Which cell phone antenna am I connected to?

    • Hello

    Since I live in the country and there is no GSM antenna in our village, I would be interested to know from which of the antennas in the area we get the signal.

    Is there a way to determine which antenna my cell phone is currently registered to?

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    • @Beatus62 wrote:

      Unfortunately, there is still a piece of the puzzle missing. Unfortunately, the cards do not reveal the cell ID, so an assignment is not possible. (Seems to be a well-kept secret)

      We are surrounded by about 6 antennas in the neighboring villages at approximately the same distance, so theoretically any antenna could be used.

      Visit each of these 6 cell phone antennas and note the PSC in the immediate vicinity of the cell phone antenna.

      After visiting all 6 cell phone antennas, go home. And find out at home which PSC is used by the mobile phone.

      \=> See post #6 for more information on the PSC.

    Here you can see the antenna locations:

    [https://map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=funksender&lang=de&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farben&layers=ch.bakom.mobil-antennenstandorte-5g,ch.bakom.radio -television station, ch.bakom.mobil-antennenlocatione-gsm, ch.bakom.mobil-antennenlocatione-umts, ch.bakom.mobil-antennenlocatione-lte&catalogNodes=403,408] (https://map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=funksender&lang=de&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farben&layers=ch.bakom.mobil-antennenstandorte-5g,ch.bakom.radio -television station, ch.bakom.mobil-antennenlocatione-gsm, ch.bakom.mobil-antennenlocatione-umts, ch.bakom.mobil-antennenlocatione-lte&catalogNodes=403,408)

    Afaik you cannot determine which antenna you are currently connected to with your own means

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    ….keep on rockin'

    @FlySmurf wrote:

    With the Network Cell Info app you can see which cell you are connected to

    Greetings

    Unfortunately, the tool is only available for Android, there is nothing useful for iOS.

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    A good cell phone has a “network monitor” built in. Current “fall fruits” should also have a well-hidden “Network Monitor”:

    [https://praxistipps.chip.de/gsm-codes-fuers-iphone-das-verbirgt-sich-hinter-3001-12345\_99373](https://praxistipps.chip.de/gsm-codes-fuers- iphone-that-is-hidden-behind-3001-12345_99373)

    With the information about the signal strength or “Cell ID” from the “Network Monitor” and the location information of the surrounding mobile phone antennas from the Bakom radio transmitter map, you can locate the mobile phone antenna currently used by the mobile phone.

    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell-ID

    \=> Personally, I prefer to work with signal strength (3G/UMTS: RSCP; 4G/LTE+5G: RSRP) and PSC than with Cell ID.

    For more information about “Network Monitor”, signal strength and PSC see:

    [https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/Natel-Empfang-bricht-%C3%BCber-die-Staffelegg-immer-ab/m-p/525351](https://community.swisscom.ch/t5 /Mobile/Natel-reception-breaks-%C3%BCber-the-Staffelegg-always-off/m-p/525351)

    [https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/4G-VoLTE-telefonieren-mit-externer-antenna-oder-analogem-telefon/m-p/638463#M8231] (https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/4G-VoLTE-telefonieren-mit-externer-Antenne-oder-analogem-telefon/m-p/638463#M8231)

    https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/Zermatt/m-p/651761

    I won’t even go into 2G/GSM anymore, as it’s practically EOL (end of life) in Switzerland anyway…

    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_life

    Thanks to “Soft Handover”, the mobile phone can use more than one mobile antenna at the same time in pure 3G/UMTS mode. See:

    [https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/Natel-Empfang-bricht-%C3%BCber-die-Staffelegg-immer-ab/m-p/525351#M4343] (https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/Natel-Empfang-bricht-%C3%BCber-die-Staffelegg-immer-ab/m-p/525351#M4343)

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    • Doc likes that.

    Thank you very much!

    Unfortunately, there is still a piece of the puzzle missing. Unfortunately, the cards do not reveal the cell ID, so an assignment is not possible. (Seems to be a well-kept secret)

    We are surrounded by about 6 antennas in neighboring villages at approximately the same distance, so theoretically any antenna could be used.

    Show original language (German)

    @hed wrote:

    @FlySmurf wrote:

    With the Network Cell Info app you can see which cell you are connected to

    Greetings

    Unfortunately, the tool is only available for Android, there is nothing useful for iOS.

    But. Free and much more extensive 🙂 [https://www.aeq-web.com/ios-fieldtest-und-weitere-geheimcodes/](https://www.aeq-web.com/ios-fieldtest-und-weitere- secret codes/)

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    @Beatus62 wrote:

    Unfortunately, there is still a piece of the puzzle missing. Unfortunately, the cards do not reveal the cell ID, so an assignment is not possible. (Seems to be a well-kept secret)

    We are surrounded by about 6 antennas in the neighboring villages at approximately the same distance, so theoretically any antenna could be used.

    Visit each of these 6 cell phone antennas and note the PSC in the immediate vicinity of the cell phone antenna.

    After visiting all 6 cell phone antennas, go home. And find out at home which PSC is used by the mobile phone.

    \=> See post #6 for more information on the PSC.

    Show original language (German)

    That’s exactly what I planned to do during the holidays! If it can’t be done online 🖱 then definitely outdoors 👣. At least your fitness is taken care of! 🤣🤣🤣

    Merry Christmas!

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    2 months later

    The “Electric Field Strengths” map from the Swisscom network map website is also a great help when searching for the Swisscom mobile phone antenna currently in use:

    https://www.swisscom.ch/de/about/netz/netz-karten.html

    Some tips for using the “Electric Field Strength” map from Swisscom:

    - First, use the BAKOM radio transmitter card and the “Search location or add map” input field to find a valid postal address that is located in the desired 2×2 km square of the location of the mobile phone antenna to be queried.
    https://map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=funksender

    - After entering the address, change the “height above ground” information at least twice before pressing the blue “To map” button (=> programming error).
    [https://www.swisscom.ch/de/about/netz/mobilfunk-antennen-umwelt-gesundheit/feldstaerke.html](https://www.swisscom.ch/de/about/netz/mobilfunk-antennen- environment-health/feldstaerke.html)

    - An application example of the “Electric Field Strength” card can be found at:

    [https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/Wifi-Calling-scheint-nicht-zu-funktionieren/m-p/662063](https://community.swisscom.ch/t5/Mobile/Wifi-Calling- doesn’t seem to work/m-p/662063)

    Have fun searching for the Swisscom mobile phone antenna you are currently using!

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