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

[kckid]

Mike,

 

I think I'm having phone issues with the touch in that area of the menu. Let me do somemore testing before having you spend time troubleshooting a non issue.

 

Thanks

 

Lee

 

As I thought, my phone had to be replaced. It was not accepting input in the middle of the screen, about where the exit is on the menu. It only would not work if the button was smaller than the touch. If it was a big button or icon, it worked fine. I could not dial a number with 1, 2, or 3 in it. it would always display 4, 5 or 6 in the dialer box. If I changed to full screen dialer, it worked perfectly.

 

I'm waiting on a replacement now...

[mikejeep]

As I thought, my phone had to be replaced. It was not accepting input in the middle of the screen, about where the exit is on the menu. It only would not work if the button was smaller than the touch. If it was a big button or icon, it worked fine. I could not dial a number with 1, 2, or 3 in it. it would always display 4, 5 or 6 in the dialer box. If I changed to full screen dialer, it worked perfectly. I'm waiting on a replacement now...

 

Sorry to hear that, but at least its not a bug I have to figure out how to fix

 

Are they giving you the replacement under warranty I hope?

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

...Some days, the EVO LTE performs well. Some days, it falls flat on its face in the same locations. One possible pattern that I have noticed is when the EVO LTE struggles, RSRQ and SNR are unusually low. This could indicate that the EVO LTE is creating some sort of internal RF interference with itself or that its signal metrics go haywire occasionally, causing the EVO LTE to determine falsely that the LTE signal is unusable...

 

I wonder if there is a way to "set" the RSRQ or SNR values through code.. essentially fool the EVO by feeding it "good" signal strengths, therefore having it choose/hold LTE more frequently.

 

My EVO seems to pick up and hold onto LTE fairly quickly once I enter an LTE area.. my issue has always been that sometimes data transfers stop after being connected to LTE for awhile. The phone appears connected, but data won't flow in either direction until I toggle airplane mode. Not sure if that's the exact issue others have or not.. I just keep LTE off or deal with it. Until recently, it wasn't a big deal to me because there wasn't much LTE in my area. Now its getting annoying!

 

-Mike

[digiblur]

So I finally snagged the Pro version the other day... very cool. Heard my chimes on the way home. Alas... it was brief glimpse of a site 7 miles away. A few ideas:

 

Clickable link on the address to open Google maps (yes I know the address is not exact)

Ability to change colors on the signal icons? White?

For serving cell ID capable folks; track them. Allow the user to accept them that they know about those LTE sites, so they get buzzed only when unknown sites come up.

 

Is it possible to pull this on Samsung devices? Lcom/android/hiddenmenu/DEBUGMENU;

 

On my MOD to remove the stupid 777468 code on the ##DEBUG# menu on Samsung devices I change some code in the HiddenBroadcastReceiver module to jump past this menu. See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189174

 

Definitely going to have to work on the cell identity deal on my device to see if I can figure out how to do it and pass it on to you.

[kckid]

Sorry to hear that, but at least its not a bug I have to figure out how to fix

 

Are they giving you the replacement under warranty I hope?

 

-Mike

 

Yes, I bought insurance when I got the phone from Best Buy. Just waiting for the replacement to come in.

 

Lee

[MReiser4670]

 

 

I agree it could be a live but barred LTE site. Or it could be a fault of the EVO LTE.

 

I live in an area of basically 80 percent complete LTE deployment. Some days, the EVO LTE performs well. Some days, it falls flat on its face in the same locations. One possible pattern that I have noticed is when the EVO LTE struggles, RSRQ and SNR are unusually low. This could indicate that the EVO LTE is creating some sort of internal RF interference with itself or that its signal metrics go haywire occasionally, causing the EVO LTE to determine falsely that the LTE signal is unusable.

 

AJ

 

I wasn't able to replicate this issue today so I will have to try another day. On another note, the Note II really does have a much stronger LTE antenna than the EVO! I was able to hang onto an LTE signal for well over a mile into New Jersey when my EVO lost the signal before I was off the bridge! If only SignalCheck had the ability to provide cell tower data on the Note, that would be icing on the cake.

[mikejeep]

Clickable link on the address to open Google maps (yes I know the address is not exact)

 

I have been working on this, among other mapping-related ideas.. glad to see someone would find it useful!

 

Ability to change colors on the signal icons? White?

 

The hard part is that each "thing" you see in the notification bar is actually a graphic, not text. Every signal reading (-99, -100, 101...) and network type is a separate image. I'm trying to learn how to dynamically manipulate images, with the goal of eventually allowing users to choose their own color. For the record, the official Android UI Guidelines specify that status bar icons are to be white/gray.. but I know many custom ROMs use other colors.

 

For serving cell ID capable folks; track them. Allow the user to accept them that they know about those LTE sites, so they get buzzed only when unknown sites come up.

 

Oooh now you're thinking! I know what you are looking for here. Been experimenting with logging various pieces of data, this could work nicely. Added to the list.

 

Is it possible to pull this on Samsung devices? Lcom/android/hiddenmenu/DEBUGMENU;

 

On my MOD to remove the stupid 777468 code on the ##DEBUG# menu on Samsung devices I change some code in the HiddenBroadcastReceiver module to jump past this menu. See here: http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2189174

 

Definitely going to have to work on the cell identity deal on my device to see if I can figure out how to do it and pass it on to you.

 

You might have just scored a big win for the Samsung folks.. some of that info on your XDA thread looks like it might point me in the right direction to get some functionality similar to what HTC users have. I will start playing around with it; if I come up with something to test, I will shoot you a PM. Certainly let me know if you come up with anything on your own and you want to share it.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

-Mike

[digiblur]

Glad to see you digging into things. Wish there was I way to get you an S3(Note2 is very close in the APKs), but I don't have any spares or such. I have dug around the HiddenMenu.apk quite a bit, decompiled into smali code and also dex2jar with the Java decompiler, I can see how they pull the data but I have almost zero experience making an android app. Haven't had the time to learn that yet. Too many other projects.

[mikejeep]

SignalCheck Pro 3.06 has been released and should be available through Google Play shortly. Some shiny new features are in this release, including the following:

 

Resolved some issues with false LTE readings on CM10.1 ROMs.

The root cause of CM10.1 folks seeing strange LTE values is beyond my control. SignalCheck displays the signal information the phone is reporting. This "band-aid" fix will hopefully resolve a majority of these issues. Feedback from CM10.1 users would be appreciated!

 

Resolved issues with crashes caused by invalid latitude/longitude values.

Some carriers are apparently broadcastin invalid location values, which was causing the app to crash. This has been fixed.

 

Added a configurable SignalCheck widget.

Well here's something new! A 1x1 widget, displaying realtime information, updated as quickly as the main app.

 

Connection type is displayed, along with up to 3 signal strength readings. Connection types are colorized to match Sensorly maps.. so 1X = cyan, 3G = green, 4G = purple. Signal strength readings are colorized based on good/fair/poor signals; good = green, fair = yellow, poor = red.

 

Clicking on the widget will either bring SignalCheck to the foreground (default), or reset your data connection. This can be configured through the "Preferences" menu.

 

SignalCheck must be running in the background in order for the widget to update. If you shut down SignalCheck, the widget display will automatically change to a message indicating that the app is not running.

 

Added options for Sprint 800MHz 1xRTT connection alerts.

Hey look, something else new! Anywhere 1X information is displayed (including on the new widget) will indicate "800" if connected to a new Sprint 800MHz 1X site. Users can also configure audio and/or vibrating alerts to notify them when an 800 connection is made. Please note that this feature has not been tested out on the street yet due to the limited areas 800 service is active right now, so please provide any feedback you can.

 

Added option to display EV-DO sector ID (only for HTC devices at this time).

Not sure how useful it is, but it's there if you want it. I find it useful just to see when the EV-DO site changes.

 

Clicking on 1X BSL address now launches Google Maps (or other mapping app) with base station marked.

It will launch whatever mapping app you have set as the default for your device. The address is underlined to hint that its clickable, in case you forget.

 

Alerts no longer require any status bar icons to be active.

Alerts and status bar icons are now separate and do not rely on each other. Users could disable all status bar icons and the app would continue running in the background until 'Exit' was selected. This would keep alerts available and the widget updated, but not take up any room in the status bar.

 

1X icon no longer requires the main status bar icon to be active.

Each status bar icon is now separate and do not rely on each other.

 

As always, please post your comments and bug reports here. I could not test the CM10 and 800MHz updates myself, so I would especially like to hear about those features.

 

The update for SignalCheck Lite is in progress and should be up this weekend.

 

The S4GRU crowd is my best (and probably biggest) user base -- I appreciate you all!

 

Thanks,

-Mike

[fuunkychicken]

Mike, you're a rockstar!

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[kct1975]

SignalCheck Pro 3.06 has been released and should be available through Google Play shortly. Some shiny new features are in this release, including the following:

 

Resolved some issues with false LTE readings on CM10.1 ROMs.

The root cause of CM10.1 folks seeing strange LTE values is beyond my control. SignalCheck displays the signal information the phone is reporting. This "band-aid" fix will hopefully resolve a majority of these issues. Feedback from CM10.1 users would be appreciated!

 

Resolved issues with crashes caused by invalid latitude/longitude values.

Some carriers are apparently broadcastin invalid location values, which was causing the app to crash. This has been fixed.

 

Added a configurable SignalCheck widget.

Well here's something new! A 1x1 widget, displaying realtime information, updated as quickly as the main app.

 

Connection type is displayed, along with up to 3 signal strength readings. Connection types are colorized to match Sensorly maps.. so 1X = cyan, 3G = green, 4G = purple. Signal strength readings are colorized based on good/fair/poor signals; good = green, fair = yellow, poor = red.

 

Clicking on the widget will either bring SignalCheck to the foreground (default), or reset your data connection. This can be configured through the "Preferences" menu.

 

SignalCheck must be running in the background in order for the widget to update. If you shut down SignalCheck, the widget display will automatically change to a message indicating that the app is not running.

 

Added options for Sprint 800MHz 1xRTT connection alerts.

Hey look, something else new! Anywhere 1X information is displayed (including on the new widget) will indicate "800" if connected to a new Sprint 800MHz 1X site. Users can also configure audio and/or vibrating alerts to notify them when an 800 connection is made. Please note that this feature has not been tested out on the street yet due to the limited areas 800 service is active right now, so please provide any feedback you can.

 

Added option to display EV-DO sector ID (only for HTC devices at this time).

Not sure how useful it is, but it's there if you want it. I find it useful just to see when the EV-DO site changes.

 

Clicking on 1X BSL address now launches Google Maps (or other mapping app) with base station marked.

It will launch whatever mapping app you have set as the default for your device. The address is underlined to hint that its clickable, in case you forget.

 

Alerts no longer require any status bar icons to be active.

Alerts and status bar icons are now separate and do not rely on each other. Users could disable all status bar icons and the app would continue running in the background until 'Exit' was selected. This would keep alerts available and the widget updated, but not take up any room in the status bar.

 

1X icon no longer requires the main status bar icon to be active.

Each status bar icon is now separate and do not rely on each other.

 

As always, please post your comments and bug reports here. I could not test the CM10 and 800MHz updates myself, so I would especially like to hear about those features.

 

The update for SignalCheck Lite is in progress and should be up this weekend.

 

The S4GRU crowd is my best (and probably biggest) user base -- I appreciate you all!

 

Thanks,

-Mike

 

Thanks Mike! As I mentioned before, you app is great. And it seems it is just getting better.

[shawn_kc]

I am glad you added the 800 1xRTT alert. Love the app. Good Work!

 

Yesterday I was sitting at lunch in a place I never had LTE before (ironically it was right across the street from the Sprint Center) when I heard the chimes.

 

I also was at the Royals game last night where I hadn't had LTE before, granted I haven't been out there since last fall, when the chimes went off again. Such a sweet, sweet sound.

 

Thanks again for the great app.

[enormous]

Just bought the Pro app. Liking it so far!

 

Since I rely on Tasker to fire up Sensorly to map LTE in my area, would it be possible to expose the LTE status to Tasker? Whether that's in the form of a Tasker plug-in, a notification in the status bar (in addition to the vibration and sound) or even the option to create a file when LTE is detected and delete it when you lose the LTE signal, or something else entirely.

 

From looking at the things that Tasker can see, an additional notification might be the easiest option. One that is a regular notification, because Tasker apparently can't see the persistent notifications that SignalCheck currently uses (at least not on my Galaxy Note 2).

 

The reason I ask is that currently I use Tasker's built-in method of determining what type of network connection you have (3G/LTE), but it doesn't work very well. I think this is because it uses the APN to determine which network you're on, and the APN can lag quite a bit when when you leave LTE.

 

Thanks for the app, and for entertaining this request!

[mikejeep]

Since I rely on Tasker to fire up Sensorly to map LTE in my area, would it be possible to expose the LTE status to Tasker?

 

From looking at the things that Tasker can see, an additional notification might be the easiest option. One that is a regular notification, because Tasker apparently can't see the persistent notifications that SignalCheck currently uses (at least not on my Galaxy Note 2).

 

Thanks for the kudos! I'm not familiar with Tasker, but I will check it out and see what I can do.. sounds like you have created a pretty efficient way to map LTE.

Not sure if it helps, but if you enable either LTE alert, a separate notification is created.

 

-Mike

[enormous]

Not sure if it helps, but if you enable either LTE alert, a separate notification is created.

To clarify: the notification that Tasker would be able to act upon would be a new status bar notification. I've tried to get it to work on the Ongoing notification that is already provided, but with changes to the way jellybean handles them Tasker can't act upon that type. However, from what I understand it can act upon a "regular" (setOngoing=false) notification.

 

So dream setup would be SignalCheck having a configurable option to send a non-ongoing notification when entering LTE, and another one when exiting LTE. This would make LTE hunting with Tasker and Sensorly dreamy.

 

Feel free to contact me for any more information I can offer! Thanks again for considering this.

[dedub]

Some ideas for consideration;

 

- support portrait mode

- support dual view mode (ie samsung note/s3 resizable side by side apps), app would need to adjust for portrait and resizing of app window, either resize or wrapping text into available space.

- option to display info 'always on top' of other apps, for example I run waze constantly, it would be nice to overlay the signal numbers over, kinda like how some of the android debug views can overlay cpu/memory/etc stats.

 

On another note, I have experienced random freezes (of signal check) when multitasking waze/sensorly/signalcheck. I assume this is some kind of contention for either GPS or checking of signal.

[tommym65]

Just a note: Signal Check will provide signal data from a decommissioned phone: The phone still gets the data, it just can't connect to the cell. I was able to view 1X1900, EvDo, and WiFi information on my disconnected 0G EVO, and subject to its somewhat weak radio, it was giving me equivalent readings to my GS3 (obviously, minus the LTE and any 800).

 

But, my GS3 doesn't seem to beep, chirp, chime, belch, or otherwise call out when it connects to 1X800 - 1X800 shows on the display, but the phone is ominously silent.

 

But I still really, really like the app. Thanks again and again.

[PDXmike]

Noticed these 1X BSL addresses while over by the Nike World HQ this evening. Thought they were kind of fun.

 

[dedub]

lol @ myself, I meant *landscape* not portrait above..

[mikejeep]

Some ideas for consideration;

 

- support portrait mode

- support dual view mode (ie samsung note/s3 resizable side by side apps), app would need to adjust for portrait and resizing of app window, either resize or wrapping text into available space.

- option to display info 'always on top' of other apps, for example I run waze constantly, it would be nice to overlay the signal numbers over, kinda like how some of the android debug views can overlay cpu/memory/etc stats.

I had explicitly disabled Landscape mode (I knew what you meant!), because, Android essentially re-launches the activity if the screen orientation changes, which causes the "Please wait" screen to appear (however briefly) until the phone receives the next signal update. There is no benefit to forcing an update, because SignalCheck automatically updates the data the instant the phone makes it available; if your signals go 30 seconds wihout updating, it will take 30 seconds for the app to show any data. I may be able to add it as an option that users could choose to enable though; I will see what I can do.

 

Not sure what the dual view mode is but I'll look into that as well. I could consider doing an overlay if some would find it useful as well, but I feel like the notification icon can serve that purpose as well.

 

On another note, I have experienced random freezes (of signal check) when multitasking waze/sensorly/signalcheck. I assume this is some kind of contention for either GPS or checking of signal.

 

Hmm. What ROM are you running? What version of Android is it? Does it freeze up if only 1 or 2 of those apps are running? SignalCheck doesn't really 'check' anything; it sits back and listens for the phone to push out data updates. In all of my testing, it has a minimal impact on CPU and memory. I have no idea what waze and Sensorly do behind the scenes.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

Just a note: Signal Check will provide signal data from a decommissioned phone: The phone still gets the data, it just can't connect to the cell. I was able to view 1X1900, EvDo, and WiFi information on my disconnected 0G EVO, and subject to its somewhat weak radio, it was giving me equivalent readings to my GS3 (obviously, minus the LTE and any 800).

 

But, my GS3 doesn't seem to beep, chirp, chime, belch, or otherwise call out when it connects to 1X800 - 1X800 shows on the display, but the phone is ominously silent.

 

But I still really, really like the app. Thanks again and again.

 

Cool, I was wondering how it would behave on a disconnected device! Was there a 1X SID showing up when you were on 1X 800? Were you definitely on an 800 connection at the time?

[tommym65]

 

 

Cool, I was wondering how it would behave on a disconnected device! Was there a 1X SID showing up when you were on 1X 800? Were you definitely on an 800 connection at the time?

 

Yes, and yes:

 

[digiblur]

People with these disconnected Samsung devices need to let mikejeep borrow it for a month or so, then you can work he can work his magic on them for PN's and/or Serving cells. I would pay the shipping and can vouch for this guy!

[jefbal99]

Just a note: Signal Check will provide signal data from a decommissioned phone: The phone still gets the data, it just can't connect to the cell. I was able to view 1X1900, EvDo, and WiFi information on my disconnected 0G EVO, and subject to its somewhat weak radio, it was giving me equivalent readings to my GS3 (obviously, minus the LTE and any 800).

 

But, my GS3 doesn't seem to beep, chirp, chime, belch, or otherwise call out when it connects to 1X800 - 1X800 shows on the display, but the phone is ominously silent.

 

But I still really, really like the app. Thanks again and again.

 

Are you sure that is reporting correct data?!?! I didn't think the OG Evo supported 800Mhz SMR voice.

[digiblur]

Are you sure that is reporting correct data?!?! I didn't think the OG Evo supported 800Mhz SMR voice.

 

Correct it did not, it wasn't until the Evo 3D.