Why are there unknown values for Mobile Carriers and Connection Types in Mobile RUM dashboard?

[#1]

Question

Why are there unknown values for Mobile Carriers and Connection Types in Mobile RUM dashboard?

Answer

The AppDynamics Android Agent references ConnectivityManager and TelephonyManager for information on the device's connection and carrier, respectively.

Sometimes these frameworks fail to return information, for a variety of reasons, which are beyond the control of AppDynamics.

Example:

1. Some devices from specific vendors disallow access to the Connectivity Manager for security reasons, and appear in device logs as "Access to ConnectivityManager is denied".
2. There are Android devices and versions where the Connectivity Manager is not available or does not work in certain hardware configurations.
   • There are several documented cases of this, the specific Android error is "missing IConnectivityManager", and appears in device logs as "Error determining connection type."
3. Frequently, devices without SIM cards, like tablets, will fail to return carrier info from Telephony Manager.
   • In the dev logs, they appear as "Error determining carrier name".

Note: A value of "offline" in the dashboard means that connectivity was limited at the time the request was sent

Related Links:

• More on Mobile RUM
• Mobile RUM metrics
• Video - Start monitoring with the Android Agent