He prepares expert reports for courts to answer technical questions for judges and litigants. His website with further information can be found here.
In a legal dispute before a district court, the parties argued about the reliable functioning of time recording terminals. These were supposed to transmit data with time recording entries (clocking in and out) to a central server via the mobile network (GSM). The time and attendance terminals were equipped with a GSM module and had a SIM card that allowed access to the mobile network.
The investigation of the entire time recording system to determine reliability was carried out at four locations, each with a time recording terminal. One of the requirements for reliable transmission of time and attendance entries from the time and attendance terminal to the server is sufficient signal strength of the cellular connection. Thus, it was included in the investigation plan that the signal strength of the cellular connection (in this case D1) had to be determined at the location of the time and attendance terminal.
After a market research, the choice for a suitable measuring device fell on the handheld device TMate FIELD of the company ENQT GmbH from Hamburg. This device can measure the field strength in dBm. Decibel Milli-Watt (dBm ) is the power level in decibels, related to 1mW. In addition, the available connection speed is determined and displayed by means of a speed test. All this information is displayed for GSM, UTMS and LTE respectively. The values for GSM were sufficient for the situation to be assessed here.
Preparing measurements
The TMate FIELD measuring device arrived by parcel with a brief instruction manual sufficient for commissioning and measurement. The measuring device and accessories were in a practical plastic case, which allowed safe transport between measuring points. Due to the good user guidance, the familiarization with the TMate FIELD succeeded in half an hour. The touch-sensitive display was easy to operate with the included plastic stylus. The case also contained an antenna adapter for the connection of an external antenna.
Carrying out measurements
The measurements at the locations of the time recording terminals were possible without any problems in a short time. The measuring device booted in less than a minute after being switched on, and after a further 1 to 2 minutes the measurement results could be shown on the easy-to-read display. In one case, it was necessary to connect an external antenna, which was immediately successful with the adapter provided in the case.
Conclusion
The TMate FIELD was a simple and easy-to-use tool for measuring signal strength and transmission speed at the time and attendance terminal locations. It allowed the facts assessed in the survey to be established reliably and without difficulty. The “attention to detail” was demonstrated by the availability of the adapter for an external antenna. The TMate FIELD would be used again for the same task.
This application report shows that our mobile radio measuring device TMate Field can be used very easily in different applications and thus allows fast and easy valid statements about the quality of mobile radio connections!
Do you have an application where devices have to be connected via GSM/UMTS or LTE? Just contact us at 040 35 73 20 65 or info@enqt.de.
