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

[mikejeep]

On the SignalCheck Pro app it shows "connected to LTE"  and shows Sprint (B41) 311490.  Where I live the LTE is still being deployed half of the city has it and the other half doesn't yet and I live right in the middle of town so some nights at home I get LTE some nights I don't until they finish up the work here.  1900 LTE is very good here, never drop an LTE signal on the side of town where it has been finished, also every tower I hit shows Sprint (B41) 311490.  MCC - MNC 310 - 120 <-------This is under the LTE Engineering menu...don't make fun of my crappy LTE signal I'm in the middle of the house with the tower I'm getting the LTE signal which is about 1.7 miles through hills and trees lol 

 

Screenshot_2013-10-30-23-59-15.png

 

Hmm.. either Sprint has your device set up to default to 311490, or they are broadcasting Band 25 LTE on it in your area. Strange that the engineering screen shows the "regular" 310120 but the app sees otherwise. PM me your e-mail address, I have something for you to try.

 

-Mike

[mc_gusto]

 

EDIT: Seriously, I got out-posted by 30 seconds? In the middle of the night? Haha...

 

-Mike

Too busy celebrating and flipping over cars!

 

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[mikejeep]

Too busy celebrating and flipping over cars!

 

Celebrating, HELL YES!! Not flipping any cars though.. I'm too old for that these days, plus that was never my style. Doesn't make any sense to flip cars over and light couches on fire when you win (or lose).

 

Can't wait until Saturday, when I go to Boston's eighth championship celebration in the past 11 years.. 

 

-Mike

[mc_gusto]

Yeah I never understood that with some cities. Especially if they won 8 times recently. Act like you been there. I'm really surprised they acted up in Boston, especially with the whole thing Boston strong thing. As rowdy as NY fans seem. They never riot when they win (or lose) a chip.

 

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[mikejeep]

Mike, not sure if this information might be helpful to you.

Evdo engineering on the lg g2 displays sector id.

 

Yeah, a lot of engineering screens have it.. unfortunately I don't have the same double-secret access to the radio data that the engineering screens do! I have had my eyes open for a cheap Optimus G to use as a testing device to see what I can dig out of LG phones.

 

I hate the manufacturer-specific stuff, it complicates coding and testing tremendously. I have spent dozens of hours messing with Samsung code. Hopefully as more devices with Android 4.2+ preloaded hit the market, they will take advantage of the new features built into the Android API that SignalCheck takes advantage of. It's only for LTE info, but that's quickly becoming the most important anyway.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

I'm having a notification caching issue. I have audio alerts on, default, for 800 and LTE.

 

I drove through an area I knew had LTE and was there for about 10 minutes. During that time, I was left alone for once- no text, alerts, calls, notifications; I wasn't using it, so the screen was off the whole time. It was nice, and not a Sprint issue for once A few minutes later, I checked my phone just to see if I still had LTE and the alerts decided to work. Chimes went off 8 times in a row, thought I hit the LTE Jackpot lol

 

This issue may be effecting what you saw earlier of the missing signal bars. I've looked down several times and have seen no bars when it is very clearly connected to data.

 

This is most likely an intentional feature of Android. When you shut your screen off, Android tries to put as many background processes to sleep that it can, in order to conserve power. There are methods to prevent this from working (Sensorly is a great example of this--anyone who has tried to turn off their screen while mapping knows what I mean), but I do not implement them. Once you turn the screen back on, everything "wakes up", which could explain what you experienced.

 

The way SignalCheck runs prevents Android from putting it to sleep 100% of the time, but it does in some instances, based on lots of factors that your system monitors. The "Keep Screen On" feature exists for people who want to have the real-time signal information; as long as the screen is on, Android will not force anything to sleep.

 

As long as SignalCheck is in the foreground, it will not be killed off for memory reasons. Once an app is put in the background, the system decides what stays and what goes. I don't mess with this on purpose -- I feel that Android does a very good job with resource management. If your device thinks there is something more important that needs CPU or memory that SignalCheck is using, I feel that it should have the right to de-prioritize SignalCheck.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

Yeah I never understood that with some cities. Especially if they won 8 times recently. Act like you been there. I'm really surprised they acted up in Boston, especially with the whole thing Boston strong thing. As rowdy as NY fans seem. They never riot when they win (or lose) a chip.

 

It's not really the residents.. it's mostly the college kids from out of town who have mommy & daddy paying $60k for them to go to [insert any downtown college name here] who cause most of the trouble. Fenway is within walking distance of a ridiculous number of schools. But apparently Boston PD had fewer arrests than a typical Wednesday night.. an overwhelming majority do "get it", marathon bombing or not. One car flipped over, 9 celebration-related arrests throughout the night, no injuries. The Bruins beat Vancouver in 2011, and there were 2 arrests in Boston that night, while Vancouver suffered $5 million in property damage, 100+ injured, 100+ arrested. It's all stupid.

 

Anyways, to stay on topic: has anyone else seen "Sprint B41" appear in the app? Please post if you do, I'm curious about this..

 

And an app re-design is about half done. Was hoping to have it out right after the first tri-band devices hit the air, but that date is coming up a little faster than I can work. Blame the Red Sox

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

I still see 310000 on mine quite a bit, 4.17b.

(Moved from elsewhere)

 

Hmm.. wait, do you see 31000 or 310000? And do you EVER see 310120 (or anything else) while connected to LTE?

 

-Mike

[digiblur]

(Moved from elsewhere)

 

Hmm.. wait, do you see 31000 or 310000? And do you EVER see 310120 (or anything else) while connected to LTE?

 

-Mike

 

You are right it is 31000, just checked it.  I rarely see the 310120 there, usually only for a split second when it connects to LTE.

[JossMan]

 PM me your e-mail address, I have something for you to try.

 

-Mike

Sent you a PM, Sprint B41 still showing up when connected to LTE on pretty much any tower I connect to on the upgraded side of town.  

[WiWavelength]

Mike, I am not certain that I have come across a screenshot with W-CDMA active. What signal metrics are displayed?

 

AJ

[grimloch]

(Moved from elsewhere)

 

Hmm.. wait, do you see 31000 or 310000? And do you EVER see 310120 (or anything else) while connected to LTE?

 

-Mike

I see 310120 in this area a lot. What does 310120 represent?

 

 

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[digiblur]

I see 310120 in this area a lot. What does 310120 represent?

 

 

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Sprint LTE on band 25.

[grimloch]

I can never remember which band # correlates with which radio frequency #. My Photon Q only connects to 1,900mhz LTE, which is not band 25, correct?

 

Edit: I looked it up and band 25 is 1900. Band 26 is 800, which I'm looking forward to searching for once it's turned on in the Nexus 5.

 

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[digiblur]

I can never remember which band # correlates with which radio frequency #. My Photon Q only connects to 1,900mhz LTE, which is not band 25, correct?

 

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It's easy to remember.. they are in order.  First came 1900 (B25), then 800(B26), then 2.5/2.6ghz(B41)

[kalev76]

What the deal with my EVDO Ec/Io values, on my EVO 4G Wimax phone? 

 

After reading a bit on this...a typical 1XRTT connection (EC/Io) value I have -10.5dBm (range supposedly "sort of" -1dB very good and -15dBm is awful, Im lead to believe)...

 

Now the question:  my EVDO connection's Ec/Io is displayed as changing alot, some values:  -31, -68 -128 dB and I can't make sense of it.. In other words I cant find any reference on its typical range.  Any tips?

[mikejeep]

What the deal with my EVDO Ec/Io values, on my EVO 4G Wimax phone?

 

After reading a bit on this...a typical 1XRTT connection (EC/Io) value I have -10.5dBm (range supposedly "sort of" -1dB very good and -15dBm is awful, Im lead to believe)...

 

Now the question: my EVDO connection's Ec/Io is displayed as changing alot, some values: -31, -68 -128 dB and I can't make sense of it.. In other words I cant find any reference on its typical range. Any tips?

Where are you seeing those EV-DO Ec/Io values.. in SignalCheck? Looks like they might be missing a decimal point (i.e. 3.1, 6.8, 12.8)..

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

Mike, I am not certain that I have come across a screenshot with W-CDMA active. What signal metrics are displayed?

I believe I read somewhere that Android identifies WCDMA connections as UMTS. I haven't seen any screenshots, but it would either show that or "Unknown" like it does for DC-HSPA. The app would display the same information that any GSM connection shows (RSSI, asu, BER, LAC, CID, Carrier, and MCC/MNC). Not sure if it is a limitation of the protocol or what, but Android does not make anything else accessible.

 

-Mike

[kalev76]

Where are you seeing those EV-DO Ec/Io values.. in SignalCheck? Looks like they might be missing a decimal point (i.e. 3.1, 6.8, 12.8)..

 

-Mike

Yes Im seeing in it Signal Check and other apps show the same too. The 1x signals Ec/Io value seem very much sane.

 

Question: Is the valid dB value range for Ec/Io approx the same for both EvDo and CDMA1x signals? ( I'll say approx -1 dB through -15 dB ?)  Anyone else here with a Evo 4G WiMax phone? (latest stock ROM 2.3.5) . 

 

Interestingly enough, from the HTC Engineering screen:  it display the same/ sane 1x Ec/Io value...but..when you peek on the EVDO Eng. screen such an entry does not exist. So Im still wondering if Ec/Io data value is just bogus/ useless..

 

It doesnt hesitate to show -226, -258 as some more examples) I'm thinking that this perhaps is more than just a decimal error. I can't tell..

[mikejeep]

 

 

Yes Im seeing in it Signal Check and other apps show the same too. The 1x signals Ec/Io value seem very much sane.

Question: Is the valid dB value range for Ec/Io approx the same for both EvDo and CDMA1x signals? ( I'll say approx -1 dB through -15 dB ?) Anyone else here with a Evo 4G WiMax phone? (latest stock ROM 2.3.5) .

Interestingly enough, from the HTC Engineering screen: it display the same/ sane 1x Ec/Io value...but..when you peek on the EVDO Eng. screen such an entry does not exist. So Im still wondering if Ec/Io data value is just bogus/ useless..

It doesnt hesitate to show -226, -258 as some more examples) I'm thinking that this perhaps is more than just a decimal error. I can't tell..

There are others on here who can speak to how 1X and EV-DO compare far better than I could, so I will let someone else answer that. Based on my own personal experience though, if they are both on the same band (i.e. PCS/1900), the stats appear to be similar. Ec/Io closer to zero is better, and this page I found indicates a 'good' Ec/Io is between -10 and -5 dB with the caveat that the other metrics need to be considered as well if you truly want to evaluate the signal quality. I do not think Ec/Io is useless, it appears to have a purpose. Just because an engineering screen does not explicitly display a certain value certainly does not mean it doesn't exist. It's a result of a math formula on the signals your phone is receiving.

In any case, the reading on the EVO is wrong. Since every app and the engineering screen see the same thing, it's likely an issue with the low-level code that communicates with the radio. SignalCheck (and likely all the other apps you've tried) just spits out the reading the phone is reporting.

-Mike

[kalev76]

Thanks Mike.

 

I was a bit too wordy, yet you understood what I meant: best guess is that my phone evo 4g wimax seems to spit out bogus evdo ecio values

 

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[bosox801]

Is it common to have two different sid's on 1x800 in a market?

 

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[mikejeep]

Is it common to have two different sid's on 1x800 in a market?

 

What SIDs are you seeing? Each market is assigned a SID in the 22xxx range. Perhaps you are on the edge of a market, and hitting a site in the next market over? Or maybe connecting to sites that are still in testing, if you're running a custom PRL..

 

-Mike

[digiblur]

Is it common to have two different sid's on 1x800 in a market?

 

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Definitely. Throw in a testing SID to hide things and now you've got a Ménage à trois.

 

 

 

[bosox801]

What SIDs are you seeing? Each market is assigned a SID in the 22xxx range. Perhaps you are on the edge of a market, and hitting a site in the next market over? Or maybe connecting to sites that are still in testing, if you're running a custom PRL..

 

-Mike

22449 and 22408 we are in Utah market. Running 513 and 512 prls

 

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