The US operator Verizon Wireless targets fixed wireless access (FWA) in the 28 GHz frequency band. With partners, they created a pre-5G specification called 5G Technical Forum (5GTF). The business case depends on the number of households that can be connected to a certain number of base stations and still provide a suitably high data throughput. For the required signal…

Everyone is talking about 5G. Long before commercial 5G services are even available, a myriad of articles, reports, presentations and speeches have been made public – creating a big buzz and high expectations in the new standard. What’s the role of mobile network testing on the path to 5G? How can scanner measurements help operators pave the way to the…

Different mobile network measurement tools target different measurement scenarios. One might be the preferred choice for collecting mass data for benchmarking; another might offer extensive possibilities for engineering and troubleshooting. Do we always know how the collected measurement data is being evaluated when we are performing the actual measurement? Most probably not. But wouldn’t it be great if we could…

How can mobile app testing support network optimization? In previous posts, we explained how you could assess the QoE of data applications on smartphones by measuring the success rate and duration of a series of actions. Based on large-scale real field measurement data, we showed how the duration saturates at higher available network speeds and examined the causes of this…

In the previous post, we explained how to measure QoE of mobile data applications on smartphones by means of success rate and the duration of a series of actions. Based on large-scale real field data, we showed how the duration saturates at higher available network speeds. But where does saturation come from? And what is going on in the background,…

Today, there are a huge number of apps available for smartphones covering almost any use case one can think of. Network providers want to ensure that their mobile connection offers everyone a smooth usage experience, especially for the most popular smartphone apps such as Facebook. To do this, they need targeted mobile data application tests. In this blog series, we…

NB-IoT networks are designed for machine-to-machine communication, which generally requires low data rates. When building NB-IoT networks, it is essential to test the performance of new implementations to ensure that the required network quality is available. Tests to measure quality of service (QoS) in NB-IoT networks are typically performed with NB-IoT modules that are controlled by software. Our measurement software…

HetNets and small cell indoor deployments are an effective means to deal with the exponentially increasing data consumption in mobile networks. After the careful planning and actual installation of a new small cell network, it’s time to verify the commissioned indoor deployments and ensure quality of experience (QoE). Both are best achieved with a commercially available smartphone, designed for reliable…

The need for interference hunting in mobile networks is steadily increasing. And field engineers often ask us which tool we would recommend to be successful in the field. With decades of expertise, what we can say for sure is that it depends: the right tool for successful field service operations depends on the source of interference. Sources are manifold, but…