Neighbouring cell information is inaccurate

Question

I\'m trying to make use of a mobile information about neighbouring cells, available on Android via TelephonyManager class and its getNeighboringCellInfo

Answer 1

Neighboring cells are reported in two different ways:

On GSM/GPRS (which seems to be the network you were on when you took your screenshot) you should get the MCC/MNC/LAC/CID tuple for the neighboring cells. I see you get valid CID values. The PSC will always be -1 if you're on a GSM (2.xG) network, as the PSC has no meaning on GSM (PSC is a CDMA parameter and GSM is TDMA-based).

On UMTS things are different: For neighboring cells only the PSC is reported, and you will not find out their other parameters unless you connect to them.

LTE is in principle similar to UMTS, but with slightly different names: instead of LAC and CID you have TAC (Tracking Area Code) and CI (Cell Identity); instead of a PSC you have a PCI (Physical Cell ID). However, they do essentially the same as their UMTS counterparts.

Note, however, that implementation varies greatly between devices: Some phones will not report PSC even on 3G networks, and some will never report neighboring cells. The Nexus S (as most Samsung-built devices) reports neither.

Not sure about the LAC=0, though. It might mean "same LAC as current cell", in which case it would be interesting to see the output from the boundary of a Location Area, where the phone can pick up cells with multiple LACs. (Would we be seeing cells from both LAs? Or just from "our" LA? What LAC would be reported for cells from a neighboring LA?)