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

[mikejeep]

On 5/6/2020 at 4:15 PM, swintec said:

Back when i first got the device, i had to disable 1x connection from showing completely because SC would just keep giving an alert over and over every time it connected to 1x.  I could not find any alert setting that handled this.  Okay no big deal just leave it disabled i guess.

I get up this morning and un-silence the phone and it just keeps beeping and beeping and come to find out its signal check, all out of the blue. I dont know what it is notifying me about because 1x is disabled from showing.  To stop it i had to exit out of SC completely and leave it closed.  Any idea what it up?

That is bizarre. Can you send a diagnostic report after it happens again? If you have no Alerts configured, I'm not sure why that would be happening. Do you have the 1X icon enabled? Perhaps instead of just showing the icon silently, it's configured with an audible notification as well? That could technically trigger an alert every time your signal updates..

 

[swintec]

10 hours ago, mikejeep said:

That is bizarre. Can you send a diagnostic report after it happens again? If you have no Alerts configured, I'm not sure why that would be happening. Do you have the 1X icon enabled? Perhaps instead of just showing the icon silently, it's configured with an audible notification as well? That could technically trigger an alert every time your signal updates..

 

I had to disable the 1x icon completely because it wouldnt stop alerting.  that worked for about a week or so and then the other day when i got up signal check was constantly notifying me of something, i just dont know what.  i was just connected to band 71.  i dont really know what else i can disable because at that point i lose the icons atthe top left of the screen.

 

will send you a report now since it happens any time i launch signal check and stops once i exit it.

[Trip]

My G8X is offering me Android 10.  I've declined for the moment given things I've read here.  Are those resolved now?  Is it safe to upgrade?

- Trip

 

[mikejeep]

1 hour ago, Trip said:

My G8X is offering me Android 10.  I've declined for the moment given things I've read here.  Are those resolved now?  Is it safe to upgrade?

Based on the feedback I have received, the latest version of SCP seems to be generally back to normal on Android 10 and I'm not aware of any pending issues specific to the G8X. Still working on the sporadic log import/export issues.

[ImmerStark]

SCP works on my V60 with Android 10 but it's completely useless on my V50 and G8 with Android 10. So things don't look promising.

Mike, I've had to switch to cell mapper which updates info very rapidly and accurately like SCP used to. The developer of it is having to work within the same confines you are, is it possible for you to find out what makes cell mapper work correctly even on Android 10 and implement it in SCP? I really prefer your app for it's simplicity.

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[mikejeep]

19 minutes ago, ImmerStark said:

SCP works on my V60 with Android 10 but it's completely useless on my V50 and G8 with Android 10. So things don't look promising.

Are you on the latest version (4.61)? I have only received a couple of scattered reports of issues with that release, and they don't seem specific to Android 10.

I've mentioned before that I've exchanged messages with the Cellmapper dev in the past. Considering it's quasi-competition I'd never directly ask for info, but I do know they use some of their own proprietary routines. I also have some home-grown digging in SCP and I'm always trying new ways to pull info.

[ImmerStark]

I hit that update button as soon as I see it [emoji12]

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[Trip]

I guess I will keep waiting for the time being. 

- Trip

 

[Dkoellerwx]

8 hours ago, Trip said:

My G8X is offering me Android 10.  I've declined for the moment given things I've read here.  Are those resolved now?  Is it safe to upgrade?

- Trip

 

 

7 hours ago, mikejeep said:

Based on the feedback I have received, the latest version of SCP seems to be generally back to normal on Android 10 and I'm not aware of any pending issues specific to the G8X. Still working on the sporadic log import/export issues.

The issues I saw the G8 right after the upgrade have gone away. SCP has been working fine for my uses since last month.

[PedroDaGr8]

A couple of comments:

 

1. In the PNW, Sprint roaming on T-Mobile as Sprint still shows up as Clearwire B2, B4, B12

2. Not sure if you are tracking EARFCNs but  D/L EARFCN 8615 is B25 15x15 according to this post. 

 

[RAvirani]

12 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

2. Not sure if you are tracking EARFCNs but  D/L EARFCN 8615 is B25 15x15 according to this post. 

8615 is a 15x15 LTE carrier in Seattle and most other places. On rare occasion 8615 can also be a 5x5 LTE carrier centered in the PCS C5 block, though. That being said, if Sprint holds the C5 block, they almost always deploy a 10x10 LTE carrier centered at 8640.

The best way to be sure is to check your device's engineering screens!

[ImmerStark]

SCP started working on my V50 again woot!

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[mikejeep]

On 5/19/2020 at 3:52 PM, PedroDaGr8 said:

1. In the PNW, Sprint roaming on T-Mobile as Sprint still shows up as Clearwire B2, B4, B12

Yes, 311490 will still show up in SCP as Clearwire for now. That PLMN is used for different purposes in different regions at the moment, so I'm not tweaking it yet. In my area, it's still assigned to former Clear sites and T-Mobile roaming shows up as 310260.

Separate but related, I am working on revamping the LTE provider display to give users the option of utilizing whatever name the network is reporting if it differs from the app's internal database. Not sure when it will be ready for end users though.

 

Quote

2. Not sure if you are tracking EARFCNs but  D/L EARFCN 8615 is B25 15x15 according to this post.

The app does not currently track anything specific to EARFCNs, but maybe in the future that could be something I consider. Plenty already on my plate at the moment though!

[dkyeager]

I sent debug info for common situations where T-Mobile band 2 is seen by SCP as band 41 on Sprint. Occasionally is reported correctly for a a short period of time. Debug on the LG G4 showed the correct band along with a LG v20 on Sprint and a Moto G7 power rooted on T-Mobile (the PCIs on the other bands were different.)

 

Thanks

[chamb]

4 hours ago, dkyeager said:

I sent debug info for common situations where T-Mobile band 2 is seen by SCP as band 41 on Sprint. Occasionally is reported correctly for a a short period of time. Debug on the LG G4 showed the correct band along with a LG v20 on Sprint and a Moto G7 power rooted on T-Mobile (the PCIs on the other bands were different.)

 

Thanks

  Ahhhh, A couple of times I saw t-mobile band 41 in my neighbor sites and I knew that was wrong.  It was coming from a known t-mobile site but the site only has band 2 & 12.   Had me guessing.   I saw this on a Galaxy S9.   When it shows this, it does not have a valid receive level.  Shows some level like (-190325643)  Yes weird.

[ingenium]

  Ahhhh, A couple of times I saw t-mobile band 41 in my neighbor sites and I knew that was wrong.  It was coming from a known t-mobile site but the site only has band 2 & 12.   Had me guessing.   I saw this on a Galaxy S9.   When it shows this, it does not have a valid receive level.  Shows some level like (-190325643)  Yes weird.

There are some other bugs with neighbors. B66 at times will show as B3 (a non-US band). At least it's consistent though, so when you see it, you know what band it's supposed to be. With B66 at least, it's something to do with the earfcn being really high. I believe Dave found another band being reported as B7 in neighbors, which also isn't a US band, though they do use it in Canada.

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[dkyeager]

3 hours ago, ingenium said:

There are some other bugs with neighbors. B66 at times will show as B3 (a non-US band). At least it's consistent though, so when you see it, you know what band it's supposed to be. With B66 at least, it's something to do with the earfcn being really high. I believe Dave found another band being reported as B7 in neighbors, which also isn't a US band, though they do use it in Canada.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the reminder. 7:3125 is actually band 71.

 

[mikejeep]

On 5/23/2020 at 1:42 PM, dkyeager said:

I sent debug info for common situations where T-Mobile band 2 is seen by SCP as band 41 on Sprint. Occasionally is reported correctly for a a short period of time. Debug on the LG G4 showed the correct band along with a LG v20 on Sprint and a Moto G7 power rooted on T-Mobile (the PCIs on the other bands were different.)

Your G4 is running Android 6.0, which does not report EARFCN info. SignalCheck is displaying it as band 41 because PLMN ID 311490 is leading it to believe that it is a former Clear site, so it defaults to B41 unless another band is identified another way. With 311490 now being used during the merger transition, it's throwing things off. Unfortunately the app isn't going to be able to know if it's a Clear site or a merger-related thing.. perhaps I'll just remove the default band for now, since newer devices will be able to figure it out anyway. These multiple PLMNs are going to be even more problematic than they were before, because they aren't being used the same way in every market.

[mikejeep]

On 5/23/2020 at 6:40 PM, chamb said:

  Ahhhh, A couple of times I saw t-mobile band 41 in my neighbor sites and I knew that was wrong.  It was coming from a known t-mobile site but the site only has band 2 & 12.   Had me guessing.   I saw this on a Galaxy S9.   When it shows this, it does not have a valid receive level.  Shows some level like (-190325643)  Yes weird.

Shoot me a diagnostic if you can catch this again! Invalid signal levels should automatically be filtered out.

 

On 5/23/2020 at 7:57 PM, ingenium said:

There are some other bugs with neighbors. B66 at times will show as B3 (a non-US band). At least it's consistent though, so when you see it, you know what band it's supposed to be. With B66 at least, it's something to do with the earfcn being really high. I believe Dave found another band being reported as B7 in neighbors, which also isn't a US band, though they do use it in Canada.

Yeah, B66 and B71 are natively reported wrong on many devices due to an Android bug. SignalCheck tries to catch these and report them as B66/B71, but it's tricky because in some instances the incorrect band is actually a possible valid result. I'm not aware of B7 showing up, if someone catches that please send a diagnostic.. it is likely B66/B71 being reported incorrectly but not getting caught.

[dkyeager]

55 minutes ago, mikejeep said:

Your G4 is running Android 6.0, which does not report EARFCN info. SignalCheck is displaying it as band 41 because PLMN ID 311490 is leading it to believe that it is a former Clear site, so it defaults to B41 unless another band is identified another way. With 311490 now being used during the merger transition, it's throwing things off. Unfortunately the app isn't going to be able to know if it's a Clear site or a merger-related thing.. perhaps I'll just remove the default band for now, since newer devices will be able to figure it out anyway. These multiple PLMNs are going to be even more problematic than they were before, because they aren't being used the same way in every market.

LTE or LTE B? would be good.  I personally prefer to know that it is unknown.  Thanks!

[dkyeager]

7 hours ago, dkyeager said:

LTE or LTE B? would be good.  I personally prefer to know that it is unknown.  Thanks!

The key difference between this and true Clearwire (Sprint)  is T-Mobile Clearwire is always flagged as roaming. 

[jporter12]

On 5/5/2020 at 6:29 PM, mikejeep said:

Things seem stable, so SignalCheck Lite was updated to 4.61 early this morning, bringing it in line with the latest Pro release. Now I can get back to fixing the log issues and adding new goodies..

Long time lurker here, long time SCP user.  FYI...  I'm the guy in the bar that had SC on his phone!  LOL

First, I just wanted to thank you for this awesome tool.  
Second, I do have an occasional freezing of the app on my Galaxy S20 Ultra.  It's usually when switching back and forth between the engineering screen to check CA, SCP, and the Speedtest app, to make sure it's still running.  I have to go in and force close it to get it to run again.

Now for a question: how accurate is the distance from the tower in SCP?  I've had a few times that I can't figure out where it's picking up a tower, and now that I think about it, it could be a SC.  Since the S20 U is now on T-Mobile, there are no site notes for the towers, and I'm trying to figure out where they are!

[dkyeager]

2 hours ago, jporter12 said:

Long time lurker here, long time SCP user.  FYI...  I'm the guy in the bar that had SC on his phone!  LOL

First, I just wanted to thank you for this awesome tool.  
Second, I do have an occasional freezing of the app on my Galaxy S20 Ultra.  It's usually when switching back and forth between the engineering screen to check CA, SCP, and the Speedtest app, to make sure it's still running.  I have to go in and force close it to get it to run again.

Now for a question: how accurate is the distance from the tower in SCP?  I've had a few times that I can't figure out where it's picking up a tower, and now that I think about it, it could be a SC.  Since the S20 U is now on T-Mobile, there are no site notes for the towers, and I'm trying to figure out where they are!

In my market about 75% are co-sited with Sprint! Cellmapper helps to narrow down the others. The I load the address into SCP once I find those sites.  For just knowing what band and where you signal is coming from SignalCheck Pro can't be beat!

[jporter12]

47 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

In my market about 75% are co-sited with Sprint! Cellmapper helps to narrow down the others. The I load the address into SCP once I find those sites.  For just knowing what band and where you signal is coming from SignalCheck Pro can't be beat!

I've found some that are flat out wrong in cellmapper, I'm about 98% sure of it.  In fact, I think the tower was being upgraded over the past couple weeks (I'm sure the lovely weather has slowed them.) I'm mostly outside of, or just inside of I-270, northeast Columbus and beyond, most of the time.  I'm new to tower locating and identifying, so it's a learning process for me!

[ingenium]

I've found some that are flat out wrong in cellmapper, I'm about 98% sure of it.  In fact, I think the tower was being upgraded over the past couple weeks (I'm sure the lovely weather has slowed them.) I'm mostly outside of, or just inside of I-270, northeast Columbus and beyond, most of the time.  I'm new to tower locating and identifying, so it's a learning process for me!

You can login to the web version and manually placed them (or move them if someone put it in the wrong place). Definitely worth doing once you're 100% certain of a site's location.

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