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

[WiWavelength]

I thought about adding that stuff, as well as letting the Wi-Fi info update independently (currently, it only updates when a cellular metric updates), but nobody ever asks about Wi-Fi, so I put it on the back burner. I'll see what I can do, should be fairly minimal to get in there.

 

What I have found is that I spend an inordinate amount of time in university and stadium environments.  If open Wi-Fi is available, 5 GHz is the way to go because 2.4 GHz -- for various reasons -- has become a rush hour traffic jam.  Being able to see at a glance if I am connected to a 5 GHz channel would be nice.

 

AJ

[mikejeep]

The KitKat OTA for the HTC One started rolling out to Sprint customers this morning. If someone could confirm that SignalCheck still works properly after the update, I would appreciate it. The GPe KitKat update a couple months ago had some radio bugs that wrecked the app.

 

Thanks,

-Mike

[davidtm]

Seems to be fine on my Sprint One after the update this AM.

 

Sent from my CM 10.1 Touchpad using Tapatalk

 

[travisc]

I think I'm missing the LTE serving GCI number after the kit Kat update on my HTC One.

 

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

 

[mikejeep]

Seems to be fine on my Sprint One after the update this AM.

I think I'm missing the LTE serving GCI number after the kit Kat update on my HTC One.

Thank you guys, hmm.. davidtm, could you confirm you see an LTE GCI? And could each of you hit About > Send Diagnostics while connected to LTE? It should show me what's up. Thanks for the help!

 

-Mike

[travisc]

No problem. It should be sent now. This app is amazing by the way

 

Thank you guys, hmm.. davidtm, could you confirm you see an LTE GCI? And could each of you hit About > Send Diagnostics while connected to LTE? It should show me what's up. Thanks for the help!

 

-Mike

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

 

[davidtm]

Thank you guys, hmm.. davidtm, could you confirm you see an LTE GCI? And could each of you hit About > Send Diagnostics while connected to LTE? It should show me what's up. Thanks for the help!

 

-Mike

Sorry, but no LTE here. You want me to send anyway?

 

Update: sent anyway FYI

 

Sent from my CM 10.1 Touchpad using Tapatalk

 

[mikejeep]

No problem. It should be sent now. This app is amazing by the way

Sorry, but no LTE here. You want me to send anyway? Update: sent anyway FYI

Thanks for the help, guys! But, you provided me with evidence I did not want to see.. the KitKat update for the One implements security measures that prevent SignalCheck from obtaining the LTE GCI or EV-DO sector ID as it has done on most HTC devices until now. And the phone still does not report any LTE data through the built-in functions added in Android 4.2. Interestingly, the app is not blocked from getting the LTE frequency.

 

I will drop a note to HTC, but any progress down that road will likely take awhile. Unfortunately, there isn't much else that I can do.

 

-Mike

[dkyeager]

Band 26 and 41 Alert suggestions 

 

Band 41 - Allow user to plug in the GCI market plus have some alert sound.  Document away that it would only work in their market.  Logically, the current Clearwire GCI market is different from Sprint GCI market in the same area, or at least enough to make this work.

 

Band 26 - Allow user to put in a starting and ending number for GCI sector for an alert sound.  This way they could get Band 26 and possibly future NV band 41 or LTE 600.  Especially true with NV multiple GCIs per site rather than legacy 03,04,05 GCI sectors.  Simpler method is to just go for band 26 alert with 0F to 11 hardcoded.

[bmoses]

mike,

 

just a heads up, i got the LG G Flex yesterday and signal check shows all the relevant info so far but most of the short cuts don't work. specifically the ones to the debug and data screens. just gives the message that those screens may not be supported on this device and doesn't do anything.

 

if you need any files or need me to test anything let me know!

 

thanks!

[bigdaveyl]

Going back to my off topic issues from the other day.  Has anyone seen this?

 

 

[xdfgf]

Going back to my off topic issues from the other day.  Has anyone seen this?

 

 

Yep. I saw that in Richmond, Ky last weekend. If you clicked the map it took you to the tower location (I believe) but no address. 

[bigdaveyl]

Yep. I saw that in Richmond, Ky last weekend. If you clicked the map it took you to the tower location (I believe) but no address. 

 

Any way to get "registered"  other than going into CDMA only mode?

[mikejeep]

just a heads up, i got the LG G Flex yesterday and signal check shows all the relevant info so far but most of the short cuts don't work. specifically the ones to the debug and data screens. just gives the message that those screens may not be supported on this device and doesn't do anything.

 

A lot of the newer devices are blocking access to launch the system screens from third-party apps like mine, so I might not be able to do much.. try going to About > Send Diagnostics after you try them, it will send me the error details. Or if you prefer, logcat output would work if you have that set up also.

 

Thanks,

-Mike

[mikejeep]

Going back to my off topic issues from the other day.  Has anyone seen this?

Yep. I saw that in Richmond, Ky last weekend. If you clicked the map it took you to the tower location (I believe) but no address. 

 

The "Unregistered" means that the device is reporting that it isn't registered on the network.. i.e. the phone is not activated. If it is actually activated, and it's working fine, there is probably a bug in the device's radio software causing that to be displayed. Is that an EVO LTE? If you hit About > Send Diagnostics, perhaps it will give me some insight as to what the issue might be. You can also try making sure that mobile location services are enabled in the device's Settings menu; disabling that causes weird bugs that vary by device and ROM.

 

The "Click for map.." instead of an address is either due to no data connection to translate the location into a street address, or an Android bug which causes the geocoding background service to stop working. Rebooting your phone will fix that. (see here for details: http://www.bluelinepc.com/signalcheck/help/#bslstuck)

 

-Mike

[travismheim]

While testing out the android 4.3 and sense 5 for the EVO I noticed signal check was showing additional info. Or at least I didn't notice it before.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

 

[bmoses]

A lot of the newer devices are blocking access to launch the system screens from third-party apps like mine, so I might not be able to do much.. try going to About > Send Diagnostics after you try them, it will send me the error details. Or if you prefer, logcat output would work if you have that set up also.

 

Thanks,

-Mike

 

ugh that sucks! i don't suppose rooting a device would allow a work around? i sent a diagnostics log, went to every screen in order on the shortcuts menu then sent the log.

[bmoses]

While testing out the android 4.3 and sense 5 for the EVO I noticed signal check was showing additional info. Or at least I didn't notice it before.

 

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

lol figures, i get rid of that phone and right after i do it gets an update that shows both GCI and PCI 

[bigdaveyl]

The "Unregistered" means that the device is reporting that it isn't registered on the network.. i.e. the phone is not activated. If it is actually activated, and it's working fine, there is probably a bug in the device's radio software causing that to be displayed. Is that an EVO LTE? If you hit About > Send Diagnostics, perhaps it will give me some insight as to what the issue might be. You can also try making sure that mobile location services are enabled in the device's Settings menu; disabling that causes weird bugs that vary by device and ROM.

 

The "Click for map.." instead of an address is either due to no data connection to translate the location into a street address, or an Android bug which causes the geocoding background service to stop working. Rebooting your phone will fix that. (see here for details: http://www.bluelinepc.com/signalcheck/help/#bslstuck)

 

-Mike

 

 

Hello Mike,

 

Yes, this is an HTC EVO 4G LTE.

 

I completely went back to a clean stock, using the latest RUU executable from Sprint's site last night, just to make sure nothing was corrupted.  I completely wiped the phone using TWRP before I completed this step.

 

If I do a factory reset or ##72786#, it will show a 3G connection, go through Hands Free Activation and get a PRL.  Then the 3G symbol goes away and I cannot access anything through data.  I have WiFi off throughout the process.  Text and voice are fine - I can make and receive calls and texts.

 

Now the weird part:  If I go into settings and select "CDMA ONLY" I can get on the network.

 

I am from the Rochester, NY area, and I do know that they are aggressively rolling out and tweaking LTE here.  I am also a Ting user. 

 

My wife has the same phone and I do not think she is having any problems, or else I would hear about it! LOL

 

Could there be a glitch in the Matrix and should I call Ting or do you all think I have a hardware issue?  I did send diagnostics, under the username "bigdaveyl"

[mrknowitall526]

I'm testing out the 4.3 update for the EVO LTE and when I tried to reset connections today using the button, I got message saying it needs root access in 4.2+ ?? Not sure what that means?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

 

[Virtualbot]

I'm testing out the 4.3 update for the EVO LTE and when I tried to reset connections today using the button, I got message saying it needs root access in 4.2+ ?? Not sure what that means?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

It means you need to be rooted to use that function. Ever since Android 4.2+, the Reset Connection feature no longer works the same as it did before.

[mikejeep]

While testing out the android 4.3 and sense 5 for the EVO I noticed signal check was showing additional info. Or at least I didn't notice it before.

PCI and TAC are new, that's great! The display isn't perfect, but at least the data is there. I have an EVO LTE so I should be able to grab the beta update and get that cleaned up at some point. Pleasantly surprised that HTC is putting effort into updating a relatively old device (by technology standards).

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

ugh that sucks! i don't suppose rooting a device would allow a work around? i sent a diagnostics log, went to every screen in order on the shortcuts menu then sent the log.

I just saw your report, but it was only a bunch of junk that LG fills the log with, pushing the useful information out of the buffer. I will email you later this week to figure out a way to get what I need.

 

Unfortunately most of these security measures are not able to be bypassed by an app like mine--which makes sense, because that would make these measures worthless. I will try to explain my interpretation of the process for those who may be interested.. grab some popcorn and have a seat:

 

Android permissions are used to secure certain functions. Users are able to see the permissions an app requests at install time to make sure it's not going to do something unexpected/sneaky/dirty.

 

Once a user reviews the permissions and proceeds with the installation, then the system does some checks. If the app is not signed as a system app, any permissions that are restricted to system-level apps are stripped out of the app before it is installed. The user cannot control this; it is handled by the system in whatever manner the ROM developer chose. The only way to make an app a system-level app is to sign it with the same key the ROM was signed with.

 

(Because I believe these permissions are stripped at install time, I don't even think converting SignalCheck into a system app with a utility like Titanium Backup would do the trick. I have not tested this theory, so I could be wrong.)

 

Some manufacturers have started requiring new permissions to execute some functions, like launching engineering screens or accessing internal signal data. It is fairly easy to find these functions, so as I learn what is required, I add the new permissions into SignalCheck. However, some of these permissions are starting to be flagged system-only; therefore, as described above, they are stripped out of the app. So when the app tries to execute one of these privileged functions, it does not have the proper permissions and is denied.

 

The best example of this in SignalCheck is the loss of the Reset function in Android 4.2+. The ability to control Airplane Mode was moved behind a system-level permission, so access to it is prohibited. I did develop a workaround that uses root commands to force airplane mode in a different manner. It's a bit of a hack, but it works as long as the device is rooted.

 

Airplane mode just happens to have an alternate method to control it that is not (yet) protected by a system permission. The same cannot be said for any of the other blocked features, at least not that I have been able to find.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

...Could there be a glitch in the Matrix and should I call Ting or do you all think I have a hardware issue? I did send diagnostics, under the username "bigdaveyl"

I couldn't find any reports from you; if you didn't have a data connection, it would not have been able to send anyway.

 

I don't have my EVO LTE handy at the moment, but I know there is a "Use Mobile Data" toggle in the settings somewhere.. make sure that is enabled.

 

Otherwise, it seems like your phone is not fully activated or programmed for data, and you should contact Ting. I'm not sure what needs to be changed to make it work on Ting instead of Sprint, but it sounds like it's not authenticating on EV-DO. Seems like the app is accurately reporting your situation; when I take my EVO off my account, it will show accurate signal strength but "Unregistered", and no data will flow.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

I'm testing out the 4.3 update for the EVO LTE and when I tried to reset connections today using the button, I got message saying it needs root access in 4.2+ ?? Not sure what that means?

Virtualbot already jumped on this (thanks!); see here for more info: http://www.bluelinepc.com/signalcheck/help/#rootreset

 

-Mike