Getting my Cell Id

Can anyone recommend a simple app for Android that I can use to get the Cell Id I am connected too.

Cellmapper https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cellma...

As richi says, for comprehensive info, but I find it a bit too much. My pref is Network Cell Info Lite which is also in
PlayStore. Dead easy. Shows a graphic of the one connected plus the next strongest.

When I first got it I had a bit of interesting fun watching it swap between the two with quite small alterations of position in the room including getting me or objects in the way.

Edited by pluralist (Wed 15-Jun-22 11:10:38)

Many thanks to both you and richi, I will check them out and see how I get on.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

As richi says, for comprehensive info, but I find it a bit too much. My pref is Network Cell Info Lite which is also in PlayStore. Dead easy. Shows a graphic of the one connected plus the next strongest.

Cellmapper has been confirmed to be accurate by third parties working in the mobile industry. A lot of the other apps are the developers best guess on calling the API available in later Android versions (9+). However the interpretation can often be wrong, one tries to point at where the mast is, and the arrow is ALWAYS wrong on three different makes of Android. Just an example.

By a graphic, I wasn't referring to a mast direction pointer. In fact NCIL doesn't have one . Just the signal strength graph. Basic cell data is also provided.

The last time I used such an app until this morning was quite a while ago, though I have on my phone both of the ones mentioned in this thread plus Phone Signal, LTE Discovery and Opensignal . I agree the direction pointers is (or at least was) way out on some.

I stand my suggestion of NCIL as a "starter" app for the OP.

It's worth noting for dect I have found some hard to shut down once opened, carrying on in the background and draining battery even after apparent closing. Sometimes a reboot of the phone seems (or was) to be needed .

Edit: The two masts picked up are on opposite sides of the house by the way.

Edited by pluralist (Wed 15-Jun-22 14:37:12)

In reply to a post by pluralist:

It's worth noting for dect I have found some hard to shut down once opened, carrying on in the background and draining battery even after apparent closing.

I've just noticed that with CellMapper, just done a 'Force stop' for the time being in App Info and removed the location permissions as I am wary of apps where you have to give it access to your location (otherwise it won't work) and it continues in the background doing who knows what.

In reply to a post by dect:

I've just noticed that with CellMapper, just done a 'Force stop' for the time being in App Info and removed the location permissions as I am wary of apps where you have to give it access to your location (otherwise it won't work) and it continues in the background doing who knows what.

Cellmapper is by design hoping you would contribute your local area to the crowd sourced data set. To do that it needs to run in background logging cells and locations, this creates the website map.

The instructions page (https://www.cellmapper.net/First_Time_Startup) shows the main screen with the four green coloured buttons. If you turn off the GPS and Record options, then your phone should not do anything in background. The Account is optional and lets you gain kudos for the number of cell sites you capture. The Upload option is for real-time uploading, or just uploading when you get back home to wifi. This is useful for those of us that use a second phone for cell mapping with a PAYG SIM with limited credit.

If you subscribe (around £1.80 a month) then you get rid of the adverts and your data is updated on the website faster.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

By a graphic, I wasn't referring to a mast direction pointer. In fact NCIL doesn't have one . Just the signal strength graph. Basic cell data is also provided.

My caution was check the data against a proven tool (e.g. Cellmapper or the phone's own hidden diagnostic mode, e.g. on Samsungs) and see if the data aligns. Some apps are very poor and can indicate an (U/E/N)ARFCN in the wrong field, or the completely wrong band number.

Yep, network cell info is good.