OfflocSetu - Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is OfflocSetu?

OfflocSetu is a conceptual exploration of approximate location awareness without using GPS or internet.

It evaluates whether cellular network metadata can be interpreted to infer coarse-grained location context.

How accurate is cell tower location in rural vs urban areas?

Accuracy depends heavily on tower density and radio environment.

This provides awareness, not navigation-level precision.

Is this method truly offline or partially network-dependent?

This method does not use internet or GPS, but it is dependent on cellular network availability.

If the phone is not registered to any cell tower, location inference is not possible.

Can this work when the phone is in airplane mode?

No. Airplane mode disables cellular radios.

Without an active cellular connection, there is no tower data to read.

Can this work in forests where no cell towers are present?

No. Without cellular coverage, the phone has no external radio reference.

In such cases, only last known location or GPS (if enabled) can be used.

Can a phone truly operate in a completely offline mode?

Yes, but in a true offline state the device cannot communicate with external infrastructure.

In that state, external location estimation is fundamentally impossible.

Is it possible to connect to a cell tower without internet?

Yes. Cellular registration for calls and SMS does not require internet access.

This control-plane connectivity is what this concept relies on.

What are the main technical limitations of this approach?

Why is this idea documented before implementation?

Documenting first exposes assumptions, constraints, and edge cases early.

This reduces wasted effort during later implementation.

Can this track someone in real time?

No. This approach is not designed for real-time tracking.

Cellular metadata updates are event-driven and coarse, making continuous real-time tracking impractical.

Does this work if mobile data is turned off?

Yes. Mobile data is not required.

As long as the device is registered on the cellular network for calls or SMS, the necessary signals still exist.

Is this similar to how telecom operators locate phones?

Conceptually yes, but with major differences.

Telecom operators have access to network-side data, while this idea only uses device-side information.

Is this safe from a privacy perspective?

Any real implementation must require explicit user consent.

No background or hidden tracking is implied by this concept.

Why is this useful if the accuracy is low?

Because awareness can be more valuable than precision in some scenarios.

Knowing a rough area or connectivity state is often better than having no information at all.

What kind of real-world use cases could this support?

Potential use cases include safety monitoring, fallback location awareness, degraded-network scenarios, and system diagnostics.