Looking for cell tower ID numbers on Motorola W315 in Test mode on Verizon Network.

[eyw3rd]

Several years ago my son gave me a Nokia cellphone on the AT&T network because I have a heart condition and my landline went down when I needed help once.

He also showed me how to put the Nokia into Test Mode and the Test screen shows signal strength in db and the cell tower ID numbers as well as many other numbers.

I have a 14 year old Granddaughter who loves to watch these numbers as we drive in the car and many times she can get a visual on the cell tower when the signal strength is the highest (-db lowest) and she remembers the locations and the tower numbers and looks for them each time we are out driving.

Recently her Mom and Dad gave her her own cellphone, a Motorola W315 on the Verizon network.

She would love to be able to look at the signal strength and cell tower ID as she can on my Nokia.

I found on the Internet how to put the W315 into Test Mode and see the signal strength, but I haven't been able to tell if the cell tower ID is somewhere in the many numbers in the Test Mode screen.

I went to the local Verizon store and the lady there called a technical department and they said they could not give out this information.

I tried driving around and looking at all the numbers to see if I could find something on the screen that changed like cell tower ID but could not, there are just too many numbers changing to single out one set.

I'm not really sure the cell tower ID shows on the W315 Test screen, but I'm still hoping someone out there knows and can tell me if it's there and where it is so I can be a hero to my Granddaughter (:

Thanks for everyones help.

Ed

[noahm]

I have a Motorolla V276 on the Verizon Wireless network, so I think I might be able to help. When my phone is in test mode (by quickly pressing menu>left softkey) the first number in the upper left corner is the primary cell tower number, and the one right below it is the secondary one as CDMA can use more than one tower.

This is only from trial and error experience, but I am pretty sure these numbers represent tower numbers as they are consistent in one place. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. Hope that helps!

[Andy]

In CDMA there is no tower ID found anywhere in the field test. The only thing you will be able to find, and that is the number that noahm referenced, is the sector number. Cell towers have different sectors, most have 3 different sectors, and every sector has a different number. Depending on your market on the Verizon network, the sectors are spaced at either 160 or 168, like I said, depending on the market. I believe Nevada, and maybe Southern CA may be spaced by 3. I think I remember in Vegas, Verizon sectors were spaced by 3, so one sector may be 168, the next 171, and the next 174. If sectors are spaced at 160, you could have something like:

120, 280, 440. If they are spaced by 168 like in my market, you could have something like
69, 237, 405.

Hope this makes sense. The best thing to do to figure this out is to go near a known Verizon site, and drive 360 degrees right around it, that way you will figure out the numbering in your market.

Andy

[noahm]

Ahh, that makes much more sense. So are you saying that one tower may have sector numbers of 108, 276 and 444 in this market? And another tower would be 75, 243 and 411? Because those are numbers that I frequently see and this would help me piece together where towers are.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by noahm

Ahh, that makes much more sense. So are you saying that one tower may have sector numbers of 108, 276 and 444 in this market? And another tower would be 75, 243 and 411? Because those are numbers that I frequently see and this would help me piece together where towers are.

Absolutely right. Sectors from the cellsite are all spaced numerically by 168, so you are right on the ball!!!!

[eyw3rd]

Thanks for the information Andy. I have a question about it:

1. Does each cell tower have different sector numbers or are all of them the same? If they are different then I could ID the tower by them.

2. Are you saying that the sector number SPACING is the same for every tower in my market regardless of the sector numbers?

3. Where is the sector number on my Granddaughters W315 test screen?

4. In CDMA is there a separate frequency for transmission to the W315 and transmission from the W315? This is just for my edification.

Thanks for your help.

Ed

Originally Posted by Andy

In CDMA there is no tower ID found anywhere in the field test. The only thing you will be able to find, and that is the number that noahm referenced, is the sector number. Cell towers have different sectors, most have 3 different sectors, and every sector has a different number. Depending on your market on the Verizon network, the sectors are spaced at either 160 or 168, like I said, depending on the market. I believe Nevada, and maybe Southern CA may be spaced by 3. I think I remember in Vegas, Verizon sectors were spaced by 3, so one sector may be 168, the next 171, and the next 174. If sectors are spaced at 160, you could have something like:

120, 280, 440. If they are spaced by 168 like in my market, you could have something like
69, 237, 405.

Hope this makes sense. The best thing to do to figure this out is to go near a known Verizon site, and drive 360 degrees right around it, that way you will figure out the numbering in your market.

Andy