SignalCheck - Android app to monitor your Wi-Fi/2G/3G/4G LTE/5G-NR signal strengths

[kojitsari]

I think and I'm not 100% sure but if your phone is rooted you can gain access to the database where the SCP log is stored and you can load everything into the new phone. When Mike wakes up or have some free time I'm sure he will gladly answer this question for you.

^this is basically correct. When you export the log (from in the app) it is dumped into a folder that requires root permissions to access. This isn't how it was designed by Mike it's a default thing that just happens. So if you want to pull it, root your phone then its as simple as just going to the signal check folder once you've exported and pulling the two files. Then dumping them back onto the other phone, which would also require it to be rooted.

[mikejeep]

so, just to confirm, with the neighbor cell feature, the phone is displaying the PCI from signals that it is actually seeing?

 

i was sitting here watching my phone and writing down any PCI that popped up that didn't display a site note with it. So far i've seen two PCI numbers that we don't have recorded in our spreadsheets. just trying to determine if we have some bad PCI info out there or i'm picking up new signals or what might be going on with them

 

It will show the PCI and RSRP of whatever "neighbor cells" it sees -- basically it's a list of all of the other sites your device is in range of, but is not currently connected to (typically because the site you are connected to has a stronger signal). I have mentioned this a few times in the past week, one caveat with this is the PCI must already be recorded in your log for the site note to display. If you don't typically run the Site Logger, you probably don't have the PCI recorded. Simply adding a site note does not save the PCI, only the GCI. Also, the app takes a "best guess" to show the site note by matching the PCI and the currently connected TAC -- which might not actually be the TAC of the PCI you are seeing, if you are near a TAC border.

 

This may have been asked before so my apologies if it has. I just don't have the time right now to search.

 

Can the site notes I saved on my S4T be transferred to my Note 4? I don't see a way to do it, unless I'm missing something. I want to reset it and give it to my wife to replace her regular S4 and that's the only thing holding me back from doing it yet. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

You would need to grab the log from your S4T at /data/data/com.blueline.signalcheck/databases/signalcheck_log.db and then copy it to the same location on your Note 4. You probably need root on both devices to gain access to that folder. I'm working on adding simpler methods within the app itself that won't require root, but it's not going to be ready in the near future.

 

If your Note 4 is rooted but not your S4T, you could export your log and then create an sqlite database with the data from the export and place it in the location I listed above. I could do that for you no problem if you sent it to me, but you still need to be able to access that folder to be able to put it there.

 

So on my galaxy s5 I am not too sure if it is displaying neighboring pci values. I have the setting enabled but have never seen it show up on SCP beta.

 

I haven't heard any reports of specific devices not showing neighbor cells, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work on some devices--especially a Samsung, their engineers always throw a wrench into the mix. If the option is enabled, you should be seeing some data, especially if you are in an area where you are in range of several sites and/or sectors.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

I have been swamped at work and haven't had a chance to finish buttoning up the next beta update (which I need to have out there for a couple days before I can push a public update), but I should have that wrapped up very soon. Also, because of the "sticky" PLMN issue until now, I'm thinking of automatically blasting away all log entries that are listed as 311490 or 311870. I was going to do it silently in the background, but I wonder if some folks had saved some data they know is valid and don't want to lose it. I don't want to complicate the issue too much because a majority of users are not going to have any idea of the problem, but I know a lot of entries with these PLMNs are invalid -- on my own device, 90% of them were bogus.

 

Any thoughts? I could prompt everyone on first launch after upgrade, but again, it's only a small subset of users who will be adversely affected.

 

-Mike

[Joski1624]

I do have site notes saved for legit Clear B41 sites, but bogus enteries have bloated my log file and it'd be nice to rid them all. Since the issue is with Sprint B25/26 sites being bogus, is it possible to just mark for deletion any enteries that have Sprint GCIs saying "Sprint B41" for deletion instead?

[stlman314]

I have been swamped at work and haven't had a chance to finish buttoning up the next beta update (which I need to have out there for a couple days before I can push a public update), but I should have that wrapped up very soon. Also, because of the "sticky" PLMN issue until now, I'm thinking of automatically blasting away all log entries that are listed as 311490 or 311870. I was going to do it silently in the background, but I wonder if some folks had saved some data they know is valid and don't want to lose it. I don't want to complicate the issue too much because a majority of users are not going to have any idea of the problem, but I know a lot of entries with these PLMNs are invalid -- on my own device, 90% of them were bogus.

 

Any thoughts? I could prompt everyone on first launch after upgrade, but again, it's only a small subset of users who will be adversely affected.

 

-Mike

 

Whatever is easiest for you. If I have to rebuild my SCP log so be it. So will this get update correct the null entries?

[mikejeep]

I do have site notes saved for legit Clear B41 sites, but bogus enteries have bloated my log file and it'd be nice to rid them all. Since the issue is with Sprint B25/26 sites being bogus, is it possible to just mark for deletion any enteries that have Sprint GCIs saying "Sprint B41" for deletion instead?

 

You probably have log entries that say "Sprint B41" that are bogus too -- until this latest beta, the app only used the PLMN to show B41. Just by looking at the mess in my own log, I know there is no easy way to do it, so it's going to be a matter of delete them all or don't touch it.

 

Whatever is easiest for you. If I have to rebuild my SCP log so be it. So will this get update correct the null entries?

 

Just to be clear, it would only affect 311490/311870 entries.. nothing else would be touched. Are you still seeing null entries? I thought those were few and far between; what is showing as null? If you're not seeing much more than a GCI and site note, that's because you saved a site note when the Site Logger wasn't running -- it's how the app was designed, to keep things efficient. I am considering changing that since the neighbor cells use PCI, so if you never run the :ogger, you'll never see a site note on a neighbor cell.

 

-Mike

[kojitsari]

 

 

You probably have log entries that say "Sprint B41" that are bogus too -- until this latest beta, the app only used the PLMN to show B41. Just by looking at the mess in my own log, I know there is no easy way to do it, so it's going to be a matter of delete them all or don't touch it.

 

 

Just to be clear, it would only affect 311490/311870 entries.. nothing else would be touched.

-Mike

You could always start a poll for a few days. Personally I don't really care, the areas I have logs and site notes for I frequent, or will be, so I can just redo it. It's useful to have so a little extra effort is worth it to me.

[stlman314]

Just to be clear, it would only affect 311490/311870 entries.. nothing else would be touched. Are you still seeing null entries? I thought those were few and far between; what is showing as null? If you're not seeing much more than a GCI and site note, that's because you saved a site note when the Site Logger wasn't running -- it's how the app was designed, to keep things efficient. I am considering changing that since the neighbor cells use PCI, so if you never run the :ogger, you'll never see a site note on a neighbor cell.

 

-Mike

 

I have the site logger running all the time. The last occurrence of this happened on the 19th and 20th of this month. It shows null for the GCI and gives me the PCI number. 

[bmoses]

It will show the PCI and RSRP of whatever "neighbor cells" it sees -- basically it's a list of all of the other sites your device is in range of, but is not currently connected to (typically because the site you are connected to has a stronger signal). I have mentioned this a few times in the past week, one caveat with this is the PCI must already be recorded in your log for the site note to display. If you don't typically run the Site Logger, you probably don't have the PCI recorded. Simply adding a site note does not save the PCI, only the GCI. Also, the app takes a "best guess" to show the site note by matching the PCI and the currently connected TAC -- which might not actually be the TAC of the PCI you are seeing, if you are near a TAC border.

 

 

You would need to grab the log from your S4T at /data/data/com.blueline.signalcheck/databases/signalcheck_log.db and then copy it to the same location on your Note 4. You probably need root on both devices to gain access to that folder. I'm working on adding simpler methods within the app itself that won't require root, but it's not going to be ready in the near future.

 

If your Note 4 is rooted but not your S4T, you could export your log and then create an sqlite database with the data from the export and place it in the location I listed above. I could do that for you no problem if you sent it to me, but you still need to be able to access that folder to be able to put it there.

 

 

I haven't heard any reports of specific devices not showing neighbor cells, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work on some devices--especially a Samsung, their engineers always throw a wrench into the mix. If the option is enabled, you should be seeing some data, especially if you are in an area where you are in range of several sites and/or sectors.

 

-Mike

 

thanks for the confirmation, i just didn't want to drive around trying to find these PCI i was seeing if they weren't really there

[mikejeep]

You could always start a poll for a few days. Personally I don't really care, the areas I have logs and site notes for I frequent, or will be, so I can just redo it. It's useful to have so a little extra effort is worth it to me.

 

I didn't want to make a big fuss about it, just bounce the thought off of those who use the app the most. I'm in the same boat as you -- I'd rather know the log doesn't have garbage in it, and if I have to re-do a few site notes, oh well. I'm strongly leaning toward it to prevent confusion now that the issue is fixed.

 

Random announcement #1: New beta coming today! Minor bugfixes.

Random announcement #2: If any of you running Lollipop could go to About > Send Diagnostics and send me a report, I'd appreciate it. Just need to see how the new OS is handling a few things behind the scenes.. doesn't matter what device your using, what version of the app you use, or what your connection status is. Thanks!

 

-Mike

[S4GRU]

If it's related to just those two PLMN ID's, I say...go for it! Accuracy is paramount.

[Joski1624]

Though if this would be a mandatory log cleaning, it might tick off some folks too (I'd probably be one).

[Destroyallcubes]

 

I didn't want to make a big fuss about it, just bounce the thought off of those who use the app the most. I'm in the same boat as you -- I'd rather know the log doesn't have garbage in it, and if I have to re-do a few site notes, oh well. I'm strongly leaning toward it to prevent confusion now that the issue is fixed.

 

Random announcement #1: New beta coming today! Minor bugfixes.

 

Random announcement #2: If any of you running Lollipop could go to About > Send Diagnostics and send me a report, I'd appreciate it. Just need to see how the new OS is handling a few things behind the scenes.. doesn't matter what device your using, what version of the app you use, or what your connection status is. Thanks!

 

-Mike

Just as a recap I will double check again with the Galaxy s5 Neighbor cells, but im always within ears reach of 2-3 sites here. But nothing. Will double check it after work. It might just be not reporting them.

[Flompholph]

I have 00F showing as 310120 from Columbus and about 50% of my log shows null for the gci in the logs.

[UPdownLoAD]

I have 00F showing as 310120 from Columbus and about 50% of my log shows null for the gci in the logs.

That's correct for Clear B41 in Columbus, not Sprint B41.

 

Check out the Columbus Premier maps/spreadsheet: http://www.s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4825-Columbus-Market---Map/Spreadsheet-(Premier-Edition)

Columbus Market - Map/Spreadsheet (Premier Edition)

[mikejeep]

I have the site logger running all the time. The last occurrence of this happened on the 19th and 20th of this month. It shows null for the GCI and gives me the PCI number. 

I have 00F showing as 310120 from Columbus and about 50% of my log shows null for the gci in the logs.

 

Flompholph sent me his log.. what is probably happening is the PCI is being reported immediately, but it takes a few moments for the GCI and TAC to come through (I briefly see this on my N5 every couple of weeks). It's not supposed to allow entries like that to get through, but I made some more changes that should prevent this in the future. I didn't realize it was still happening.

 

As far as the 00F goes, those entries appear to be valid. It looks like a much different TAC compared to the rest of your area, so it's probably Clear B41. Most Samsung devices *still* do not report PLMN correctly, so you're not seeing the 311490/311870 that is probably really assigned to those sites. (EDIT: UPdownLoAD beat me to it, thanks!)

 

Though if this would be a mandatory log cleaning, it might tick off some folks too (I'd probably be one).

 

Someone always has to be difficult! My concern is that I either need to implement it in the next update, or not do it at all -- after this update comes out, all of the data (should) be valid, so I wouldn't want to wipe it out. Starting with a clean slate ensures everything in the log is correct. I think I might force the scrub, but force an export first too.

 

-Mike

[jefbal99]

Any chance of additional alerts like the CDMA800 feature?  Alerts for B26 and B41 LTE would be great

[mikejeep]

Any chance of additional alerts like the CDMA800 feature? Alerts for B26 and B41 LTE would be great

Oh that's coming.. like I've said before, I wanted to get B26 and B41 identification nailed down accurately before jumping into that (or LTE band notification icons). If I enabled B41 alerts a few months ago, I'd be buried in hate mail for lots of false alarms.

 

I'm fairly confident this release cleans up all of those bugs, but I want to let the public version hit the street for a bit before I'm totally convinced. Also, I'm going to overhaul the Alerts configuration.. I don't want to have 100 different hard-coded possibilities as the app grows, especially since many of them will be provider-specific.

 

-Mike

[Flompholph]

As far as the 00F goes, those entries appear to be valid. It looks like a much different TAC compared to the rest of your area, so it's probably Clear B41. Most Samsung devices *still* do not report PLMN correctly, so you're not seeing the 311490/311870 that is probably really assigned to those sites.

-Mike

I didn't know if it was a sticking issue for 310120 or a Samsung issue. I knew the engineering screen had 311490. I know you had a fix for the sticking issue so i was not worried about it. I just saw the above about cleaning the logs and thought yo might want to know 310120 can stick also. If you think it is Samsung issue I won't worry about those numbers then.

 

UPdownLoAD i was a little mad i had a few 087. Every time I found it in the spreadsheet someone already found the site active before me. Lol

[mmark27]

Okay, I'm anxiously awaiting this new version and am bummed about the loss of all my site data, however, how about this idea:

 

What if you made an add-on to your app for Premier Members that contained all the site data address/location with predicted GCIs, since most markets have them.  Since we can't control export/import without root and it sounds like a lot of work for you to code, maybe it would be easier for you to just build a db with all these data from premier threads so it would populate into a predicted location line or note line and then that could be user edited if incorrect???

 

That's probably a lot of work, but we've got a lot of data from markets with enough prediction already.

 

My thoughts on the premier only thing could be that, or could be a publicly available for a couple bucks....a portion of sales could go back to S4GRU for the data and help with site costs.  Just thinkin' out loud here.  Maybe this has been proposed already. 

[mikejeep]

I didn't know if it was a sticking issue for 310120 or a Samsung issue. I knew the engineering screen had 311490. I know you had a fix for the sticking issue so i was not worried about it. I just saw the above about cleaning the logs and thought yo might want to know 310120 can stick also. If you think it is Samsung issue I won't worry about those numbers then.

 

I believe the only PLMNs that "stuck" inappropriately were the Clearwire ones because of the nature of the bug. The enginerring screen probably uses a proprietary method to get the PLMN, not one of the ones built into Android that I have to use. Samsung was also showing PCIs on their enginerring screens long before their phones started reporting it to Android.

 

Okay, I'm anxiously awaiting this new version and am bummed about the loss of all my site data, however, how about this idea:

 

What if you made an add-on to your app for Premier Members that contained all the site data address/location with predicted GCIs, since most markets have them.  Since we can't control export/import without root and it sounds like a lot of work for you to code, maybe it would be easier for you to just build a db with all these data from premier threads so it would populate into a predicted location line or note line and then that could be user edited if incorrect???

 

It's not necessarily a lot of work to code some import/export functions, I'm just trying to tackle other items that affect a much wider audience first. I'm not going to get into creating pre-populated databases for people.. that's way more work that getting the import/export goodies working. But it is certainly technically feasible if you are rooted or otherwise have write access to the app folder on your device.. just make sure you're not sharing sponsor-confidential information with anyone..

 

Did I miss something about you losing data? I hope you're not misunderstanding what I was discussing before about cleaning up the logs -- I'm not going to wipe them out, just prune Clear PLMNs that were unreliable until this latest version.

 

-Mike

[mmark27]

Did I miss something about you losing data? I hope you're not misunderstanding what I was discussing before about cleaning up the logs -- I'm not going to wipe them out, just prune Clear PLMNs that were unreliable until this latest version.

 

-Mike

 

 

Ooooh, yeah, I misinterpreted that. All the better then.

[dedub]

Hi Mike, regarding the bogus entries..

 

 

How about doing a force export upon installation, then clearing the logs.

 

That way everyone is covered, with keeping historical data, while also starting with a clean slate.

[mikejeep]

Hi Mike, regarding the bogus entries..

 

How about doing a force export upon installation, then clearing the logs.

 

That way everyone is covered, with keeping historical data, while also starting with a clean slate.

 

I decided to go with a "Yes/No/Ask Later" prompt that explains the situation. More work on my end, but gives everyone the option at least once. Choose wisely, you only get one chance!

 

-Mike

[S4GRU]

I decided to go with a "Yes/No/Ask Later" prompt that explains the situation. More work on my end, but gives everyone the option at least once. Choose wisely, you only get one chance!

 

-Mike

 

Wipe!  Wipe!  Wipe!  There's my vote.  Please pre-program mine.