How To Determine Cell Service on Your Property BEFORE buying cell cameras!
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- Опубліковано 2 лип 2024
- With more and more trail camera users wanting to get into the cellular trail camera market, there is still some hesitancy with some frequent questions people ask themselves, which mostly stem from cell coverage…
DO I HAVE CELL SIGNAL ON MY PROPERTY?
WHAT CELLULAR CARRIER COVERS MY AREA?
IF I HAVE SIGNAL, HOW STRONG IS IT?
All these questions are good things to be wondering and asking yourself before taking the leap into the cell camera world. The last thing you want to do is go through the purchase process to find out you do not have coverage.
COVERAGE MAPS
One of the easiest ways to get a very general idea of what type of coverage you have on your property is simply looking at carrier maps. All carriers (Verizon, AT&T, US Cellular, etc) have infographic coverage maps that can be found on their website.
USING YOUR EXISTING MOBILE DEVICE
One of the most common sense ways to test cell signal is just to walk the property with your mobile device. Mark out possible camera locations and verify the signal strength displayed on your phone.
Most cellular trail cameras will have similar or slightly better reception than your mobile device due to external antennas (assuming the same network hardware are in both devices). However, you cannot bank on a significant difference. Any and all certified carrier devices must go through similar testing and have similar reception performance. This is mandated by the carriers, so any trail camera company telling you there's a large gap in reception performance is just trying to sell you a product.
Keep in mind, this advice is really only applicable if you are certain you will be purchasing a cellular trail camera that is certified by the same carrier as your phone.
MOBILE APPS AND TOOLS
While the scenario above certain works for the vast majority of folks, there are some instances where folks have a phone with AT&T coverage and have no signal on their property. Thus leaving them wondering about a cellular trail camera certified through Verizon or other carriers.
In addition to coverage maps, there are several tools that can be used to decipher what carrier, specific network coverages, and speeds are available. Below are a few options that can be found on your mobile app store regardless of your phone provider and also a dial in tool.
Open Signal - This app is free to download for both android and iOS operating systems. Open Signal allows you to see nearby signals ranging from phone antennas to WiFi routers and covers 3G, 4G, LTE, and WiFi. The app can be clunky at times but with limited iOS options, it’s commonly used.
Network Cell Info Lite - This app is only available on Andriod operating systems. Network Cell Info provides the location of your signal on a map and then color codes the signal sent and received making it fairly user friendly.
Root Metric - Available for both Android and iOS devices, Root Metrics displays compiled data from existing mobile devices. To do this Root Metrics captures data from users by testing network performance when consumers use their mobile devices for voice or data communications. The data capture bugs a lot of people (including us) thus this app isn’t highly recommended.
3001#12345# - A faboulus built in feature to your mobile device, by dialing this sequence of keys an info graphic style page opens up. These two pages display an array of information with the most important coming up on the dashboard. On the dashboard you will see several signal measurements pertinent to your device and location.
BASELINE INFO
With all the above tools there is some base line information you need to know to make any of this relevant.
Mobile Signals are measured in decibels (dB)
Signal Strength is measured in decibel-milliwatts (dBm)
-50 dBm is consider full capacity
-120 dBm is considered worst case scenario
In layman's terms, any reading ranging from -50 to -120 dBm is showing service.
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Wow. This is incredibly helpful. Not only for general cell cam stuff, but also for western hunting research.
Thanks for the info Chad. I'm on the fence about getting a cell cam but for me it's something I have to learn.
This is the best info I have found. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this information. I have thought about at least one cell camera to try it out, but the property that I can hunt I can get anywhere from 0-2 bars of AT&T which is my carrier but it is inconsistent
My favorite source for data on signal strength for carriers has to be cellmapper. Can be accessed on the web on any device.
thanks for tip on cell phone ...never knew
Thanks great info👍🏻
Now we're going to need a video on that booster antenna ! Great video by the way
Coming in a few weeks.
Hell yeah! thanks for the response
You forgot the * at the end of your code instructions for this code to open this feature. It should be
Great video! So if I have very weak signal. Close to 120 mark. What cell camera should I buy? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Some of the info sounds intimidating but once you use a couple of these tools you'll find everything is really really simple and easy!
These cell cams with their huge antennas compared to a phone should be able to capture a cell signal that a phone can't. my place far away has iffy service as the land blocks the tower, text and phone is sporadic at best. As anyone experienced cell cam function in areas like this even when a phone has a hard time detecting a signal.
What type of battery does the camera use? And how long does it last?
That number combo did not work on my iPhone 13
You have a discrepancy in the video where you show *3001**#12345**#* but you say *3001#12345#
Neither version worked on my Verizon. .
Try adding the * at the end. He left this out in his instructions.
So what happens if you have Straight Talk cell phone service??
Just caught this older video. Your code you gave us doesn't work. As many other peeps mentioned. Not seeing an update on this misinformation.
Do you have celluar cams for At&t customers?
We only have a Verizon certified cell camera at this time. However, it doesn’t matter if your phone is on AT&T. You can still use Verizon cell cameras if there’s Verizon coverage in that area
@@ExodusOutdoorGear Awesome, I plan on buying one shortly from you guys then !
"Obviously if you have coverage with your cell provider you'll have coverage with your camera" LOL not according to spypoint . Never ever buy a spypoint. There products and service is a joke. Full signal on my phone means nothing to them .
have a verizon cell phone I tried the *3001**#12345**#* it doesn't work
I tried it also on my Android ,nothing.
Neither did mine! I'm on Verizon! I think this whole clip is bull sssss! Now! FJB! LET'S GO! BRANDON!
My Verizon too. There is a discrepancy in the video where he shows *3001**#12345**#* but says *3001#12345#
Neither version worked.
Try adding the * at the end. He left this out in his instructions.
@@cstancil Try adding the * at the end. He left this out in his instructions.