On Sat, 18 Feb 2017 14:20:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis wrote:

Here is a photo of one type in my house, called "CellSpot" and "LTE":
http://i.cubeupload.com/uNXXgZ.jpg

that's the only LTE CellSpot I've seen. It has blinkenlights.

Thanks for confirming which one, because there is an entire thread on the
various very different "things" that T-Mobile MARKETING calls a "Personal
CellSpot" which they also call a "4G LTE CellSpot" such that saying those
words is rendered meaningless.

If someone says they have a CellSpot, or a "Personal CellSpot", all they're
definitively saying is that they have a micro tower, but there are multiple
types of similarly branded micro towers, each of which is quite different
in operation.

1. One type is a signal booster, which is purely cellular.
2. Another type is a microtower connected to your Internet router.
3. A third type is a router (I have not tested this type yet).
4. A fourth type is an access point (I haven't tested this either, yet).
5. And, while we're at it, there is WiFi calling (which isn't a "cellspot")

Here is a photo of another type alongside it, also called "CellSpot" and
"LTE":
https://u.cubeupload.com/WoN2gQ.jpg

Those are 4G LTE signal boosters which I've never seen before. They were
not on offer from T-Mobile when I asked about a CellSpot for my home.

Yes, but my point is that they also are branded by T-Mobile MARKETING as a
"Personal CellSpot" and they all say "4G LTE".

The only difference in branding is in the final word *after* the
meaningless "CellSpot" brand name (and in the case of the one you have,
they don't even put a final word after the meaningless "CellSpot" brand
name).


In the basement (cellspot is in the garage) I have -78dB currently. If I
go into the garage it's about -60dB-65dB, IIRC.

That's absolutely astoundingly high cellular signal strength (RSSI).
All the articles put the range at -50 to -110 or -120dBm.

-50 is the maximum possible, and below -120 there is no signal.

Are you getting that from your T-Mobile micro tower?
How do you know? (Because that's the entire reason for this thread.)

my iPhone displays the dB in the upper left corner. I's at -78 again.

I knew how you got the decibel RSSI (received signal strength indication),
but the question was how do you know which "tower" you're getting your
current signal from.

As far as anyone can tell, it's impossible to get the cell id tower from
the phone on an iOS device, so you have to use an Android device to figure
that out.

I have a similar setup to yours, except that I have at least three (and
maybe more) towers for my phone to choose from (two of which are inside my
own home).

So just having a decibel reading doesn't tell me *which* tower I'm
connected to (since there are at least three or more to choose from).

The good news is that my decibel readings are now in the -50dBm to -60dBm
range (instead of the minus 90 to minus 100 decibel range as they were
before I hooked up the micro towers!).