sense the strength of GSM/3G

Hi there,

i want to make a project where i actually want to read out the strength of some networks at the actual place. For example GPRS, GSM, 3G...
i'm not so sure wether i really need all of them since 3G is kind of expensive.

So i found out, that there are GSM-Shields and 3G-Shields, but they are quite expensiv... and i am a student :slight_smile:
Infact i would like to JUST read out the strength of some of the given networks. I dont want to access them or send something over them.

Is there an easier workarround how to sense those networks? Maybe taking some broken mobiles or so from ebay?

Thank and regards from germany