimes it will also connect to a full strength edge network, but it indicates it’s roaming by the Triangle icon. Now if I’m on that ‘Triangle” network, my phone works great, meaning I actually can make and receive calls!
But, I’m guessing again, because it shows it is roaming; it also does not like to stay connected to this network. Actually it prefers to switch itself back onto a weak edge network without any signal.
My phone battery doesn’t last more than five hours, NOT TALKING, just in standby because it is constantly switching towers.
At this point I want to throw my Hermes out a window! But I know that wont do any good, because anyone else who come to my apt and has AT&T/Cingular gets the same results.
So here’s my question:
“Can I force my phone to stay on a particular cell tower?”
If so, I love you….
you should re-post over in this thread Daniel's software might be able to solve your problem (or Daniel might have other ideas).
thank you for the suggestion. i tried that and he said, "Sorry nop. It isnt the pourpose of cmp or bs...."
I don't think you can force to a specific tower but you can force to a particular provider:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/NETWORK/MANUAL
and also select whether you want to force GSM/WCDMA and the GSM/UNTS band:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/BAND
Maybe by going this route you can lock onto a reasonable signal.
2 other alternatives... Sell the appartment... Buy a landline and donate the Hermes to me
taze said:
I recently moved into a new ‘cell phone death trap’ apartment (apt).
I’ve seen my phone connect, I’m guessing; connect to four different cell towers from my apt. I’ve sat and watched it go from 2 bar E, disconnect, to 1 bar G, disconnect, to no bars 3G, disconnect, and so on….
But here’s the clincher…
Sometimes it will also connect to a full strength edge network, but it indicates it’s roaming by the Triangle icon. Now if I’m on that ‘Triangle” network, my phone works great, meaning I actually can make and receive calls!
But, I’m guessing again, because it shows it is roaming; it also does not like to stay connected to this network. Actually it prefers to switch itself back onto a weak edge network without any signal.
My phone battery doesn’t last more than five hours, NOT TALKING, just in standby because it is constantly switching towers.
At this point I want to throw my Hermes out a window! But I know that wont do any good, because anyone else who come to my apt and has AT&T/Cingular gets the same results.
So here’s my question:
“Can I force my phone to stay on a particular cell tower?”
If so, I love you….
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to change networks?
Are you able to ask your service provider the location of the towers and if they're planning either any upgrades or any more in the area?
If not you may wish to consider the first point, changing service providers.
I know what a pain it can be to have little or no service when needed. Personally, here in the UK, I'm on Orange. Where I lived in Wales it was either Orange or Vodafone that has a decent signal. When I'm out and about with work those are the two popular towers with o2 creeping up and some others too, but for the most part those are the strongest.
I don't, I'm sorry, have any better advice for you. Apart from leave your Hermes on charge when you're home near a window (safely) and carry a bluetooth earpeice around instead Good Luck with your Valiant Quest
ach2 said:
I don't think you can force to a specific tower but you can force to a particular provider:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/NETWORK/MANUAL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i went to that tab and all i have is a Find Network button, which does nothing...no manual option
ach2 said:
and also select whether you want to force GSM/WCDMA and the GSM/UNTS band:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/BAND
Maybe by going this route you can lock onto a reasonable signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried this method as well and it does not help. apparently both the good and the band networks all fall under GSM(900+1800)+UMTS(2100). The other two band options never find a network.
ach2 said:
2 other alternatives... Sell the apartment... Buy a landline and donate the Hermes to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll consider it....thank you for your suggestions, I REALLY APPERCIATE ANYONES (constructive) FEEDBACK.
Elwyn M3100 said:
Are you able to change networks?
Are you able to ask your service provider the location of the towers and if they're planning either any upgrades or any more in the area?
If not you may wish to consider the first point, changing service providers.
I know what a pain it can be to have little or no service when needed. Personally, here in the UK, I'm on Orange. Where I lived in Wales it was either Orange or Vodafone that has a decent signal. When I'm out and about with work those are the two popular towers with o2 creeping up and some others too, but for the most part those are the strongest.
I don't, I'm sorry, have any better advice for you. Apart from leave your Hermes on charge when you're home near a window (safely) and carry a bluetooth earpeice around instead. Good Luck with your Valiant Quest
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your suggestions. Unfortuantly im locked in a 2yr contract, thats how ****ty american cell phone companies do things. Plus, the better providers in the area dont use SIM cards (ie. Sprint/Verizon), so that would mean bye bye Hermes.
Ill will go by the Cingular store and ask about the possible service upgrade, but those fools dont really know whats what, thats why im on xda-dev!
I like the bluetooth idea, ill try find a "sweet spot" in the apt and try that method. Thanks again!
"I have dream..."
My idea just seems possible, however i cant program so who am i too.....
The idea of having blocked cell id numbers. If i could FieldTest or somehow extract the cell ids from the towers i dont want, then create a file that the phone checks against before joining a tower.....
I dont know, just a dream i suppose...
In both cases (roaming and not) are you registered in same operator?
If you're having a difficult time maintaining solid cellular reception, you might want to consider buying an external antenna. Refer to my post here regarding an antenna that can be purchased from Radio Shack. The antenna is now on clearance for $20 and the pigtail is $10. This may or may not help depending upon your location in relation to the towers, but if you try it out, let me know how it works.
Cheers
Yeah, I'm on an 18 month contract... But I'm about 8 months in now
You might even be able to get bluetooth repeaters once you find your, ahem, sweet spot
danielherrero said:
In both cases (roaming and not) are you registered in same operator?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i believe so. the only reason i think it's roaming is because of the Triangle icon. But my SIM is only authorized for one operator, Cingular.
is there a better way to check?
Thank you very much Daniel!
Lancealot said:
If you're having a difficult time maintaining solid cellular reception, you might want to consider buying an external antenna. Refer to my post here regarding an antenna that can be purchased from Radio Shack. The antenna is now on clearance for $20 and the pigtail is $10. This may or may not help depending upon your location in relation to the towers, but if you try it out, let me know how it works.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would be willing to try those products but i believe they're now fully discontinued. Either of those item numbers from your post no longer exsist.
No problem
taze said:
i would be willing to try those products but i believe they're now fully discontinued. Either of those item numbers from your post no longer exsist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call your closest Radio Shack and ask if they have either of those catalog numbers in stock. Worst case scenario is that they won't, however they can check the districts perpetual stock and see how many are available, and if you ask nicely, they can have the antenna and pigtail shipped to their store so you don't have to run all over creation just to get it.
...An even worst case scenario would be if you didn't live in the US or didn't have any Radio Shacks close by.. however I might know of someone who could use their employee discount to cover shipping costs Let me know if you have any questions.
weinson said:
you should re-post over in this thread Daniel's software might be able to solve your problem (or Daniel might have other ideas).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Taze,
I would also recommend that you try one of Daniel's applications - he is working on Comm Manager Pro but I think that Bandswitch will probably help you. I find similar problems to those you describe at work here in the UK with T-Mobile and my battery would often run low even during a day at work. The problem appears to have been caused by the Vario II (Hermes) spending all day jumping back and forward between networks whilst hunting for the best signal. Although the Bandswitch application (very small footprint) will not increase the signal you may find that forcing the phone to operate in a particular band helps - this is very easily achieved via the Bandswitch interface rather than going into settings each time. I now regularly switch to GSM each day when I get to work and it has solved my battery run-down issue completely!
Comm Manager Pro does much the same and more. It allows you to define a location (according to Cell ID and LAC Code) from which you can set the CMP application to (amongst other functions) switch to a particular band - or even turn the phone off).
Given what you have said this may not help but I would certainly give it a go. Good luck.
Regards
tony.wheeler said:
Taze,
I would also recommend that you try one of Daniel's applications - he is working on Comm Manager Pro but I think that Bandswitch will probably help you. I find similar problems to those you describe at work here in the UK with T-Mobile and my battery would often run low even during a day at work. The problem appears to have been caused by the Vario II (Hermes) spending all day jumping back and forward between networks whilst hunting for the best signal. Although the Bandswitch application (very small footprint) will not increase the signal you may find that forcing the phone to operate in a particular band helps - this is very easily achieved via the Bandswitch interface rather than going into settings each time. I now regularly switch to GSM each day when I get to work and it has solved my battery run-down issue completely!
Comm Manager Pro does much the same and more. It allows you to define a location (according to Cell ID and LAC Code) from which you can set the CMP application to (amongst other functions) switch to a particular band - or even turn the phone off).
Given what you have said this may not help but I would certainly give it a go. Good luck.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im going to try bandswitch today and see how it works. thank you for the suggestion!
i wish daniel could add the feature of blocked, preferred, of locked Cell ID's. that would be worth a good amount of money to me....
Hi.
I would like to help you.... I can detect cells and lac but I cant force radio hardware to attach on a particular cell. This a task for Radio ROM. The only posibility (maybe) would be if the operator names are diferent. Could you go to settings a search for operators? Maybe your operator has different name in roaming than non roaming. In that case It would be easy to help you....
Oooo if FieldTest were a controllable application....
Ok what I’ve discovered so far after watching FieldTest for about an hour.
The Good Connection -
LAC 0020
MNC/MCC 31017
NCELL INFO1 700-80 dbm <---- (at least four out of six NCELL maintain a steady 700-80dbm, often all six NCELL)
NCELL INFO2 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO3 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO4 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO5 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO6 700-80 dbm
BAND 2CS
CHANNEL 1:CCCH (stays, doesn’t change)
The Bad Connection
LAC d6ef
MNC/MCC 31380
NCELL INFO1 140-100 dbm
NCELL INFO2 140-100 dbm <---- (i get two NCELL at the most 140 each, rarely four NCELL, never more)
NCELL INFO3 0
NCELL INFO4 0
NCELL INFO5 0
NCELL INFO6 0
BAND 3:850 (once I saw it switch to PCS on this same MNC)
CHANNEL 1:CCCH/0:BCCH/255<UNKNOWN> (switches between these quite frequently)
So what I’ve interpreted from all that is.
Well I’ve confirmed my ****ty connection. Even though the phone often shows two bars, I can’t make or receive calls. Based on the NCELL db numbers and the constant channel changing, that **** just don’t work.
Most importantly, the phone is always trying to switch to the highest possible band. Because PCS is a lower band than GSM 850, my phone won’t stay on the PCS connection.
O yes, another discovery is, in WM6, if you are connected to a PCS band network, it displays the Triangle icon as if you are roaming but in fact it is not roaming.
So Daniel since you seem to be the best chance for a better life [for my Hermes]:
I need a way to force band selection beyond just GSM and UMTS.
I tried BandSwitch and it does not work for me because all my available connections fall under GSM.
And even beyond that I’d like to be able to force MNC’s, as I believe they are the specific network number.
Or can I block a LAC?
In settings, I only have one operator, Cingular, “Home of the most dropped calls.”
Hi.
I undestand perfectly your frustration and I will try to do what I can althought It doesnt seem easy thing because there isnt any(known) api to manage Radio Rom. Fieldtest is OEM dependent and I imagine It only works for only one manufacturer of radio hardware chip.
Ok, first try. If you start radio phone 10 times....
1) how many times your phone register to roaming (and wished) network?
2) If registed to roaming network, how much time (aprox) stays on it before register to bad cells?.
Why? well ,CMP executes actions when you enter on some place (compound by cells and lacs). You could create a place with your hated cells and then associate the action "reset radio" when registed to those cells (or lacs). In this way if your device falls into bad cells it would be resetted (only radio, not phone) until registed to good cells...
Only an idea....
Dani
If you can determine the direction of the "bad" towers, try lining your walls with lead sheets to block their signals and letting you connect to a prefered tower.