Determining 3G vs Edge

Question

I know that the reachability example allows detection of whether network is accessible via Wifi or Cell, but is there a way to determine whether the cell connection is over

Answer 1

No, there is no such thing as a public detection of network technology within the cell connectivity.

Answer 2

As of iOS 7, there's now a public way to do so:

CTTelephonyNetworkInfo *telephonyInfo = [CTTelephonyNetworkInfo new];
NSLog(@"Current Radio Access Technology: %@", telephonyInfo.currentRadioAccessTechnology);
[NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter addObserverForName:CTRadioAccessTechnologyDidChangeNotification 
                                                object:nil 
                                                 queue:nil 
                                            usingBlock:^(NSNotification *note) 
{
    NSLog(@"New Radio Access Technology: %@", telephonyInfo.currentRadioAccessTechnology);
}];

Read up more on my article in objc.io.

Answer 3

Marginally simplified version of nst's code to silence compiler warnings I got in XCode 4.5:

- (NSNumber *) dataNetworkTypeFromStatusBar {

    UIApplication *app = [UIApplication sharedApplication];
    NSArray *subviews = [[[app valueForKey:@"statusBar"] valueForKey:@"foregroundView"]    subviews];
    NSNumber *dataNetworkItemView = nil;

    for (id subview in subviews) {
        if([subview isKindOfClass:[NSClassFromString(@"UIStatusBarDataNetworkItemView") class]]) {
            dataNetworkItemView = subview;
            break;
        }
    }
    return [dataNetworkItemView valueForKey:@"dataNetworkType"];
}

And the value keys I've found so far:

• 0 = No wifi or cellular
• 1 = 2G and earlier? (not confirmed)
• 2 = 3G? (not yet confirmed)
• 3 = 4G
• 4 = LTE
• 5 = Wifi

Answer 4

telephonyInfo.currentRadioAccessTechnology Values:

CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyGPRS          __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyEdge          __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyWCDMA         __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyHSDPA         __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyHSUPA         __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyCDMA1x        __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyCDMAEVDORev0  __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyCDMAEVDORevA  __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyCDMAEVDORevB  __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyeHRPD         __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);
CORETELEPHONY_EXTERN NSString * const CTRadioAccessTechnologyLTE __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0);

I think that these are all the possible values.

Answer 5

Using private APIs, you can read this information directly in the status bar.

https://github.com/nst/MobileSignal/blob/master/Classes/UIApplication+MS.m

+ (NSNumber *)dataNetworkTypeFromStatusBar {

    UIApplication *app = [UIApplication sharedApplication];

    UIStatusBar *statusBar = [app valueForKey:@"statusBar"];

    UIStatusBarForegroundView *foregroundView = [statusBar valueForKey:@"foregroundView"];

    NSArray *subviews = [foregroundView subviews];

    UIStatusBarDataNetworkItemView *dataNetworkItemView = nil;

    for (id subview in subviews) {
        if([subview isKindOfClass:[NSClassFromString(@"UIStatusBarDataNetworkItemView") class]]) {
            dataNetworkItemView = subview;
            break;
        }
    }

    return [dataNetworkItemView valueForKey:@"dataNetworkType"];
}