Cell Info Display Suggestion

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grubsner

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Vodacom3g,

I hi-jacked this idea from the other network ;) threads...

Base Station ID's look something like this: Base Station Name - Antenna
i/e Riverside-1 or Bardene-3

How about including the Base Station data status in the Cell Info Broadcast:

All BS have GPRS thus: Bardene-2 or Bardene(G)-2
BS with EDGE or GPRS+: Bardene(G+)-2 or Bardene(EG)-2
BS with 3G enabled: Bardene(3G)-2

something along those lines...
Because the datacard does not allow for BS ID indication this type of info (on any mobile phone) with Cell broadcast enabled would be a great help to find those BS with EDGE and 3G activated without booting your notebook or loading pages of 3G coverage maps.

I know that the 3G base station footprints are smaller than the GSM BS but still think this type of information would be helpful.
 
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Thanks for the idea. Will pass it along to the planning guys and see what they say.

Except for info only, any good reasons why this could be handy?

On the data card, you just need to look at the colour of the LED (blue or green) to know what bearer you're on.
 
Yeah but then it's too late if it turns green :) - keep in mind people who would never dare to go into an area where theres no 3G and they need to plan this ahead in time :)

For example, someone who is looking a renting a new flat .. they would not bother to even check out the place in detail if the cell has no 3G, having the info on their mobile phones display can save them from 'wardriving' around with the laptop on all the time :)
 
Or they can even call the real estate agent and say, please tell me the name of the cell you are in while at the location, if the real estate person tells them "Milnerton(GPRS)-1" they don't waste time and they can say "find me another flat."
If they get the info "Milnerton(3G)-2" then they can make an appointment to look at the flat :)


Or some nerd who has been invited to socialize at a certain location but can't be anywhere without replying to forum posts with 30 second response time or without doing work, the person could check beforehand if he can accept the invitation by asking a friend to check if 3G is available in their cell :)
 
The "checking if my area supports 3G before I buy" is a good example of the reasoning I was referring to.

However, remember a 2G and 3G cell are completely independent. So even if a 2G cell is overlapping a 3G cell, the mapping won't be 100%. A 2G cell (named -3) might have spots where you won't find 3G.

It would work for GPRS / EDGE though.

I'll check with the planning guys how well the 2 networks map onto each other but suspect it won't be that usable. 2G cells tend to be larger than 3G cells, for example.
 
Isn't there perhaps any query command that a user would be able to send to a tower. Almost like the *100# command if you want to see your account balance on prepaid. Maybe one that will reply back from the tower to say which data services it offers. This would be a very handy setup for lots of people looking at connectivity options in an area and want to quickly see what is there.
 
I don't think the cell info beoadcast should be used to determine 3G signal quality or coverage but only a general indication that the area you are currently in, is 3G enabled. I spend a few MB's a month loading coverage maps for my area to check for 3G coverage. With cell info I can get an indication on my cell phone that the area has been 3G enabled or any area you might be visiting for that matter.

I agree that 2G and 3G cells are independent but most BS I have seen in the JHB area use the same high site (mast) althought the BS footprint is smaller for 3G due to the higher freq I guess. When the 3G and 2G networks are on separate BS the cell info could indicate only GPRS to prevent confusion.
 
Mean_Monster said:
Isn't there perhaps any query command that a user would be able to send to a tower. Almost like the *100# command if you want to see your account balance on prepaid. Maybe one that will reply back from the tower to say which data services it offers. This would be a very handy setup for lots of people looking at connectivity options in an area and want to quickly see what is there.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent idea, Mean_Monster. Vodacom could even use the reply sent to the user to append cellular or data related ads to the message.
 
This is a brilliant idea. I know from having to roll out client sites that step one is grab an iBurst and Sentech package drive out. Setup each (sentech is easiest since you just turn it on because of the battery. iBurst is a pain since you need power), check for coverage and then make recommendations. With this, you can just look at your phone. This is also helpful for me since I do not have a Vodacom3g, so I can't test it on clients sites, so I can't recommend it, but bring this in and I could test and recommend it.
 
Seeing a notice "You are in 3G world" will make many people drool and upgrade their phones to 3G.

This is not a technical issue, but a marketing one.

As usual, the marketing guys will rule over the techies :-(
 
OK, I'll chat to the planning guys and see how feasible this is. There might be another way, using a service like FindIt.

It's a location based service, where you SMS a number with a request (say pizza) and it'll come back with the pizza placed in your current location.

Not a product plug (it's 3rd party) but it's actually quite a cool service. Something like "Bearer" could respond with all capabilities in the area (GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA, etc.)
 
Maybe a cell broadcast info system AND a SMS based confirmation. The advantage of the cell broadcast is that it's for free; the SMS system could cost a rand or two.

The cell broadcast could be used as a free initial check and the SMS a confirmation with a small cost involved.
 
kaspaas said:
Seeing a notice "You are in 3G world" will make many people drool and upgrade their phones to 3G.

This is not a technical issue, but a marketing one.

As usual, the marketing guys will rule over the techies :-(
Click to expand...

Now here's a good reason! As always it's not what you want, it's how you sell it!

Tx Kaspaas
 
yeah mtn is doing it already... if you are in edge coverage you get a second line on your phone saying yello broadband
 
MY motorola A835 tells me what connection i have 2G, 2.5G or 3G. Does the nokia also tell u what connection you have.
 
caspa said:
MY motorola A835 tells me what connection i have 2G, 2.5G or 3G. Does the nokia also tell u what connection you have.
Click to expand...

Yes it does, but to get "full info", you need a third party application :

http://www.symbian-freak.com/quides/netmon.htm

It will tell you what base (transmitting) station (BTS) you are connected to at what strength, what your neighbour cells are, what coding scheme is being used, whether the BTS is EGPRS (Edge) enabled or not, what the signal strength of the neighbour cells are, allow you to see the "competitors" cell ID, tells you exactly how many time slots you are using down and up, and "the nice feature", it allows you to manually select what base station to use.
There is also another app available called celltracker.sis that keeps track of all the cells you have connected to in a local database, and what your average signal strength is.

Enjoy! (well, the Nokia series 60 users at least....)
 
Hmm, one of those postings that went AWOL.

In any case:

Your request was heard, duly considered and promptly implemented!

The banana boys will already see an alternating cell broadcast on 2G cells showing 3G coverage, something like "3G Enabled"

Rest of the country being rolled out as we speak.

Remember it won't be a perfect overlay as there are two different networks involved.

Thanks for another great idea! Keep them coming. (Yes, we know about rollover!)
 
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