News

August, 27th 2020

Since Aug, 27th, a new version of the iOS app of RTR-NetTest is available. Version 2.5.1 uses the new app logo, updated libraries and optimizes dark-mode.

July 20,2020

Since July 20, 2020 a beta version of the new Android app of RTR-NetTest (Version 4) is available in the Google Play store. Besides a new design and a new app logo, the functions of the app have been modernized. If you want, you can already now participate in the public beta test..

July 16th, 2020

Version 3.7.10 of the Android app shows "5G" on the start screen when connected via 5G. If 5G is only signaled as available and there is actually no 5G connection, the display on the start screen is now "̶5̶G̶ + 4G". So far, only "4G" was displayed in the latter case. In contrast, the smartphone itself only shows "5G" in the status bar in both cases.

July 9, 2020

5G ist not the same as 5G

It could actually be simple: either the smartphone uses 5G or it doesn't use 5G.

But it's not that simple, we took a closer look.

The starting point was feedback that the smartphone shows 5G, but the RTR-NetTest only shows 4G. We tested, and at first glance everything was fine: the smartphone shows 5G, the RTR-NetTest also shows 5G. When we moved away from the 5G base station we saw the problem described: While the RTR-NetTest only showed 4G, the status display on the smartphone was still 5G. A restart of the device did not change the situation. So we analyzed the information at the interface between the app and the operating system (API):

So far we used the parameter "nrState". If it was “connected”, we displayed 5G. "NR" means "new radio", i.e. the 5G radio technology. But there is another parameter "isNrAvailable". So far we had not used this parameter, but our log clearly showed: This parameter corresponds to the status display on the smartphone.

The smartphones we tested already show 5G when the "isNrAvailable" parameter was set to "true". We had previously only displayed 5G when the smartphone was connected to 5G, i.e. when 5G was actually used for data transmission.

The migration to 5G is much more complicated than it was from 2G to 3G or from 3G to 4G. In previous generations of cellular technology, the phone was connected to only one technology, if the device was connected to 3G, it used 3G, not 2G. With the current mobile radio generation, however, the device connects to 4G first. It is then signaled within 4G that a 5G radio cell is also available for data transmission. This 5G cell is then used in addition to the 4G radio cells for data transmission. This mode is called "none stand alone" mode, in future there will also be a pure 5G mode, this will be called "stand alone". But back to the current mode: The device is connected to 4G, the 4G cell signals that 5G is also present (this is the parameter "isNrAvailable").

If data is transmitted and the device is within range of a 5G cell, this can be seen in “nrState”.

5G in the status bar is not the same as 5G in data transmission. We will therefore adapt our app interface so that it can be seen whether 5G is signaled as available and whether 5G is used for data transmission.

July 1st, 2020

The certified measurement can not be used for cubes and routers (press release).

May 7th, 2020

5G detection was improved with version 3.7.5 of the Android app.

12 November 2019

A new update of the RTR-NetTest-folder is available under downloads.

1 October 2019

Since October 1, 2019 the certified measurement is available.

20 September 2019

15 July 2019: Accurate sea level data

The open data information was updated again. For tests with location in Austria sea level information is determined. The data originates from Open Data 10m raster information from Statistik Austria. Tests show, that mobile phone GPS measurements yield to an incremental overestimation of sea level starting at 1000m. The data derived from the digital terrain model of Statistic Austria in contrast brings results which are accurate within a few meters to known reference points (e.g. mountain tops). In addiotion, also locations without sea level information (e.g. Wifi position fixing) can now be associated with a sea level. In Open Data sea level information based on the digital terrain model can be found in the dtm_level field.

10 June 2019: Distance to base station in LTE

RTR NetTest determines a number of radio parameters, best known is the signal strength with which the base station is received. Newer Android devices also pass the so called "timing advance" parameter. That parameter determines the point in time when a transmission from the mobile starts so that the base station received the transmission exactly at the beginning of the right time slot. The more the mobile is away from the base station, the earlier it has to start with the transmission. Thus, this parameter can be used to determine how far the mobile is away from the base station. The distance is not the air-line distance, but the path used by the radio signal, especially in built up areas this might include reflections. The value of timing advance is denoted as integer starting with 0 (directly at the base station). A conversion into meters is done by the factor of 78. For example the timing advance parameter of 15 exquals to a distance of approx. 1170m to the base station use. The parameter is available in Open Data JSON (not CSV) as "timing_advance". In the Android app timing advance can be displayed on the start screen when the export modus has been activated in the settings.

27 May 2019: Test results available as PDF

After completing a loop mode, results can be downloaded as PDF.

20 May 2019: Extension of open data

Open data have been extended. For tests on the road, the street name will be determined and will be mentioned in open data, e.g. “A22”. Moreover, the open data sources have been updated. For example, community borders as of 1 January 2019 apply to all tests. In addition, positioning has been refined in that the first precise location during a test is used as the test location. If precise details are required, details of the REST interface have to be taken into account.  The CVS/Excel interfaces provide a compact summary of the available information.

14 May 2019: New app/browser version with loop mode UUID

The loop mode is currently being updated in that repeated measurements have a common loop mode UUID, i.e. a common identification. In the future, users will be able to retrieve results of a specific loop mode test, which might be considered as a special sequel of repeated measurements.

5 April 2019: New functions of the Android app

As of version 3.5.4 of the Android app, apart from updating various software libraries, the expert mode has been extended. When activating the expert mode, the mobile radio bands, the channel number and the timing advance are displayed on the home screen. This function is available on all newer Android devices. On some dual SIM devices it is not available. Some of those dual SIM devices do not allow to recognise the active SIM card.

1 December 2018: New open data license

Since 1 December 2018, open data of RTR-NetTest are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The new license replaces the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 AT license applied until 30 November 2018.

27 October 2018: Open data link in Android app

A small but useful improvement: So far, it was impossible to retrieve the open data entry of a measurement within the app. Now the open test UUID is provided as a link in the history details.