Scan Rate Configuration

Scan rates control how frequently Network Survey collects data for each technology. Adjusting these rates allows you to balance battery life, data density, and storage requirements.

Default Scan Rates

Technology	Default Rate	Type	Notes
Cellular	5 seconds	Periodic	Smallest battery impact
Wi-Fi	15 seconds	Periodic	Scan throttling may apply
Bluetooth	30 seconds	Periodic	23 minimum due to scan duration
GNSS	45 seconds	Periodic	Heavy battery usage
Device Status	120 seconds	Periodic	Battery, heart beat
Phone State	Event-driven	Network Changes	Records when network state changes occur
CDR	Event-driven	Network Changes	Records when communication events occur

Event-Driven vs Time-Based

Event-Driven (Phone State, CDR)

How it works:

• Android notifies Network Survey when changes occur
• Examples for Phone State: Tower changes, technology changes (5G to 4G), etc

Advantages:

• No missed events
• Captures all network changes
• Efficient (only logs when needed)

Time-Based (Cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GNSS)

How it works:

• Network Survey actively scans at regular intervals
• Timer triggers each scan

Advantages:

• Predictable data rate
• Consistent sampling
• Easy to analyze time series

Battery Impact

Scan rates directly affect battery consumption:

Battery Impact by Technology

Different survey technologies have vastly different battery consumption profiles. Understanding these differences helps you optimize your surveys for battery life.

Impact Ranking (Least to Most):

Rank	Survey Type	Impact Level	Reason
1	Phone State	Minimal	Event-driven, no scanning
2	CDR	Minimal	Event-driven, no scanning
3	Cellular	Low	Passive queries only, location adds overhead
4	Wi-Fi	Moderate	Active scans + location overhead
5	Bluetooth	Moderate	Active scans + location overhead
6	GNSS	High	Raw measurements are battery intensive

Event-Driven Surveys (CDR & Phone State)

Why they’re most efficient:

• No active scanning required
• Android notifies Network Survey when events occur (tower changes, calls, etc.)
• Network Survey wakes up, grabs location if available, logs the event, then goes back to sleep
• Battery impact is minimal and proportional to how often network events actually occur

Best for: Continuous monitoring with minimal battery drain

Cellular Surveys

Why they’re low impact:

• Your phone is always scanning for cell towers in the background (this is how cellular networks work)
• When Network Survey “scans,” it simply asks Android for the latest values already in memory
• The query itself has virtually no battery impact
• The only battery drain comes from getting location data to attach to each record

Wi-Fi & Bluetooth Surveys

Why they’re moderate impact:

• These technologies require real scans that have a measurable battery cost
  • Wi-Fi: Radio actively searches for access points
  • Bluetooth: Scans for both BLE and Classic Bluetooth devices (22-23 seconds total)
• Each scan consumes power to activate the radio and process results
• Location retrieval adds additional battery overhead on top of the scan itself

Best for: Targeted surveys in specific areas where you need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth coverage data

GNSS Surveys

Why they’re highest impact:

• Network Survey uses Android’s raw GNSS measurements feature for detailed satellite data
• This feature is highly battery intensive as it processes raw signals from GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou satellites
• Raw GNSS measurements always arrive at 1-second intervals (not configurable by apps)

Smart Battery Optimization:

Network Survey includes an intelligent optimization to reduce GNSS battery drain:

• Scan interval ≥ 30 seconds:

  • Turns on raw GNSS measurements for 15 seconds
  • Waits for warmup period (measurements need time to stabilize)
  • Captures one measurement
  • Turns off raw GNSS measurements until next scan interval
  • Result: Significant battery savings with good data quality

• Scan interval ≤ 29 seconds:

  • Keeps raw GNSS measurements continuously enabled
  • No warmup delays between measurements
  • Result: Maximum accuracy and data density at cost of higher battery drain

Choosing your GNSS scan rate:

30+ seconds  →  Battery-conscious mode (intermittent measurements)
29- seconds  →  Accuracy mode (continuous measurements)

Best for:

• Precision surveys: Use ≤29s intervals for best accuracy
• Long-duration surveys: Use ≥30s intervals to conserve battery

Practical Battery Management

For maximum battery life:

1. Prioritize event-driven surveys (CDR, Phone State) when possible
2. Use cellular surveys as your baseline time-based technology
3. Add Wi-Fi and Bluetooth only in areas where you need that data
4. Use GNSS sparingly, with ≥30s intervals unless precision is critical
5. Disable technologies you don’t need for your specific survey

Adjusting Scan Rates

From Settings Menu

1. Open Network Survey
2. Tap ☰ (menu) → Settings
3. Find “Scanning Rate” section
4. Adjust desired technology:
   • Cellular Scan Interval
   • Wi-Fi Scan Interval
   • Bluetooth Scan Interval
   • GNSS Scan Interval
   • Device Status Message Interval

Value: Enter interval in seconds

Example: Setting Wi-Fi to 5 means scan every 5 seconds.

Via MDM (Enterprise)

Administrators can configure scan rates via Mobile Device Management

See MDM Configuration for details.

Minimum Scan Intervals

Some technologies have minimum scan intervals:

Bluetooth: 23 Seconds Minimum

Why:

• BLE scan requires 10 seconds
• Classic Bluetooth scan requires 12 seconds
• Total: 22-23 seconds for both

If you set lower:

• Network Survey automatically adjusts to 23 seconds

Wi-Fi: No Hard Minimum

Android 9+ Throttling:

• Max 4 scans per 2 minutes (30 seconds effective minimum)

Workaround:

• Enable developer options → Disable “Wi-Fi scan throttling”

Data Density vs Battery Life

Lower scan interval = More data, more battery drain Higher scan interval = Less data, less battery drain

Real-Time Changes

Scan rate changes are applied immediately:

• No need to restart survey
• New interval takes effect on next scan
• Previously logged data unaffected

Example Workflow:

1. Start survey with 30-second intervals (battery-conscious)
2. Enter area of interest
3. Change to 5-second intervals (detailed scan)
4. Leave area
5. Change back to 30-second intervals

Best Practices

Battery Management

For long surveys:

1. Use default or higher scan intervals
2. Disable unused technologies
3. Use external power if possible
4. Monitor battery level
5. Enable battery pause feature (Settings → Pause at battery level)

Data Quality

Faster scans don’t always mean better data:

• GPS accuracy doesn’t improve with faster GNSS scans
• CDR and Phone State events are captured regardless of scan interval
• Wi-Fi networks don’t change that frequently
• Bluetooth devices may not advertise continuously

Balance data density with practical needs:

• 10 seconds is usually sufficient for most surveys
• 30 seconds captures enough data for analysis
• 60+ seconds for monitoring, not detailed surveys

Troubleshooting

Scans seem slower than configured:

• Check Android Wi-Fi scan throttling (Android 9+)
• Verify battery optimization is disabled (in settings)
• Check Data Saver mode isn’t enabled

Battery drains too fast:

• Increase scan intervals
• Disable unused technologies
• Use default rates as baseline

Related

• Network Technologies Overview - Default rates per technology
• Battery Optimization - Ensuring background operation
• File Logging Overview - Storage and file management
• App Settings - Configuring scan rates