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

[WiWavelength]

This brings us back to the crux of the issue.  Inherently, "signal bars" are somewhat coarse and arbitrary.  Altering the algorithm to suit another person's idea of what zero, one, two, three "bars" should reflect is not going to change that.  Bar none -- pun intended -- "signal bars" are no substitute for measuring signal strength in dBm, which can then be interpreted appropriately through experience with the characteristics of the device and band in use.

 

AJ

[tongboy]

This brings us back to the crux of the issue. Inherently, "signal bars" are somewhat coarse and arbitrary. Altering the algorithm to suit another person's idea of what zero, one, two, three "bars" should reflect is not going to change that. Bar none -- pun intended -- "signal bars" are no substitute for measuring signal strength in dBm, which can then be interpreted appropriately through experience with the characteristics of the device and band in use.

 

AJ

Ultimately what I want is a pocket sized spectrum analyzer with a CDMA2000 and LTE field test kit plus phone patching capability. Maybe a nice lcd screen too. Is that too much to ask for?

 

 

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

 

[kct1975]

This brings us back to the crux of the issue. Inherently, "signal bars" are somewhat coarse and arbitrary. Altering the algorithm to suit another person's idea of what zero, one, two, three "bars" should reflect is not going to change that. Bar none -- pun intended -- "signal bars" are no substitute for measuring signal strength in dBm, which can then be interpreted appropriately through experience with the characteristics of the device and band in use.

 

AJ

Understood

 

 

For me though there are two reasons that I personally prefer Singal Bars as opposed to dBm.

 

First, I do not have a degree in Engineering, and I also do not have much knowledge of signals, signal strength, and the technical aspects of signal reception.

Personally, my only knowledge of dBm signal strength is that the Higher the number, the weaker the signal, and the Lower the number, the stronger the signal.

 

The other reason that I prefer Signal Bars is I want to be able to look at my phone and, quickly determine the signal strength that my phone has at the moment. Personally, I do not want to have to mentally figure out if -100 dBm means I have weak signal strength or medium signal strength.

 

Forgive me AJ and Robert if my post sounds to harsh, but I just wanted to state my thoughts.

 

Sent from my RCT6378W2

 

[WiWavelength]

Personally, my only knowledge of dBm signal strength is that the Higher the number, the weaker the signal, and the Lower the number, the stronger the signal.

Actually, you got that reversed. These are all negative numbers; for example, -100 dBm is a smaller number than -90 dBm, hence a weaker signal.

 

The other reason that I prefer Signal Bars is I want to be able to look at my phone and, quickly determine the signal strength that my phone has at the moment. Personally, I do not want to have to mentally figure out if -100 dBm means I have weak signal strength or medium signal strength.

The problem is that one "signal bar" might be perfectly usable signal strength on a solid RF device, while the same might cause a weak RF device to drop back to EV-DO.  That is a shortcoming of using a coarse, arbitrary "signal bar" scale from a third party app.  On the other hand, the dBm scale is universal, and it is not hard to learn.

 

Ultimately, I see it like this. The handset already has one set of "signal bars." Adding a second set via SignalCheck is like adding a second, redundant dial speedometer in your car. If you already have one dial speedometer, why not add a digital speedometer instead?

 

AJ

[kojitsari]

Lately I've had to park my n5 in evdo only mode through the engineering screen to get it to park on 3g(instead of searching for LTE constantly and eating through battery or parking on 1x with my preferred network type set to 3g). Signal check reports data sending and receiving but also says that there's no data connection. Is this normal when forcing the phone into evdo only mode?

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[mikejeep]

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.

I have played around with the idea of using Ec/Io and SNR to paint a better picture of the of the signal quality, but several issues with it came up and I decided against it. The fact that not all devices report these values (Nexus 5, for example) was a big one. Another was the challenge of finding the right math formulas to use to provide an accurate display. I'm learning more as I go along, but I'm no RF engineer. Might explore it again down the road, but I already have a huge list of other features I'm trying to get in there.

 

Regarding the signal bar discussion, I might revisit that and make some tweaks on the LTE side now that I have a better understanding of RSRP. I see both sides of the argument for/against the icon, but it comes down to user preference. I try giving you guys whatever you ask for!

 

Also, I realize that it has been several weeks since the last app update, and resolution of some bugs (freezing/crashing and incorrect LTE MCC-MNC showing sometimes) are way overdue. I am buttoning up a new version to push out to testers this week. Don't mistake a lack of updates as a lack of work on my end.. there's a lot going on behind the curtain. I appreciate the support and patience!

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

Lately I've had to park my n5 in evdo only mode through the engineering screen to get it to park on 3g(instead of searching for LTE constantly and eating through battery or parking on 1x with my preferred network type set to 3g). Signal check reports data sending and receiving but also says that there's no data connection. Is this normal when forcing the phone into evdo only mode?

Hmm.. EV-DO-only mode is not something I have tested with the N5, but I do not think the app would show it correctly. LTE-only mode needed some special routines to work, and I probably need to do something similar for EV-DO. I will make note of it. In the meantime, you might be able to see some data if you enable "Show Hidden Data" in Preferences.

 

-Mike

[JossMan]

Mike, I did a double take and saw I was getting a beta update for SignalCheck last night.  I have a question regarding the update, when I enable the "Show Site Hints" what is the selection for "Sprint 1" and "Sprint 3" do?  "Sprint 1" will not even enable on my phone and when I enable "Sprint 3" it shows the Sectors as "0" instead of 1, 2, and 3 when I go around a site.  

[mikejeep]

Mike, I did a double take and saw I was getting a beta update for SignalCheck last night. I have a question regarding the update, when I enable the "Show Site Hints" what is the selection for "Sprint 1" and "Sprint 3" do? "Sprint 1" will not even enable on my phone and when I enable "Sprint 3" it shows the Sectors as "0" instead of 1, 2, and 3 when I go around a site.

I posted a message with details on the beta Group but I know someone else didn't get it either.. you should be able to see it on Google Groups. I should add an explanation for the site hint options.. 1 and 3 refer to the 1st or 3rd character position of the hex BID used to identify the sector; it varies by market. It should work fine but I will take a closer look at it this afternoon. In the meantime, try the other options, some are similar.

 

-Mike

[kojitsari]

Hmm.. EV-DO-only mode is not something I have tested with the N5, but I do not think the app would show it correctly. LTE-only mode needed some special routines to work, and I probably need to do something similar for EV-DO. I will make note of it. In the meantime, you might be able to see some data if you enable "Show Hidden Data" in Preferences.

 

-Mike

Thanks for the help!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[mikejeep]

Thanks for the help!

 

No problem! A new update is in testing now, and EV-DO Only mode should be fixed in it.

 

-Mike

[kojitsari]

No problem! A new update is in testing now, and EV-DO Only mode should be fixed in it.

 

-Mike

That was quite fast, you're on top of things.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Bob Newhart]

Really like the wifi info update!

Being able to easily see whether the device is on 2.4/5 Ghz and what channel is great.

I installed on a Nexus7-wifi now too for troubleshooting.

If possible I'd like to see it say b/g/n/a/ac too.

 

Being able to disable background operation and disable the notification icon is great too, I did see people complaining about that on the store, as they didn't understand the new Android requirements.

[mikejeep]

That was quite fast, you're on top of things.

 

I'm not going to lie -- I was working on a bug related to LTE Only mode, and clearing up that happened to get EV-DO Only working too

 

Really like the wifi info update!

Being able to easily see whether the device is on 2.4/5 Ghz and what channel is great.

I installed on a Nexus7-wifi now too for troubleshooting.

If possible I'd like to see it say b/g/n/a/ac too.

 

Being able to disable background operation and disable the notification icon is great too, I did see people complaining about that on the store, as they didn't understand the new Android requirements.

 

I could try adding the protocol in there; after looking at the 802.11 specs, it does look like the speeds reported by Android often (but not always) match the protocol-specific speeds (i.e. 65 Mbps indicates an 802.11n connection). I'm also evaluating the performance impact on realtime Wi-Fi data updates. Right now, it just updates the display whenever a mobile signal change is detected. If you go into Airplane Mode, you will notice that the Wi-Fi details never change if you leave the SignalCheck in the foreground.

 

That one Google Play comment is the only backlash I have had about the persistent icon, but the option to stop the background service was something I was trying to get working for awhile anyway.

 

-Mike

[Bob Newhart]

 

I could try adding the protocol in there; after looking at the 802.11 specs, it does look like the speeds reported by Android often (but not always) match the protocol-specific speeds (i.e. 65 Mbps indicates an 802.11n connection). I'm also evaluating the performance impact on realtime Wi-Fi data updates. Right now, it just updates the display whenever a mobile signal change is detected. If you go into Airplane Mode, you will notice that the Wi-Fi details never change if you leave the SignalCheck in the foreground.

 

 

If it becomes an issue with wifi data, add a 'refresh' button along the top next to the config button, to refresh the wifi connection info.

 

At work I use the same SSID that exists on both 2.4 and 5 Ghz, this is why I like this update to give me more info.

 

65Mbps could indicate an 802.11ac connection maybe, I don't know of any other way to know what it is connected at, although 802.11ac is not very common yet.

[mikejeep]

If it becomes an issue with wifi data, add a 'refresh' button along the top next to the config button, to refresh the wifi connection info.

 

At work I use the same SSID that exists on both 2.4 and 5 Ghz, this is why I like this update to give me more info.

 

65Mbps could indicate an 802.11ac connection maybe, I don't know of any other way to know what it is connected at, although 802.11ac is not very common yet.

 

I haven't tested realtime Wi-Fi enough yet to say if there will even be any noticeable impact, but I do have some options like you mentioned in mind. When I first created the app, I had zero intention of including Wi-Fi info, and only added it because I was testing something different. I personally use Wifi Analyzer for my own needs (I highly recommend it), but I have learned how handy it is to have the basics in SignalCheck since I'm already running it.

 

Looking further into the 802.11 specs, distinguishing a/b/g/n won't be bad, but yes, ac (and beyond) is a bit different and might not be feasible. Android doesn't report any protocol information, so the only way to get it is to figure it out based on speed and frequency.

 

-Mike

[kojitsari]

I'm not going to lie -- I was working on a bug related to LTE Only mode, and clearing up that happened to get EV-DO Only working too

 

-Mike

Hey that doesn't diminish it, I used to an iPhone user when jailbreaks where released on the same day the phones were(to make the IOS bearable). Between you and the creators of the few xposed modules I run, I've had more questions answered and useful updates than I've ever seen from the tweaks I used on with IOS. Its really nice to find people who support their product/creation so well, its a rarity these days. Thank you for all your time and effort you're putting in Mike.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[WiWavelength]

Really like the wifi info update!

Being able to easily see whether the device is on 2.4/5 Ghz and what channel is great.

 

I wonder who suggested that...

 

 

AJ

[Bob Newhart]

What is the 'a*' icon that sometimes shows up for a split second in the notification bar?

[mikejeep]

What is the 'a*' icon that sometimes shows up for a split second in the notification bar?

Not sure? There isn't anything like that in this app.. is it an icon, or appearing somewhere in the pulldown?

 

-Mike

[Bob Newhart]

Figured out what it was, it was an Amazon MP3 cloud sync notification that for some reason is triggered when opening or closing the SignalCheck app. Not sure why/how/when, no problem though. thanks.

[WiWavelength]

Figured out what it was, it was an Amazon MP3 cloud sync notification that for some reason is triggered when opening or closing the SignalCheck app.

 

Conspiracy!  Conspiracy!  Mike is trying to make Jeff Bezos type money!

 

 

AJ

[mikejeep]

Figured out what it was, it was an Amazon MP3 cloud sync notification that for some reason is triggered when opening or closing the SignalCheck app. Not sure why/how/when, no problem though. thanks.

Conspiracy! Conspiracy! Mike is trying to make Jeff Bezos type money!

Hahaha!! I think it's the opposite, Amazon caught wind of my app and is trying to steal it. They will give up quickly when they realize mikejeep money is closer to Monopoly money than Bezos money..

 

-Mike

[Bob Newhart]

I knew it!

 

But really, did you release it on the Amazon app store yet?

[mikejeep]

But really, did you release it on the Amazon app store yet?

I have never looked into it; nobody has ever asked for it, and while I shop on Amazon often, I've never even peeked at their app store. Is there a significant reason why someone would buy an app there instead of through Google Play? Seems like anyone interested in a nerdy app like this would be the Google type.

 

-Mike