Skip to content
← Network Survey User Manual

Network technologies overview

Network Survey works with four wireless technologies:

  • Cellular: GSM, CDMA, UMTS, LTE, and 5G NR networks
  • Wi-Fi: 802.11 networks on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices
  • GNSS: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, and IRNSS satellites, plus SBAS augmentation satellites

Seeing them live: the Signals tab

Section titled “Seeing them live: the Signals tab”

The Signals tab has one view per technology, picked from the row at the top: Cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GNSS.

These views work with or without a survey. Open one and the app starts scanning that radio for as long as the view is on screen, so you can look around before you record anything. What you see is only saved when a survey that records that type is running. The Survey tab and the survey notification tell you whether a survey is recording; see The Survey tab.

The line under the view picker says how often the view scans, for example “Scan every 5 s”. The Cellular view also shows which SIM it is reading (“SIM 1 · T-Mobile”, or “No SIM”), and the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth views show counts (“Scan #5 · 61 APs”, “143 devices”) instead. When the survey that records the type is paused, the line reads Survey paused, since no new scans arrive.

The views use the same scan intervals as surveys. Change them in Settings > Scan rates; see Scan rates. The GNSS view updates as fast as the phone’s receiver reports, so it shows no interval.

Recording them: one survey

Section titled “Recording them: one survey”

You pick which record types a survey records and which destinations receive them on the Survey tab. See The Survey tab.

Use cases by technology

Section titled “Use cases by technology”

Cellular

Section titled “Cellular”
  • Coverage mapping and drive tests
  • Signal strength analysis
  • Checking tower locations
  • Finding neighbor cells
  • Handover analysis

Wi-Fi

Section titled “Wi-Fi”
  • Access point inventory
  • Channel congestion analysis
  • Wardriving
  • Site surveys before a deployment

Bluetooth

Section titled “Bluetooth”
  • BLE beacon surveys
  • IoT device discovery
  • Spotting Find My trackers such as AirTags

GNSS

Section titled “GNSS”
  • Checking fix quality and accuracy
  • Tracking which constellations and bands the phone uses
  • Comparing signal levels across bands
Section titled “Related”