Jump to content

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


mikejeep

Recommended Posts

I released an update (2.13) earlier tonight, it should be available on Google Play by now. If you were experiencing any crashes or other problems, especially when you connected to LTE, please try this version out.

 

Pro users: New features include the option to start the notification part of the app every time your device boots, and another option to keep the screen on whenever SignalCheck is in the foreground.

 

-Mike

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just bought the pro version since I think the features in the light app alone deserve $2. Seriously, thanks for this. It's simple, easy access to info I would otherwise not be able to see.

 

I have a few requests though. For the signal bars, would it be possible to add some options? First, I think it would be nice to be able to optionally show two sets of bars when connected to multiple cellular standards? It would be particularly useful when connected to LTE, as 1x site density is higher and maintains a useful connection at a lower RSSI. To be able to distinguish what each set means, a 4G/3G/1x indicator could be used.

 

Additionally, themes for the bars would be wonderful. Several simple options would be fine. I'm thinking AOSP, TouchWiz, Sense, and the current theme. It would make the bars "fit in" much better.

 

Thank you again for your work on this app.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the app, it's awesome and most importantly, the developer is constantly updating and working on it. Mad props!!!

 

I'd just have one request. In the status bar, top left corner, instead of the bars drawn, have the option for dBm value displayed instead, for LTE (RSRP, RSRQ) and for legacy RSSI.

 

This would be the most convenient way to always have access to your RIL reading, no matter what app you're in. Also, maybe the ability to change the sampling rate while the app is running in the foreground.

 

Thanks again!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just bought the pro version since I think the features in the light app alone deserve $2. Seriously, thanks for this. It's simple, easy access to info I would otherwise not be able to see.

 

I have a few requests though. For the signal bars, would it be possible to add some options? First, I think it would be nice to be able to optionally show two sets of bars when connected to multiple cellular standards? It would be particularly useful when connected to LTE, as 1x site density is higher and maintains a useful connection at a lower RSSI. To be able to distinguish what each set means, a 4G/3G/1x indicator could be used.

 

Additionally, themes for the bars would be wonderful. Several simple options would be fine. I'm thinking AOSP, TouchWiz, Sense, and the current theme. It would make the bars "fit in" much better.

 

Thanks for your support! Knowing it's useful is more valuable to me than your $2.. but I do appreciate that too. :) Now that I appear to have squashed all of the bugs and get it stable, I intend to add more new features. Regarding multiple icons, I thought that most (if not all) devices already show the 1X signal strengths on their default bars on the top right side of the screen.. no? That was my major motivation to create this app in the first place. Perhaps I'm not totally understanding what you're looking for. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want.

 

One of my next goals is to mark the signal type on the signal bar icon, by adding text and/or color. This is my first app, and I'm learning as I go, but I'll see how I can implement themes also. I definitely understand what you mean about fitting in.. I'm sure it looks quite out of place on some ROMs.

 

I love the app, it's awesome and most importantly, the developer is constantly updating and working on it. Mad props!!!

 

I'd just have one request. In the status bar, top left corner, instead of the bars drawn, have the option for dBm value displayed instead, for LTE (RSRP, RSRQ) and for legacy RSSI.

 

This would be the most convenient way to always have access to your RIL reading, no matter what app you're in. Also, maybe the ability to change the sampling rate while the app is running in the foreground.

 

Thank you for the props! :) Hadn't thought to offer a text-based display in the notification bar; I will put it on my list.

 

The sampling rate is not really a "rate" at all.. without getting too technical, it's not a fixed period of time. Whenever the device reports that any signal strength has changed, the app is refreshed.. so it's essentially realtime data.

 

-Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sampling rate is not really a "rate" at all.. without getting too technical, it's not a fixed period of time. Whenever the device reports that any signal strength has changed, the app is refreshed.. so it's essentially realtime data.

 

If this info is useful to you, most/all internal engineering screens do have a sample rate setting. For CDMA1X, any sample rate greater than once every 5.12 seconds tends to be excessive. Nearly all CDMA1X networks are configured to use slot cycle index 2, which means that idle handsets sleep, then wake up briefly to measure the pilot and monitor the paging channel only once every 5.12 seconds.

 

AJ

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding multiple icons, I thought that most (if not all) devices already show the 1X signal strengths on their default bars on the top right side of the screen.. no? That was my major motivation to create this app in the first place. Perhaps I'm not totally understanding what you're looking for. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want.

 

I think most phones/ROMs are set to work that way, but I'm certain that there are exceptions. Cyanogenmod shows the signal strength of the highest-level protocol the phone is connected to. So, when my phone is connected to 4G, I have no idea what my actual 1x signal strength is. Other AOSP ROMs probably work similarly, and I believe LG devices work that way by default.

 

Additionally, AOSP has a less precise signal indicator than what your app shows. Having two sets of bars from your app would allow users to just disable the system signal bars (if their ROM allows it) and get a better "read" on their signal.

 

I'm also curious about the way your app shows LTE signal strength. The signal strength appears much stronger than what CM10.1 displays for LTE. At -110 dBm RSRP, when LTE performance starts to significantly degrade, CM10.1 displays one bar out of 4, but SignalCheck displays about four out of seven.

 

Thank you for being so responsive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think most phones/ROMs are set to work that way, but I'm certain that there are exceptions. Cyanogenmod shows the signal strength of the highest-level protocol the phone is connected to. So, when my phone is connected to 4G, I have no idea what my actual 1x signal strength is. Other AOSP ROMs probably work similarly, and I believe LG devices work that way by default.

 

Additionally, AOSP has a less precise signal indicator than what your app shows. Having two sets of bars from your app would allow users to just disable the system signal bars (if their ROM allows it) and get a better "read" on their signal.

 

Ah, I understand now. I am still working on getting this to work well; my biggest hurdle at the moment is my lack of graphic design skills.. having trouble adding text to my icons that is readable. If anyone is talented enough to help with that, or can at least point me towards a decent icon creation tool, I'd appreciate it!

 

I'm also curious about the way your app shows LTE signal strength. The signal strength appears much stronger than what CM10.1 displays for LTE. At -110 dBm RSRP, when LTE performance starts to significantly degrade, CM10.1 displays one bar out of 4, but SignalCheck displays about four out of seven. Thank you for being so responsive.

 

SignalCheck draws the 6 signal bars based on RSSI, even for LTE (it calculates the RSSI based on given RSRP & RSRQ). I set the cutoffs in a fairly linear fashion; 4/6 bars would be -94 to -85 dBm RSSI. -110 dBm RSSI would be 2/6 in my app, pretty consistent with CM's 1/4 showing for -110 RSRP. Maybe CM just takes whatever signal value the phone is giving out (whether it is RSSI or RSRP) and uses that to display the bars. Or, they are smarter than me (probably true!) and feel that -110 RSRP only deserves 1/4 bars :)

 

I was always curious if people would think the bars were displaying too high/too low; you're the first to bring it up. I have no problem tweaking the values if anyone thinks it will make the app more accurate. When I started developing SignalCheck, I basically set the values by slicing up the usable RSSI dBm range into mostly equal segments (<75, <85, <95, <105, <115, <120). I have no idea where other apps/ROMs set their cutoffs.

 

For LTE signals, I felt that calcuating RSSI based on RSRP & RSRQ would give a more useful measure of the true signal strength, instead of just RSRP (i.e. 'good' RSRP with 'good' RSRQ should be shown as better than 'good' RSRP with 'bad' RSRQ). Perhaps some of the gurus on here can advise if that was a reasonable idea or not?

 

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, I understand now. I am still working on getting this to work well; my biggest hurdle at the moment is my lack of graphic design skills.. having trouble adding text to my icons that is readable. If anyone is talented enough to help with that, or can at least point me towards a decent icon creation tool, I'd appreciate it!

I don't know much about making icons or what tools to use, but for themes that mesh with the different standard UIs (TouchWiz, Sense, AOSP, etc.) you could start with (or possibly straight up use) the icons in the SystemUI.apk files from the respective ROMs.

 

 

I was always curious if people would think the bars were displaying too high/too low; you're the first to bring it up. I have no problem tweaking the values if anyone thinks it will make the app more accurate. When I started developing SignalCheck, I basically set the values by slicing up the usable RSSI dBm range into mostly equal segments (<75, <85, <95, <105, <115, <120). I have no idea where other apps/ROMs set their cutoffs.

Ah, this would explain it. Those thresholds seem pretty low, even for CDMA 1x. 1x is the most robust out of 1x, EVDO, and LTE, and it gets pretty flaky at -110 dBm, even with good Ec/Io. EVDO gets unreliable at around -105 dBm or so, and LTE at around -95 dBm (for 5 MHz bandwidth).

 

I would revamp those scales a bit, by making separate ones for each protocol, possibly factoring in signal quality, and adding a category for zero bars, signifying "you technically have service, but good luck".

 

This would be an example scale for 1x.

 

SS: -74 -80 -86 -92 -98 -104 -110

Bars: 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

SS = RSSI + 2 * ( (Ec/Io) + 3) )

 

For LTE signals, I felt that calcuating RSSI based on RSRP & RSRQ would give a more useful measure of the true signal strength, instead of just RSRP (i.e. 'good' RSRP with 'good' RSRQ should be shown as better than 'good' RSRP with 'bad' RSRQ). Perhaps some of the gurus on here can advise if that was a reasonable idea or not?

 

RSSI isn't a good indicator for LTE signal 'strength'. It varies with bandwidth, and it actually looks better if the quality of the signal is reduced by strong interference. RSRP doesn't have those problems. RSRQ should be factored in somehow, but I believe it also varies with bandwidth. I would ask someone like WiWavelength for advice on a good scale for LTE signals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RSSI isn't a good indicator for LTE signal 'strength'. It varies with bandwidth, and it actually looks better if the quality of the signal is reduced by strong interference. RSRP doesn't have those problems. RSRQ should be factored in somehow, but I believe it also varies with bandwidth. I would ask someone like WiWavelength for advice on a good scale for LTE signals.

Definitely look for AJ's input on this one, but wouldn't it be simpler and easier for everyone to have the dBm values in top left corner instead of bars?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely look for AJ's input on this one, but wouldn't it be simpler and easier for everyone to have the dBm values in top left corner instead of bars?

 

I plan on talking to him about this :) I am still working on the numeric values; right now the only solution I have is to create a separate icon for each number.. which complicates things further if I want to include 1X/3G/4G displaying as well. Seems silly, but Android only allows graphics up there.. so I'm trying to implement it as efficiently as possible.

 

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Per my understanding, LTE never uses RSSI to determine handoff to another sector (or network reselection back down to eHRPD/EV-DO). Rather, for that purpose, LTE uses both RSRP and RSRQ.

 

Per my experience, RSRP is the better gauge of coverage limits for individual sectors or the network as a whole. If RSRP falls to -120 dBm for a few seconds, handoff or network reselection is likely to follow.

 

I have not observed RSRQ closely enough to find any definite patterns regarding handoff or reselection. But RSRQ may be the better gauge of expected data speeds, since it is designed to measure signal quality.

 

AJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing this app is missing is an ability to customize the tone played when a 4G connection is found. I'm thinking some deep mechanical sounding voice, similar to some of the futuristic first person shooters I used to play saying, "4G LTE found"

 

Something like this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Too bad Don LaFontaine isn't still around.. I could hire him to say something cool in his unbeatable movie trailer voice! Anyways, user-selected sounds is on my to-do list.. I know that someone (possibly you?) asked for it awhile ago, and I haven't forgotten. It will be up to you to find the cool sounds, but at least you'll have the option.

 

Right now I'm concentrating my efforts on getting the signal reading to display as text in the status bar so milan03 gets off my back.. ;) Making good progress on that.. should have something released very soon.

 

Still looking into multiple simultaneous icons also. Will get going on that once I finish perfecting the single-icon text display.

 

Hoping to get somewhere with LTE cell IDs as well, but that's more complicated since I don't have a live 4.2 device to test it on right now. I just discovered a way to dual-boot my EVO, so I'm going to try putting a 4.2 ROM on there so I can get working on that. The dual-boot method doesn't work.. I'll come up with something, but it may take some time.

 

-Mike

Edited by mikejeep
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick chime in to show support. I have the been using v2.13 Pro since last week when jefbal99 pointed me to it. I'm very happy and content with it. My only suggestion was going to be the ability to set a unique audio notification, but I see you already have that planned. Awesome support! You stated working on this before I could even ask for it!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick chime in to show support. I have the been using v2.13 Pro since last week when jefbal99 pointed me to it. I'm very happy and content with it. My only suggestion was going to be the ability to set a unique audio notification, but I see you already have that planned. Awesome support! You stated working on this before I could even ask for it!

 

Thanks for the kind words, Bruce! I am very close to having user-selected alert tones working.. it's been more difficult than I hoped, but I'll get there. Very glad to hear it will be useful to people! I also have some new status bar icon options in the upcoming release.. stay tuned :)

 

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe someone can shed some light on this... When I landed in Charlotte I could see a -100dbm LTE signal on the SignalCheck app, but it never actually connected. Anyone see this before?

(This is from another thread; I'm replying here to keep it on-topic)

 

A few weeks ago, cgass mentioned the same thing (here). I have seen this myself numerous times.. to me, it seemed to happen more frequently when the LTE rollout in my area was still in the very very early stages, but that certainly could just be a coincidence. Perhaps it's seeing something from a site that is broadcasting but the general public cannot connect to it yet? I really don't know.

 

In my reply to cgass (here), I wondered out loud in one of my posts if this behavior could help explain why the EVO LTE seems to have trouble connecting (and holding onto) LTE where some other devices have no problem at all. It made me very curious, since many people (most of whom know way more about this stuff than I do) claimed it was a problem with the EVO's antenna or reception capabilities. My uneducated opinion is that it is a firmware or software issue, not hardware. Seeing LTE signal through SignalCheck despite my EVO not connecting to it was a large part of forming that opinion.

 

As the developer, I can tell you that SignalCheck will display any signals the device "sees", regardless of the technology the device is connected to at the time. To put it as basic as I can.. the "get the signal strength measurement" part of the code is independent of the "are we on 2G, 3G, or 4G right now" part of the code. SignalCheck doesn't really calculate a whole lot on its own; that's by design. If your device "sees" -105 dBm RSRP LTE, SignalCheck is just going to show you. The app doesn't care if it's actually connected to LTE or not.

 

Once I get LTE Cell IDs working, it will be very interesting to see if there is any correlation between the availability/completion level of the site and the ability to "see" signals that you can't connect to.

 

-Mike

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(This is from another thread; I'm replying here to keep it on-topic)

 

A few weeks ago, cgass mentioned the same thing (here). I have seen this myself numerous times.. to me, it seemed to happen more frequently when the LTE rollout in my area was still in the very very early stages, but that certainly could just be a coincidence. Perhaps it's seeing something from a site that is broadcasting but the general public cannot connect to it yet? I really don't know.

 

In my reply to cgass (here), I wondered out loud in one of my posts if this behavior could help explain why the EVO LTE seems to have trouble connecting (and holding onto) LTE where some other devices have no problem at all. It made me very curious, since many people (most of whom know way more about this stuff than I do) claimed it was a problem with the EVO's antenna or reception capabilities. My uneducated opinion is that it is a firmware or software issue, not hardware. Seeing LTE signal through SignalCheck despite my EVO not connecting to it was a large part of forming that opinion.

 

As the developer, I can tell you that SignalCheck will display any signals the device "sees", regardless of the technology the device is connected to at the time. To put it as basic as I can.. the "get the signal strength measurement" part of the code is independent of the "are we on 2G, 3G, or 4G right now" part of the code. SignalCheck doesn't really calculate a whole lot on its own; that's by design. If your device "sees" -105 dBm RSRP LTE, SignalCheck is just going to show you. The app doesn't care if it's actually connected to LTE or not.

 

Once I get LTE Cell IDs working, it will be very interesting to see if there is any correlation between the availability/completion level of the site and the ability to "see" signals that you can't connect to.

 

-Mike

 

Oh my question was never about the app; I never had any doubts that the LTE connection it was seeing was real. Just curious as to why my phone wasn't connecting in an area known to have LTE, hence why I replied in the thread I did. My guess would be the the signal is just unusable, due to testing or any other reason. The signal strength that was displayed was well with the Evo's ability to connect to. I'd be surprised to learn if it is indeed just an Evo problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(This is from another thread; I'm replying here to keep it on-topic)

 

A few weeks ago, cgass mentioned the same thing (here). I have seen this myself numerous times.. to me, it seemed to happen more frequently when the LTE rollout in my area was still in the very very early stages, but that certainly could just be a coincidence. Perhaps it's seeing something from a site that is broadcasting but the general public cannot connect to it yet? I really don't know.

 

In my reply to cgass (here), I wondered out loud in one of my posts if this behavior could help explain why the EVO LTE seems to have trouble connecting (and holding onto) LTE where some other devices have no problem at all. It made me very curious, since many people (most of whom know way more about this stuff than I do) claimed it was a problem with the EVO's antenna or reception capabilities. My uneducated opinion is that it is a firmware or software issue, not hardware. Seeing LTE signal through SignalCheck despite my EVO not connecting to it was a large part of forming that opinion.

 

As the developer, I can tell you that SignalCheck will display any signals the device "sees", regardless of the technology the device is connected to at the time. To put it as basic as I can.. the "get the signal strength measurement" part of the code is independent of the "are we on 2G, 3G, or 4G right now" part of the code. SignalCheck doesn't really calculate a whole lot on its own; that's by design. If your device "sees" -105 dBm RSRP LTE, SignalCheck is just going to show you. The app doesn't care if it's actually connected to LTE or not.

 

Once I get LTE Cell IDs working, it will be very interesting to see if there is any correlation between the availability/completion level of the site and the ability to "see" signals that you can't connect to.

 

-Mike

 

I experienced the same thing at work last week. The tower has been listed as having LTE complete for the past couple of weeks but I could never connect. LTE signal would show up in the app, but the phone would never connect. Today, I was able to connect to LTE for the first time. My guess is that when the towers are blocked, the phone still picks up the signal, it just can't connect.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I experienced the same thing at work last week. The tower has been listed as having LTE complete for the past couple of weeks but I could never connect. LTE signal would show up in the app, but the phone would never connect. Today, I was able to connect to LTE for the first time. My guess is that when the towers are blocked, the phone still picks up the signal, it just can't connect.

It's probably because at the early stage of LTE deployment and testing, only RF engineers are provisioned to authenticate to LTE network for testing purposes, most likely with different APN settings. Once that LTE cell site is properly set up and tested, they open it up which would explain why we sometimes see LTE network, but are unable to connect with our commercial equipment and default APN.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • mikejeep changed the title to SignalCheck - Android app to monitor your Wi-Fi/2G/3G/4G LTE/5G-NR signal strengths

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...