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

[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

 

 

I'm not seeing it anwhere obvious in the settings other than at the top, where it says "Mobile Data" and it is turned on and everything is checked that should be checked in there is. 

 

Should I connect to my wifi to send you the report, but doesn't that shut the radios off?  (I get inactive vs. unregistered).

 

Do you mean I am not authenticating to EHRPD instead of EVDO?  It seems if I shut off EHRP in ##DATA# it will fix the problem.

 

I did drive to a town 2 hours away for a job interview.  The phone, I swear, worked for a bit when I did ##72786# outside of ithaca.

[mikejeep]

I'm not seeing it anwhere obvious in the settings other than at the top, where it says "Mobile Data" and it is turned on and everything is checked that should be checked in there is.

That's probably it, so you're good there..

 

Should I connect to my wifi to send you the report, but doesn't that shut the radios off? (I get inactive vs. unregistered).

It does not turn the radios off, it just doesn't route data through the mobile connection (and yours doesn't work anyway). But I don't think I need a report from you; this is an issue you need to contact Ting about. SignalCheck seems to be working fine.

 

Do you mean I am not authenticating to EHRPD instead of EVDO? It seems if I shut off EHRP in ##DATA# it will fix the problem.

I don't recall you mentioning that before. That would be key to mention to Ting; your phone must not be provisioned properly, or is not allowed on the LTE network. eHRPD is used for handoff from LTE. Putting your phone's radio in a mode that does not enable LTE will also disable eHRPD.

 

-Mike

[bigdaveyl]

That's probably it, so you're good there..

 

 

It does not turn the radios off, it just doesn't route data through the mobile connection (and yours doesn't work anyway). But I don't think I need a report from you; this is an issue you need to contact Ting about. SignalCheck seems to be working fine.

 

 

I don't recall you mentioning that before. That would be key to mention to Ting; your phone must not be provisioned properly, or is not allowed on the LTE network. eHRPD is used for handoff from LTE. Putting your phone's radio in a mode that does not enable LTE will also disable eHRPD.

 

-Mike

 

 

Thank you for your feedback.  I did send you a report while I was on WiFi just for completeness.

 

I will forward this response onto Ting along with the screenshot.

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[bigdaveyl]

Thank you for your feedback.  I did send you a report while I was on WiFi just for completeness.

 

I will forward this response onto Ting along with the screenshot.

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

 

 

I called Ting and actually got someone that didn't say "just put it in CDMA mode."

 

She had seen the same issues with the S3 not to long ago.  They suspended and re-enabled the device then did the normal resets. 

 

Since we did that and nothing happened. Still no 3G/4G icons.

 

She had the idea to go check on the status of the towers.  Checked both home and work for me and said that the 3G/4G services were down in the area but 1x was available for at least the last 24 hours or more.

 

Maybe that would explain why I was able to get LTE/CDMA mode working in Ithaca yesterday but as I got closer to home it was not working any more.

[jlbattagli]

Man, I'm glad you guys have finally slowed down a bit.  I've been reading this thread (off and on, in my limited free time) for weeks, and for a while it seemed like every time I finished a page, there would be another one tacked onto the end! 

 

Seriously though, I've learned a lot from this thread, and wanted to say thanks to all you smart guys that make it happen. Especially Mike; I purchased the Pro version mostly just to show appreciation for all his hard work and responsiveness.

 

One thing I've noticed recently is that when I click on the link to show the tower location, Google Maps just opens up and shows my current location. It doesn't show the location of the tower on the first attempt (even though I know where the tower is located). If I go back to the SCP app, then click the link again, the tower usually shows up. Since I just received an update to Google Maps recently, I suspect that this may be an issue with Maps rather than SCP, but I thought I would put it out there anyway. (This happens on my stock, unrooted, up-to-date EVO LTE).

 

Thanks again for the outstanding app and all the work that goes into it.

[mikejeep]

Man, I'm glad you guys have finally slowed down a bit.  I've been reading this thread (off and on, in my limited free time) for weeks, and for a while it seemed like every time I finished a page, there would be another one tacked onto the end! 

 

Seriously though, I've learned a lot from this thread, and wanted to say thanks to all you smart guys that make it happen. Especially Mike; I purchased the Pro version mostly just to show appreciation for all his hard work and responsiveness.

 

One thing I've noticed recently is that when I click on the link to show the tower location, Google Maps just opens up and shows my current location. It doesn't show the location of the tower on the first attempt (even though I know where the tower is located). If I go back to the SCP app, then click the link again, the tower usually shows up. Since I just received an update to Google Maps recently, I suspect that this may be an issue with Maps rather than SCP, but I thought I would put it out there anyway. (This happens on my stock, unrooted, up-to-date EVO LTE).

 

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, news has been slow on the public front; I have been spending a LOT of time working on the app, but it's mostly fixes and testing behind-the-scenes that hasn't resulted in any updates yet. The freezing/crashing issues that started with the last update or two is driving me nuts, and I am trying not to release any updates until that is fixed. It's affecting too many people (including myself!).

 

The Maps issue just started popping up; it is related to the latest update from Google. I'm aware of it (happening to me too) and hope to figure out a way around it.

 

-Mike

[burnout8488]

Can someone explain this? Sorry if it's been documented elsewhere. I was under the impression that the Nexus 5 and other triband devices are not capable of being connected to 1x and LTE simultaneously. Is this a glitch in signalcheck?

 

 

[mikejeep]

Can someone explain this? Sorry if it's been documented elsewhere. I was under the impression that the Nexus 5 and other triband devices are not capable of being connected to 1x and LTE simultaneously. Is this a glitch in signalcheck?

That must have been a glitch with SignalCheck. You are right, triband devices cannot do that. Did the app become very sluggish/frozen when you saw that? The BID: 0 is an indication that the 1X data is stale.

 

-Mike

[burnout8488]

Interesting, and no, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Although it was at valentines day dinner, so I probably turned the phone off immediately after and hid it on my lap.

[mikejeep]

Interesting, and no, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Although it was at valentines day dinner, so I probably turned the phone off immediately after and hid it on my lap.

Ohhh be careful, I don't want to be responsible for angry wives/girlfriends!! I mentioned this on another thread recently.. at the moment, Android's CDMA code isn't perfectly suited for the new single-path devices that don't sit on 1X all the time. As a result, some oddities do pop up. There are numerous changes coming in the next update that handle more instances like this.

 

-Mike

[WiWavelength]

Ohhh be careful, I don't want to be responsible for angry wives/girlfriends!! I mentioned this on another thread recently.. at the moment, Android's CDMA code isn't perfectly suited for the new single-path devices that don't sit on 1X all the time. As a result, some oddities do pop up. There are numerous changes coming in the next update that handle more instances like this.

 

Would it be wise at this point to fork SignalCheck?  Maybe a SignalCheck One app for 3GPP and/or 3GPP2 single radio path devices, a SignalCheck Two app for SVDO and/or SVLTE devices?  Or can that be seamlessly accomplished inside just one app?

 

AJ

[MrZorbatron]

Would it be wise at this point to fork SignalCheck?  Maybe a SignalCheck One app for 3GPP and/or 3GPP2 single radio path devices, a SignalCheck Two app for SVDO and/or SVLTE devices?  Or can that be seamlessly accomplished inside just one app?

 

AJ

That could probably be done with a menu selection for device type.

 

I would like an option to adjust the LTE dbm/bar algorithm because it always shows too many bars for the level of LTE signal present when the status bar indicator is set to bars and not numbers.

[mikejeep]

Would it be wise at this point to fork SignalCheck? Maybe a SignalCheck One app for 3GPP and/or 3GPP2 single radio path devices, a SignalCheck Two app for SVDO and/or SVLTE devices? Or can that be seamlessly accomplished inside just one app?

At this point I don't think that would serve much benefit.. there are just a few 'if' statements that branch off for certain scenarios.

 

The "problem" lies in the base Android code. For example, if you put a device in LTE-only mode, you will see the provider name changes to "Searching for Service". SignalCheck accounts for it, but the OS does not. Other stock functions report no connection in these situations, presumably because there is no -voice- connection available. The presence of a valid data connection is not always taken into account.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

I would like an option to adjust the LTE dbm/bar algorithm because it always shows too many bars for the level of LTE signal present when the status bar indicator is set to bars and not numbers.

Are you referring to the SignalCheck icon bars? The scale is based on technical articles by AJ, Robert, and others on here, as well as discussions on here when the app was first released. I rarely display the bars myself, so if you have a suggestion or example, I'd appreciate the input.

 

Having that as a user option seems unnecessary.. X dB is X dB, regardless of device or region. I'd rather have it correct for everyone.

 

EDIT: Here is the signal bar/RSRP breakdown in the app since version 3.01:

 

0 bars: -120 dB or worse

1: -119 to -115

2: -114 to -112

3: -111 to -108

4: -107 to -102

5: -101 to -97

6: -96 or better

 

-Mike

[MrZorbatron]

Are you referring to the SignalCheck icon bars? They are shown on a RSRP scale based on technical articles by AJ and others on here. If you have a suggestion or example, I am always open to adjustments. Having that as a user option seems unnecessary.. X dB is X dB, regardless of device or region.

 

-Mike

 

Well, it shows all bars down to about -90 RSRP or so.  I would personally define the scale as more like:

6 @ > -75

5 @ > -82

4 @ > -89

3 @ > -96

2 @ > -103

1 @ > -110

0 @ < -110

 

Or even:

6 @ > -75

5 @ > -83

4 @ > -91

3 @ > -99

2 @ > -107

1 @ > -115

0 @ < -115

 

I do understand that these bars are showing signal level on a scale relative to the levels required to get maximum performance, but I would really rather see it on a scale of absolutely how much is there.  A simple scenario:  I frequently use my phone to do certain types of file downloads.  I then plug it into the computer to copy the file over.  According to Sprint, this is a perfectly acceptable alternative to tethering.  These files are frequently device drivers, etc, and tend to be about 5-20MB.  Sometimes I do them in the car on the way somewhere.  Showing more signal range graphically would present more of an actual impression of how far I can go in an area with limited LTE coverage before my download will switch over to CDMA and then either stall permanently or continue at a very low rate.  If I see 5 bars when I start, I know I have at least a couple of minutes of usable signal before I get out of range, and odds are my download will be complete well before I get out of range.  This is just one example.

 

Right now, it shows bars still while the signal is unstable to unusable.  Phones do not hold signal reliably when the program is showing 1-2 bars because it is borderline on usability.  Presence of signal on the very edge of usability should be indicated by zero bars.  It's like with the old phones, they even explained in the manual that while the tower symbol alone did indicate signal presence and communication with the control channel and calls may be possible, they will be subject to increased interference and the odds of disconnection are higher.

 

Now, since I got the Note II, I am not seeing any of this allegedly highly superior RF performance.  It seems to me that it is very marginally better than the GS3 that I used to have.  It does seem to hold onto weak LTE better before giving up and going back to EVDO, though it does not achieve the same speeds and usability that the GS3 did on a weak signal of -115 or less.

 

For example, right now approximately:

>-102 shows 5 bars

>-107 shows 4 bars

>-111 shows 3 bars

>-115 shows 2

<-120 is zero

 

Incidentally, I do know that decibels are logarithmic, but the signal indicators on the vast majority of phones are not calculated with that taken into account, and the rate of falloff is numerically pretty linear with distance, anyway.

[MrZorbatron]

Ok, didn't see your chart there.  It pretty well agrees with my findings.

 

Incidentally, any idea what each of Sensorly's 5 color grades means?  Seems their breakpoints are:

> -75, > -85, > -95, > -110, < -110

but this just "seat of the pants" feeling.

 

Also, I do agree that the numbers are always accurate for everyone.  I just feel like the bars show much more usable of signal where there really isn't much.  I am divided on which I display more.  Sometimes the bars are easier so I don't have to look closely enough to read the tiny status bar sized numbers (please do not make them bigger, this is not what I mean).  I think the bar issue is especially true on some relatively LTE-deaf devices, Kyocera Torque, Evo LTE for two.

[WiWavelength]

I am sorry, but I am puzzled by the concern.  Who in the world uses SignalCheck RSRP "signal bars"?  That is basically a "signal metric for dummies."  Plus, it is effectively redundant to the Android OS "signal bars."  I thought everyone used the dBm scale, as that is one of the greatest attractions of SignalCheck.

 

AJ

[UPdownLoAD]

I am sorry, but I am puzzled by the concern. Who in the world uses SignalCheck RSRP "signal bars"? That is basically a "signal metric for dummies." Plus, it is effectively redundant to the Android OS "signal bars." I thought everyone used the dBm scale, as that is one of the greatest attractions of SignalCheck.

 

AJ

Um, I do...

[kg4icg]

Um, I do...

So basically, you are wasting notification bar real estate.

[dkyeager]

Um, I do...

 

I don't use them, but I see where they could be useful on the road -- sort of like a gas gauge.  Would love a RSSI or RSRP number twice the size.

[MrZorbatron]

I don't use them, but I see where they could be useful on the road -- sort of like a gas gauge. Would love a RSSI or RSRP number twice the size.

If I didn't want the bars... Well, CDMA Field Test is free. Two of my reasons for choosing Signal Check Pro were the simplified geolocation and the signal bars.

 

As far as bigger notification items, that would really suck with the stupid huge 4G thing on the newer Samsung firmwares.

[tongboy]

Would it make more sense for signal bars to not only use RSRP or RSSI but also EC/IO or SNR to give a better overall picture. In the stock signal bar I believe it takes those into account as well and gives you a better overall picture of your signal quality you can't get from the RSSI or RSRP numbers.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

 

[MrZorbatron]

Would it make more sense for signal bars to not only use RSRP or RSSI but also EC/IO or SNR to give a better overall picture. In the stock signal bar I believe it takes those into account as well and gives you a better overall picture of your signal quality you can't get from the RSSI or RSRP numbers.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

Some do observe Ec/IO

[kct1975]

I am sorry, but I am puzzled by the concern. Who in the world uses SignalCheck RSRP "signal bars"? That is basically a "signal metric for dummies." Plus, it is effectively redundant to the Android OS "signal bars." I thought everyone used the dBm scale, as that is one of the greatest attractions of SignalCheck.

 

AJ

I also use the SignalCheck 'signal bars', and I find the feature very useful. I find that the 'signal bars' provided by SignalCheck are actually more accurate than the signal bars the Android OS provided signal bars.

 

Personally, the dBm scale numbers mean nothing to me because I really don't have a lot of knowledge about the dBm scale.

 

Sent from my RCT6378W2

 

 

[JossMan]

SignalCheck is your one stop shop for all your signal measurement needs.  I keep waiting for the day to see sub -100dB LTE signal levels here at the house, I'm tired of being on the edge.