Slashdot Mirror
Testing and Mapping a Cellular Data Network?
bgsneeze writes "In order to resolve an ongoing issue with a vendor, I have been trying to find a way to test different 3G data devices empirically. I would like to be able to chart signal strength, latency, and bandwidth. I would also like to create a map of the coverage area. I have a test 3G card from three different providers. I would like to be able to travel with the setup to several different locations and run tests. What software or techniques would Slashdotters use to test the different devices? Are there any free or open source software packages that will do this?"
These are simply links to the coverage maps advertised by the providers, in which service quality is frequently exaggerated, if not blatantly false.
For example, AT&T (my provider) claims "good" coverage in two neighborhoods in my home town, Pasadena, where I know for a fact that there is no coverage, or worse, sporadic one-bar-then-no-bar coverage that drains my cellphone battery in an hour. And even worse, they show "best" coverage throughout San Marino, a town in which I can never make or receive calls on AT&T.
I can see the fnords!
If you mean the USB/PC card 3G adapters for computers, I doubt you'll be able to run them on Linux without using WINE or a VM or whatever, which may interfere with latency readings...........Note: too lazy to dig up hacks and testamonials from Google.
Sigh.......this is the kind of misconception that happens when you are too lazy to use Google. Those USB/PC card 3G adapters for computers work quite well on Linux, here is one example tutorial. Try not to give advice if you are too lazy to verify it.
Qxe4
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~suman/pubs/citywide.pdf
ABSTRACT
We describe our experiences in building a city-wide infrastructure for wide-area wireless experimentation. Our infrastructure has two components — (i) a vehicular testbed consisting of wireless nodes, each equipped with both cellular (EV-DO) and WiFi interfaces, and mounted on city buses plying in Madison, Wisconsin, and (ii) a software platform to utilize these testbed nodes to continuously monitor and characterize performance of large scale wireless networks, such as city-wide mesh networks, unplanned deployments of WiFi hotspots, and cellular networks. Beyond our initial eorts in building and deploying this infrastructure, we have also utilized it to gain some initial understanding of the diversity of user experience in large-scale wireless networks, especially under various mobility scenarios. Since our vehicle-mounted testbed nodes have fairly deterministic mobility patterns, they provide us with much needed performance data on parameters such as RF coverage and available bandwidth, as well as quantify the impact of mobility on performance. We use our initial measurements from this testbed to showcase its ability to provide an ecient, low-cost, and robust method to monitor our target wireless networks. These initial measurements also highlight the challenges we face as we continue to expand this infrastructure. We discuss what these challenges are and how we intend to address them.