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I'm soon going to install a 3g modem (Huawei B932) with an external antenna on our summer place. When choosing what direction the antenna should be directed it would be very useful to get some sort of measure for the signal strength for each direction. The modem it self just gives 3 levels with different led colors, and I suspect that is not enough for me.

I found many questions about getting the signal strength for a USB stick modem, but how about a real modem that is connected to the laptop through an ethernet cabel.

I tried Ixconn, but could not get it working. It just says "Modem not responding".

I'm using 12.04

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  • I called my operator and they gave me the directions to the nearest antennas, so I'll use that information for now.
    – Mika
    Aug 4, 2014 at 7:16

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Hmm... the answer might depend a lot on the modem type, all are "real" ;-)

Here is a google search for "Fastrack" modem manuals,
https://www.google.se/?gfe_rd=cr&safe=off#q=fastrack+modem+manual&safe=off

If you look through them you eventually find "AT+CSQ" in there, The prepended "+" followed by "CSQ" is short for "Cellular, Signal Quality" (edit: see comment below). A modem of this type may me accessed through a serial port where you 'type' AT-commands and get them executed. Typing just "AT" followed by ENTER would create a response either "OK" or a number corresponding to it. (This could just as well be software 'typing' it).

The manuals that come up for the huawei doesn't suggest there is an "AT-command" interface available:
https://www.google.se/?gfe_rd=cr&safe=off#q=huawei%20b932%20manual&safe=off

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  • Regarding the name, yes SQ is signal quality (see 27.007), but C is not check. All AT commands starting with +C are reserved for mobile phone related commands (C for Cellular). See Appendix I in V.250.
    – hlovdal
    Jul 24, 2014 at 1:07
  • If I understand your answer correctly, AT-commands would be the way to get the signal strength, but my Huawei B932 does not have an AT interface so I cannot use AT-commands. :(
    – Mika
    Jul 26, 2014 at 19:03
  • Yes, AT-commands would be the programming interface. Unless you know a way to get to them (a 'SDK' might contain the info), you need the help of a skilled enough programmer.
    – Hannu
    Jul 28, 2014 at 10:19

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