Any way to find out which carriers operate on a given cell tower?

[GeekDrew]

Though I live in the city (at the moment), I am frequently on a farm that seems to be in the middle of nowhere. The nearest cell tower to the farm is 5 miles away, and though it isn't line of sight, there should theoretically be a relatively clear path between the farm and the tower.

Right now I have cellular service via Nextel - which is awesome here in the city, but I have no signal at all on the farm, unless I'm standing on top of the house, or am up in hayloft #2 -- any place very high.

My sister uses T-Mobile, and she doesn't have great service out there either - she sometimes has a signal, and sometimes doesn't.

I know that there is *some* carrier out there that has a good signal on the farm. Last year we had hospice out quite a bit, and whatever kind of phone they carried always had a signal... I didn't think to ask them what kind it was at the time.

So... does anyone know of any way to figure out what company operates on that cellular tower (besides cramming several friends with different cell phone carriers into my truck and taking a road trip)?

Thanks!

Drew

 

[MikeMike]

walk over to the cell tower, walk around the fence, find the sign that says "no trespassing, property owned by XXXXX communications"

problem solved.

MIKE

 

[rudeguy]

if you get an old nokia and put it into field test mode it will tell you the operator ID of the tower. You can then look that up to find out.

not much help, but thats all I can come up with

 

[anxi80]

just assume its verizon that works. 😉

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
walk over to the cell tower, walk around the fence, find the sign that says "no trespassing, property owned by XXXXX communications"

problem solved.

MIKE

I expected a wiser answer from you.

I would have done that if possible... however, the tower and property is situated in the center of another farm... one in which NOBODY tresspasses for any reason. The owners aren't the friendliest people.

I would have done that a LONG time ago.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: anxi80
just assume its verizon that works. 😉

Any particular reason why?

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: GoodDad
if you get an old nokia and put it into field test mode it will tell you the operator ID of the tower. You can then look that up to find out.

not much help, but thats all I can come up with

Thanks 🙂

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: anxi80
just assume its verizon that works. 😉

Any particular reason why?

"can you hear me now?"

also, they boast the best nationwide coverage.

edit: but follow other people's advice in this thread. im a bit biased as a verizon user, and also, i attempted to interject a small dose of humor in this thread. i failed. miserably.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: anxi80

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: anxi80
just assume its verizon that works. 😉

Any particular reason why?

"can you hear me now?"

also, they boast the best nationwide coverage.

edit: but follow other people's advice in this thread. im a bit biased as a verizon user, and also, i attempted to interject a small dose of humor in this thread. i failed. miserably.

I'm going to look into Sprint and Verizon... they seem to be two popular carriers in the area. If I can't do anything else, I'll take a friend (or a friend's phone) with me down there... one that has Sprint, one that has Verizon.

And yeah, I realized you were trying to be a bit humorous.

 

[MazerRackham]

If your sister has T-Mobile, her phone should have a "search for network" function (mine does, SE T610). Here where I live, it shows the AT&T GSM Network and the Cingular/T-Mobile network that I use of course. See what her phone says, if nothing shows up at all, then you know it must be either Verizon CDMA or Sprint CDMA, since you have Nextel and that doesn't work for you either.

Sprint or Verizon probably runs that tower...

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: MazerRackham
If your sister has T-Mobile, her phone should have a "search for network" function (mine does, SE T610). Here where I live, it shows the AT&T GSM Network and the Cingular/T-Mobile network that I use of course. See what her phone says, if nothing shows up at all, then you know it must be either Verizon CDMA or Sprint CDMA, since you have Nextel and that doesn't work for you either.

Sprint or Verizon probably runs that tower...

I have no idea what model her phone is... but I'll see if I can do that!

Thanks 🙂

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
walk over to the cell tower, walk around the fence, find the sign that says "no trespassing, property owned by XXXXX communications"

problem solved.

MIKE

I expected a wiser answer from you.

I would have done that if possible... however, the tower and property is situated in the center of another farm... one in which NOBODY tresspasses for any reason. The owners aren't the friendliest people.

I would have done that a LONG time ago.

How about calling them up?

 

[GeekDrew]

Been there, done that; they don't want to answer.

I wonder if the fire dept would tell me the responsible authority... they would have to know in case of fire in the control building.

 

[ZOXXO]

May get some useful info here.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: ZOXXO
May get some useful info here.

<slaps forehead>

WHY didn't I think to query the FCC's Antenna Structure Registration Database???

FCC-ASR reported American Towers, Inc., which reports that the telecom servicing that tower is Sprint of Ohio. I would assume that Sprint of Ohio would be supporting Sprint PCS Wireless... :-/

<edit>

If my theory is true, I wonder why Sprintcom doesn't own the tower, as it does several others in the county and surrounding counties.