The #1 tool for the Security & Fire alarm industry
OpenSignal is the best, most important cellular testing tool I have as a professional in the Security & Fire Alarm industry. This free, amazingly easy to use, comprehensive testing & tower locator tool insures that the cellular communicators that we install are using the best carrier available based on signal strength, data latency upload/download speed testing that I perform myself at every location I go to. For me and those in my industry, OpenSignal insures top performance when seconds means the difference in life or death. Having a tool in your hand that tests cellular performance from the exact location you are at, is a dream come true for those who’s job is to secure property, protect jobs, and save lives. No matter where you are, you know whether you can use the cellular communicators internal antenna or if you will need an outdoor antenna because of the distance you are from a tower or the buildings size or the structures building material blocks the cellular signal. In those areas that a long-range directional antenna is required, OpenSignal shows me exactly where to point my antenna. As a 33 year veteran of the Security & Fire Alarm Industry. I recommend everyone that uses cellular communications to get this app, it’s a Life Saver figuratively and Literally.
[Updated, 8 June 2020]: Changed my rating to 3 stars now that the signal compass feature has been restored (as of app version 5.2.2). Would give it another star except that the upload part of the speed test feature consistently fails for me (starts, but fails with message “Error”). Of 24 speed tests, only 3 completed that part of the test. —— Just updated the app (to version 5.0.3) only to discover that the most useful function has been removed: the cell tower signal direction indicator!!! That feature has been used by many people over the years, like me, to determine in which direction to point the antenna of my cell signal booster in order to obtain the best connection. It totally makes no sense at all why the developers would choose to remove that function, and also to not announce it in the version release notes. Two thumbs down! This app is now mostly useless. The speedtest function hasn’t worked reliably or at all most of the time for over a year. And the cell signal mapping is mostly useless because of low participation outside of large metropolitan areas, and if you’re in such an area you’re likely to get a good signal anyway.
Been using this app for over a year now and it seems to really gives you the best average speed test rather than maximum speed. I have Ookla SpeedTest and I use it to compare the differences of its performance and Ookla (and other speed test app) does only give you what your cell signal/Wi-Fi maximum speed is and Open Signal gives you the real speed that you’re always averaging. This app would be perfect if the developer can make it for you to delete your old test records (you can but it comes back after resetting the app) and needs to add location to where you test your signal and Wi-Fi so you can keep track of where you had already test the signal. There seems to be a problem with the find cellular signal. I’m standing right next to my cellular sever (T-Mobile) and it’s pointing away from it?. Other then that this is a great speed test app. 3 stars for now.
The application is different than the rest, with the idea of a compass directing you to the nearest tower. And the ability to check the speed of you Wi-Fi’s, download, upload, and latency. The people that write a negative review forget a couple of things.. First, the application is Free! There is so much a free application can do without it being a “ Professional Technician “ and charge you. Second, even though some of things on the app have bugs, I believe that’s the reason why updates were created. Third and last, the developer of the application is actually responding your entitled reviews and fixing the issue that you complain about because you can’t afford a professional to fix your internet. Lol!
I have been using this app to find towers while boondocking in the desert, it helps me point my Yagi antenna at the nearest tower. Well the latest update removed that function so this app is now just about useless as i normally only have one tower in range, I just need to know where it is, this app used to do that, no more so will have to find another way. Why you removed the best feature is beyond me. *UPDATE* I have updated my review two 4 stars as the developers have brought back the compass, which was to me the most important feature, redesigned, might want to add a direction marker at the top of the screen as it is not readily apparent which direction is the alignment point.
While the testing is easy to use, the frustrating part is that I cannot get it to show me any cell towers. Keeps telling me that there seems to not be any towers here and I’m in the middle of a high density data area in a very populated city. I don’t understand the message just says that there are no cell towers. I’m suspecting that when I get out on the road and try to use it, I will be told that I cannot find any cell towers even though there may be some around me. That’s a portion that I would really like to see work. I’m on an iPhone.
I used this app to find cell towers as we travel full time and I used it to point our cell phone booster. They removed the tower locator and arrow function. These were the most useful features to me. There are better options for a speed test app. Not sure why they took away a key differentiator. The app went from 5-star and exactly what I needed to 1-star with no features I need. ** Developer added back compass function to see direction to only closest tower. It’s better but being able to tap the compass and see the locations of all towers was most useful. Sometimes closest the tower is obstructed and it works better to point cell booster toward a different antenna. I’ll add one star back for bringing back an in-demand feature back. But the app still isn’t as useful to me as a cell tower map.
I especially like that Open Signal offers competition to Ookla‘a well-known speed test apps. This app gives good real-world performance insights into each of the networks you might connect to. The app does not detect when switching Wi-Fi networks and needs to be force quit and relaunched to pick up the change. When switching from one Wi-Fi network to another, running a speed test will tag the result with the previous network name and often fail to compete the test at all. The data usage feature is interesting but doesn’t seem work either. Usage results are not updated without force quitting and relaunching the app.
Opensignal & Meteor — two crippled apps that should be merged into one. On Meteor, the maps tab will show the name of the WiFi access point, but on the history tab, it will say “unknown wifi” but will allow you to edit the name. How does that make any sense. Similar issues on Opensignal, which recognizes the name of the access but then saves the name as simply Wifi under history. Mobile will also only say 5G or 4G but then does not include the network provider, which is especially helpful while roaming, nor does it include GPS coordinates like Meteor does… I could go on, but it’s hard to believe this disjointed behavior, as dysfunctional as it is, has not been purposeful.
First the positive: It works well providing you with a true internet speed test. Now the bad: The maps and “signal finder” are worthless. They don’t show many cell phone towers at all. I have a huge, multi-cell tower operated by my carrier a half mile from my house that’s been there for 15 years that they don’t recognize at all. When asked about that, their reply is “it’s not in our database.” As a result of that, rather than their signal pointer pointing towards that tower, it points to where there is no tower... False positives and inaccurate locations are even worse than the towers they fail to recognize. I live near Lake Michigan and their map shows a dozen towers in the middle of the lake. You may ask why it even shows a dozen towers in a relatively small area, I’ll tell you- Say a single tower has 9 cell antennas on it, this app shows it as 9 separate towers, and because the geolocation is so awful, it shows them all spread out over a mile apart. The end result is a single tower in a single location is reported as 9 different towers spread over a couple square miles, and their “signal finder” points at all those non-existent towers. Worthless.
I like the open map that shows you where other users of the app have been and performed tests. However, in some cases it would not let me zoom in. Additionally, would be great to have more than just red and green. If the map could show at least yellow for medium signals, that would be awesome. Got a friend who wants to map his entire little town by driving every road and walking into the woods for the gaps. Also, option of showing tower locations would be great. Thanks for all your hard work.
I didn’t get this app at first. I had no signal at all at home. I knew there was a tower nearby because I had 65 plus mbs just 5/miles away. Turns out, the tower is even closer. I took the phone to the south east part of my house where the tower is. I couldn’t believe it. Sitting in my cupboard, my iPhone got 2 bars LTE. It still has no signal anywhere else even outside.. I connected my laptop. Updated the iOS. Now, I am getting 11-12mbs consistently. Kind of strange, but I never would have located that tower without this app.
I downloaded this app primarily because I wanted to be able to identify the location of cell towers and the carriers that they belong to. I recently changed cell carriers after 20+ years with the same one and trying to learn where my new carrier has true coverage and where they don’t. The “Find Signal” feature shows all towers as being my carrier’s towers even when I KNOW that I am roaming on another carrier. Also the arrow that you’re supposed to follow to locate the tower is not based on actual tower locations, it’s based on crowd-sourcing information which is no more accurate than my own anecdotal knowledge of the area. The speed test and data usage features are helpful but they aren’t what I downloaded the app for.
Nice idea here, but like others rating this app, I NEVER see any cell towers! I use VZW in the US like many, but regardless of where I go, I never see towers. Even if I allow “roaming” I still never see towers. That is originally why I was interested in the app... to try to nail down why I have poor signal strength near home even though I see towers in my line of sight! As for the speed tests... useless as they do not tell you where the other end is or how many hops, and you can’t choose test locations. Sooooooo.... meh. Sorry. I will maybe keep it on my phone for a little while, but will likely just let it go quietly away someday when I need to purge unused apps. Nice try but not working or useful * AS ADVERTISED * .
Currently using iOS 15.1 and not sure if it’s fully functional for cell tower location, but WiFi resources are solid. Unlike other apps I’ve tried, this is uncluttered, and it’s free. It helped me determine that I need a new, more efficient and powerful router at home, and it confirmed weak signal areas at work. I could not get any cell towers to show up and I know they’re nearby. Had hoped to use this app to help me with a live stream coming up soon, but not being amble to locate a cell tower is a problem.
That being said, the reason i only gave it 4 stars is because it lacks the ability to orient in any way beyond portrait mode. I use my iPad with a keyboard, putting it in landscape mode. Hard to understand why, in this day and age, apps are not written with the ability to change orientations per position of device. For my purposes, works better than Ookla, but would love developers to give it ability to orient appropriately.
I downloaded this app based on the recommendation of a cell signal booster company. They clearly have had a different experience than mine. The most important feature, finding a cell tower, simply does not work. Sitting in an area that, by my own phone’s indication has a 2-bar ATT signal, the app says it cannot find ANY cell tower, This area is also well known to have a solid Verizon and T-Mobile signal. Location services on my phone are turned-on and functional, so I cannot fathom what value this app actually provides. Download it if you feel compelled to clutter your phone with another icon. Otherwise, do not waste your time.
Much of this app is tough to figure out. The first screen says, “Follow the arrow” but there is no arrow. Pressing the icon for the cell provider takes me to a map of my current location. I can type an address and it takes me there, but it took me a while to zoom out far enough to see a tower location. These are just labeled, with no indication of signal coverage. (Update: after an hour, an arrow appeared! 5 minutes later it pointed in the opposite direction in each case it did not appear to point towards a tower) WiFi didn’t make sense either until I zoomed much further out. The coverage map is crowd sourced, so understandably sparse. I’d add to it if I could. I thought the app might be auto logging my data, since I allowed that, but I haven’t seen any updates to the map around me. Unfortunately, the different signal strengths are in colors that are difficult to distinguish for someone who is red/green colorblind (as I am). Speed test and data usage work as expected, though these were not features I’m looking for.
I be used the open signal app for years. I primarily use it to find the direction of the nearest cell tower. But the latest few updates (5+ or more) state “No Cell Tower Located”. This doesn’t matter if WiFi is on or off. I have an iPhone 15 with the latest updates and your app version 5.70.0 (latest version) on the Verizon network. While other features, such as speed testing is nice, the cell tower direction is primarily what this is app is Doran’s why I use it. Also, I’ve tried app support (website contact us), and every email address I can enter is stated as not supported.
1. After the iOS 13 update, the signal readings on the map became almost translucent, they’re pretty hard to see, especially in dark mode. Ok, fine. I get it’s difficult transitioning to a whole new iOS platform. BUT.... 2. The the maps keep loading slower and slower. Utterly terrible. It’s almost unusable, even on strong solid WiFi connections.
Downloaded the app and it appears the directional arrow has been re-implemented. Don’t know if it was an update glitch or whatever, but the app is now useful! This app worked at one time but no longer has the directional arrow indicating the direction of the cell tower. This function was key when installing a directional cell signal booster antenna. Now that it no longer works, deleted the app. Not recommended if you need to identify the source of your strongest signal.
The only use I had for this app was to find where the nearest strongest cell signal was coming from..... it would point its arrow I. The direction I would need to point my booster antenna ...... now when I travel.... I have NO CLUE where to point it! Thanks for getting rid of the only use I had for you. UPDATE They listened and they care.... the arrow is now back. Once again.... happy with the app!!! Thanks for fixing it!
I’ve deleted this app several times, and every once in a while re-install it thinking maybe it “works” now. The main issue used to Beth’s missing “follow the arrow” arrow. Well, that’s still missing. The reason for my most recent re-install is That I wanted to check signal strength on Verizon for a certain area on the map. Well, there’s a “Select Carrier” dropdown, but the only option is “All”. There’s no option for individual carriers anymore. An average of three completely separate carriers is 100% useless info. Guess I’m deleting…again.
I used this app for about 10 minutes trying to locate the two cellular towers that are in my area. it doesn’t even detect them. It is based on old outdated data of previous users. Another app I use shows the exact connection point to the cellular tower in my area and the dBM. While connected to Wi-Fi at home it can provide a speed test and video test. Neither of which are very useful as I have that built in info on my network Orbi app. There is no reason to keep this app on my phone, I can’t understand the high praise or positive reviews.
I have installed and deleted this app several times. It worked fine the first time I opened it but after closing and reopening it failed to operate correctly. I found if I deleted and the reinstalled from the cloud it would operate correctly one time then would have to be deleted again and reinstalled before using again. Great idea, hope you can get the bugs out. Good luck!
App is slightly useful for speed testing, though it lacks any real informative data about your connection or distant end. As far as pointing towards a cell tower, that has NEVER worked no matter where I try. In the city with a billion towers or out in the remote desert, never. (I’m on AT&T) Crowdsourcing only works in a static environment with say, a crowd. My remote location never shows any data despite my app usage, but locally AT&T has changed equipment & possibly towers over the past year. Makes older data useless.
I downloaded this app after seeing is referenced and recommended by several fellow RVers I mainly wanted to use the tower locator/signal compass feature. Unfortunately I have yet to get it to work. I always get the same “No cell tower located” error. If I am doing something wrong, I certainly can’t figure it out. If I can get that feature to work reliably it would be an easy 5 star app. The other features (speed tests and coverage maps) earned the 2nd star but the most important feature to me just doesn’t work. Would happily take Dev suggestions.
Only 15MB of space and no identifiers. Doesn't do much on LTE but it does more than nothing. It gives some info for my local rural tower but that info is in conflict with real collected data that isn't readily available to public. Go ahead and give it full permissions because it doesn't do anything naughty. I hope it improves! cheers
If everyone downloaded this app, it would be even better but you can only do so much with limited users. For some reason, when I run speed tests it seems like it always has a latency error, not sure if this is a bug or my service itself. If you select the interactive map, you can press check performance which goes through all the major carriers and lists speeds and latency with signal strength (IMO this is the best feature of the app). It would be nice to know how the app sends data back to Opensignal and the frequency that it does that. Tldr: this is a good app for all smartphone users if you are wondering about your cell phone service and reception for different areas.
When checking a selected carriers coverage at first go say Verizon in trying to switch to another carrier all it keeps doing us jumping back to carrier signal 2g 4g etc . The app won’t refresh the carrier info it’s stuck on Verizon . after a few attempts it crashes with oops something went wrong and can’t get carrier data right now . Been having this issue for a while now . I just deleted the app and reinstalled so it should be on the latest version but still I have the same issue . iPhone 6 Plus iOS 11.4 . Carrier T-Maybe
Ever since the last two iOS updates, the find signal part of the app no longer works. It will not show any cell tower information or location it’s simply blank. It had been working fine. I tried to withhold the star rating until this is resolved but it won’t allow me to send without a star rating. At this time, I have to give it a 3 out of 5.
I have been using this app for about three years. We have about 30 people using this app in our company. The most important part of the app is the tower finder arrow, unfortunately, this has been taken off of the app. I have the latest version and this app is now virtually useless to me and all the people in my company that I had on this app, the other tools in the app work well but not as important as the tower finder.
Current version removed the arrow that pointed to connected tower
This application used to be very valuable to locate my connected tower so I could move towards it to improve my reception. It is now worthless since this function was removed. Why did they do something so dumb? The problem was corrected in early June, and as a result, I changed my rating from 1 star to 5 stars
I live in the country. My Internet is not good. I use this app quite frequently to check my signal strength. It works very well. I appreciate the way it tests my download, and my upload, but I also appreciate the way it tests a sample video download. Try this app, I think you’ll like it
NO problem whatsoever running the speed test, however, the video is another matter. It began at 320p despite my download speed registering well over 200mps just before switching to the video test. I tried again, this time, 720p. There is no way to test it at 1080p let alone 4K. So at what speed will one have to have from their isp in order to test 1080p or 4K?
I have been using this app to try and improve my cell signal by trying to determine what cell tower I’m accessing with my iPhone 8 Plus. I was within 1 mile of the cell tower I thought I was accessing and the pointer indicated a different location even though my phone signal improved as I got closer to tower to the point of having full signal ( all bars ) on iPhone. I was able to repeat this odd result with 2 different towers. Not sure why this is happening but at this point I’m not able to depend on this app to help me.
Pulling up the speed test history is slow. I wish the history would show the network name. Also, when viewing the history, if the upload speed is >100 MBPS, it will record it 1 decimal point off. E.g. I got a 443 MBPS upload on my fiber, it shows it as 44.3 in the history. The download number is showing correctly.
I used to love it. I needed it to find closed carrier towers and it did it better than any other app that tried. But then they took that away and now it’s just like every other speed test app. I don’t know what to think about it now :/ June 2020 UPDATED: It’s back to 5 stars! Thanks so much for putting the signal compass back in here!
I was starting to get interested in this app but was testing out the accuracy of the tower directional compass when it abruptly quick working. Not sure what happened but without that feature working and working properly this app is completely useless. There are many good speed test apps out there that do the same if not better then this one. What distinguished this app from the others was the tower compass arrow but it quick working. Looks like it’s time to move on again.
The direction to the nearest tower is very helpful. It would be even better if it gave a relative distance to the tower. It would be interesting if a log of speed test results including distance and direction to the tower. I end up using other Speedtest apps to keep a log of results. 3 precious results isn’t enough.
Installed this app today August 2018 and found it to have absolutely no value. Let’s give it zero stars if possible. “Follow the arrow “ Han no directions what to or do with the results. Even when we could make it go from one bar up to two bars not really helpful otherwise. My cell phone but already give me that data without this app. Wanted to use the feature to compare multiple cell phone carriers in our area, however no data came up. Blank .... uninstalled it in same day. Would avoid this app.
I like the app but the compass for the cell tower doesn’t work for me. I am using iPhone 13 and it just won’t work. I reinstalled it and still same thing. All permissions granted to it. I read that it was once a feature the removed it. Then I saw about a year ago they put it back in after bug fixes etc. I really wish I could utilize this feature.
One thing I wish they would fix is that the app never updates your location while it’s running so when you take multiple speed readings, even if they’re far apart, it shows in the same spot unless you quit and relaunch the app after each test.
I like the follow the arrow to the nearest cell tower but it is limited to only your provider. You can filter the map by any provider so you should be able to change the arrow to any provider as well. That is the only feature I need that would make it perfect for me!
I live in rural area and got this app to see if t mobile had any service here because a few years ago they did not, I use Verizon because they do have service here but it is weak but works so I went outside with this app open to see what kind of signal I could get usually around 5-10 megs and ran test a couple times and that’s what it showed , weak signal and only LTE , then I got a 5G uw signal and almost 500 megs , wow!! But as soon as I closed app back to weak LTE signal and 5- 10 megs
I’ve tried using this app numerous times to find the nearest cell tower. It has never found one. The map with signal strengths isn’t of much use since as you zoom in the green and orange areas disappear. Really? If I’m trying to find the best signal I need to see the details. Finally, Speedtest is just plain better for download and upload speeds. I don’t understand the numerous favorable reviews, maybe they’re fake?
First and foremost I love the fact that have taken the time to give us a free application. A Signal booster is badly needed where I live. This application will help me install this myself. It may not be perfect but work great for my needs. So five stars from me. Thanks and have a great day too.
This app use to be a good app. Now if your lucky it will find a tower but only one when it works at all. Using this to find the various tower locations doesn’t work at all. In my home area, I know where the Towers are but this app shows nothing. Then to add insult to injury, they want money for features we once had with the free version but lost with the upgrade. If you purchase these, it still doesn’t work. Don’t waste your time with this app, they got greedy and messed up what was once a decent app!
I have this installed on a XS Max fully unlocked. I have Visible wireless at the service provider. The app does its thing just fine, but it can’t find any cell towers. It doesn’t matter where I am, I drive all over Maryland. I could be in Ocean city or Baltimore or DC and it says it can’t find a tower. I’m assuming it’s a bug because it doesn’t know which towers Visible runs on, but it’s very frustrating when I’m trying to troubleshoot an issue of full bars, but not any connection that’s useable.
I switched carriers from Mint (T-Mobile) to Verizon, but the application still lists “Mobile” as my carrier. I’ve deleted the app and downloaded it again from the App Store but there appears to be no way to reset the carrier information in your app. I can only assume that my app is now uploading bad data into your database (Verizon signal data with Mint / T-Mobile name attached to it) so I’m not sure what this says about the quality of the rest of your data.
Opensignal is a fully-featured mobile connectivity and network signal speed test tool. Speed test, including download, upload and latency - for 3G, 4G/LTE, 5G and WiFi Find the best network provider in your area. Compare coverage on Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. Video streaming test - check streaming experience for Netflix, YouTube and others Compare what you’re paying for to what you’re actually getting by measuring connection quality on an Apple map with a database of signal and speed test results Completely free and no adverts. Our mission is to create an open-source map of connectivity so that everyone in the world can enjoy the best mobile connection available Features - Test tab with speed test and video streaming quality to analyze mobile video performance with results for time spent buffering, loading and playback - Signal dashboard and ping test - for testing latency response - Connectivity map to show locations of 3G and 4G/LTE tests - Network stats with average speeds for download, upload and latency and network strength on major providers - Historical log of your WiFi and 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G speed tests to check connectivity over time Opensignal Speed Tests Opensignal speed tests measure your real experience of mobile connectivity and signal. The speed test runs a 10 sec download test, 10 sec upload test and ping test to determine the speed you will likely experience. The speed test runs on common internet CDN servers. The result is calculated with the middle range of samples. Check if you're getting the network quality you're paying for from your mobile network or internet provider. Use our coverage maps to compare networks and data speed in your area. Opensignal works with WiFi mobile broadband internet. Video Speed Tests Slow video load time? Video buffering? More time waiting than watching? A good average network speed isn’t enough for a great video experience. Opensignal’s video test gives you the full picture of your network experience. Opensignal video tests show you exactly what to expect with HD and SD videos. Watch a 15 sec video snippet to test and log load time, buffering, and playback issues in real-time. Monitor how video quality changes with time and location. Review video test results in History to see if your network experience has changed over time. Coverage Map Opensignal’s coverage maps show signal strength down to street level using speed test and signal data from local users. With network stats on local network operators, you can check speeds ahead of a trip, find out if you will get a signal in remote areas, check your signal against others in the area to see if you’re getting the best service, arrange the best local SIM and check the signal strength when travelling. Improving Network Connectivity We provide an independent source of truth in mobile network experience: A data source that shows how users experience mobile network speeds, gaming, video and voice services worldwide. To do this, we collect data on the signal strength, network, location and other device sensors. You can stop this at any time in the settings. We share this data with network operators globally and others in the industry to drive better connectivity for all. Do Not Sell My Info: https://www.opensignal.com/ccpa
