Jump to content

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


mikejeep

Recommended Posts

Hey Mike, 

 

Awesome work on Signal Check, just updated to the latest version and noticed one thing that I instantly miss from the previous version. The asterisk sign on the notification bar next to the carrier string. This was great in quickly knowing when I connected to B41.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It didn't even work for me at all. Do you think it could be something with the particular tower I'm connected to?

Nah, I think I figured it out.. when I fixed some issues with LTE-only mode in the last update, it broke EVDO-only mode.

 

Awesome work on Signal Check, just updated to the latest version and noticed one thing that I instantly miss from the previous version. The asterisk sign on the notification bar next to the carrier string. This was great in quickly knowing when I connected to B41.

Thanks! Actually that was part of the provider name, "Sprint*" (subtle hint you were probably on spark.. get it.. ha). I greatly improved the reliability of it, so I confidently changed it to "Sprint B41" to be more clear. But there is a bug preventing it from showing up in the main app screen; it might show up in the notification pulldown.

 

Both of these issues--along with all of the other bugs that popped up in the last version--have been addressed and one more round of beta testing will start this afternoon. A public update should be out within a couple of days, just need to make sure all the fixes really work.

 

-Mike

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to request a feature, if possible: displaying any site information while on a call.

 

I was able to use your app to get into my radio info while on a call to see the hex BID, then immediately after hanging up get a screenshot of the site (notice same BIDs). But during the call, I can only see signal strength with SCP.

atesyva7.jpg3udade9e.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to request a feature, if possible: displaying any site information while on a call.

 

I was able to use your app to get into my radio info while on a call to see the hex BID, then immediately after hanging up get a screenshot of the site (notice same BIDs). But during the call, I can only see signal strength with SCP.

Android does not update the CDMA site information while a call is in progress, so the app hides it on purpose.. the FAQ entry since it sums it up well:

 

The 1xRTT SID/NID/BID/BSL values do not update while on a telephone call. This is a documented bug in Android. SignalCheck will hide these values while a call is active to prevent inaccurate data from being displayed. SignalCheck will not adjust the Sprint 1X 800 status during a call, which, in certain circumstances, may cause this status to be inaccurate until the call is terminated.

 

-Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now I'm even more confused; that screenshot showed no LTE provider at all. The PLMN (numbers after the provider) is the only way the app can identify the Sprint LTE band.

 

Are you saying that PLMN 311490 indicates Sprint band 25 in your area? This would be the first I've heard of that.. until now, I have understood that 311490 either indicates Virgin Mobile or Sprint B41. The latest version of SignalCheck can recognize the differences between the two.

 

-Mike

 

My LG G2 in Columbus reports that Clearwire band 41 LTE reports:

- MCC 310 MNC 120 occurs about 18% of the time

- MCC 311 MNC 490 occurs about 82% of the time

 

Based on a sample taken yesterday, which is similar to what we discussed this many months ago (we all forget details).

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any progress with the Dash Clock extension?

 

Sorry, haven't started any work on that yet -- it's on the list, but I've been focusing most of my efforts on stability/accuracy improvements, with the logging and site notes coming along as a side effect of that work. Once the crash reports stop flooding in, and B26/B41 is behaving the way it should, I'll be able to get back to working on extras like that.

 

My LG G2 in Columbus reports that Clearwire band 41 LTE reports:

- MCC 310 MNC 120 occurs about 18% of the time

- MCC 311 MNC 490 occurs about 82% of the time

 

Based on a sample taken yesterday, which is similar to what we discussed this many months ago (we all forget details).

 

Not exactly sure what you saying here; is the app showing B41 wrong 18% of the time, or are you saying that 18% of band 41 sites in that area are actually on PLMN 310120? Someone mentioned that in this thread the other day, but never answered me. I went back through my messages and couldn't find any discussions you and I had about it, so feel free to PM/email if you have information. AFAIK, band 41 is only appearing on 311490 and 311870. Keep in mind that some phones have bugs that report invalid PLMNs.. last I heard, the Samsung Galaxy S4T reports 310120 all the time, and some other Samsungs report 31000 or 310000. Samsung may have already released baseband updates to fix these issues, I'm not sure.

 

(EDIT: More info on PLMNs and Samsung enginerring bugs here: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5342-plmns-mcc-mncs-310-120-311-870-etc/?p=270791)

 

Can't wait till B26 notifications on this app.

 

As soon as I'm confident that the app is identifying B26 (and B41) accurately enough, I'll be adding those options.. I want them myself ;)

 

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to let you guys know. Northern shentel i81 south to harrisburg then i76 west gci sectors looked normal 01,02,03. They seemed to follow the 1x800 hint sprint 3 sectors also. Scranton, pa had two odd balls though showed sector 00 but good news it shows as band 25.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I apologize if this has been discussed, I haven't read all 102 pages of this thread! :-)

 

how about an option in the settings to choose how the band is displayed.... IE "Band 25", "Band 26", "Band 41" or "B26", etc. as "LTE 800", "LTE 2600", "LTE 1900", etc? It's nit-picky but aesthetically I'd rather see something like "LTE 800" rather than "B26".

 

Just a thought.... great app!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike, here's a suggestion: I like having the widget on my home screen to 1) give me a quick signal readout, and 2) I have it set to launch the debug menu upon clicking for a really fast view of band and other network stats. It would be great if you could squeeze the band on that little widget for an even quicker view without having to pull down the shade.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I apologize if this has been discussed, I haven't read all 102 pages of this thread! :-)

 

how about an option in the settings to choose how the band is displayed.... IE "Band 25", "Band 26", "Band 41" or "B26", etc. as "LTE 800", "LTE 2600", "LTE 1900", etc? It's nit-picky but aesthetically I'd rather see something like "LTE 800" rather than "B26".

 

Just a thought.... great app!

PLMN IDs handle this for the most part i.e 310120 is Band 25, 311490 is Band 41 (except for the strange reason for Virgin Mobile using this ID for Band 25).  Mike's app pulls the PLMN ID then populates with the matching band, I don't think Android spits out "LTE 800, LTE 1900, etc." 

 

Right now the only way to identify the different bands is threw the PLMN IDs which has taken a lot of time too see what Sprint uses for the different bands.  All of this could go out the window if Sprint ever decided to consolidate PLMN ID numbers.   Having LTE 800/1900/2600 would create a lot of screen clutter, in my opinion.   :P

 

Happy Easter!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whenever my phone is on 3g it displays blank info for the voice and data signals in the status bar. LTE shows just fine but 3g does not.

Anyone else having this issue?

I'm on an M8 but I believe it did this on my G2 and N5 as well.

Turn on Location Services. I think you can get away with the *Battety Saving mode. I switched back to my G2 from M8 so I can't say 100% but I know location services is needed.

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turn on Location Services. I think you can get away with the *Battety Saving mode. I switched back to my G2 from M8 so I can't say 100% but I know location services is needed.

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Weird. It works with location turned on how you said.

Why would LTE work and 3g not though? Curiousity is killing the cat now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chicago has PCS b block us cellular spectrum coming online. Signalcheck recognized it as b26. I got really excited for a minute earlier today. Looks like that spectrum will be using gci 03/04/05. It didn't say band 26 for gci 03, but did for 04/05

3asu9u9u.jpg

y3umapy4.jpg

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

how about an option in the settings to choose how the band is displayed.... IE "Band 25", "Band 26", "Band 41" or "B26", etc. as "LTE 800", "LTE 2600", "LTE 1900", etc? It's nit-picky but aesthetically I'd rather see something like "LTE 800" rather than "B26".

Mike, here's a suggestion: I like having the widget on my home screen to 1) give me a quick signal readout, and 2) I have it set to launch the debug menu upon clicking for a really fast view of band and other network stats. It would be great if you could squeeze the band on that little widget for an even quicker view without having to pull down the shade.

 

I'm not completely opposed to either idea, and will consider them in the future. It's a bit more complicated than you think, because it's not a simple as displaying a field that contains band information. There is no method within Android that reports any band/frequency information, the app identifies things like 1X 800 and LTE bands 26 and 41 by using information it can obtain and making an "educated guess" about it. So it's quite a mess of code in the background, and changes like this require a lot more work than you would guess -- small changes break many things at once ;)

 

-Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weird. It works with location turned on how you said.

Why would LTE work and 3g not though? Curiousity is killing the cat now...

 

It has to do with your particular device or ROM. The commands that get the CDMA site information (SID/NID/BID/BSL coordinates) are classified as location features on some devices, even though there really aren't any location services like GPS or triangulation being used in the traditional sense. Therefore, if you have location services disabled in your device's Settings, the app will not be able to get this information. There are many phones that do not tie these commands to location services, and there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason why some devices require it and others don't.

 

The app shows no connection(s) because it does not think you are connected to a CDMA site, since the routines don't return any valid information. LTE connections are not affected by this because the commands that gather LTE information are never tied to location services.

 

-Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has to do with your particular device or ROM. The commands that get the CDMA site information (SID/NID/BID/BSL coordinates) are classified as location features on some devices, even though there really aren't any location services like GPS or triangulation being used in the traditional sense. Therefore, if you have location services disabled in your device's Settings, the app will not be able to get this information. There are many phones that do not tie these commands to location services, and there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason why some devices require it and others don't.

 

The app shows no connection(s) because it does not think you are connected to a CDMA site, since the routines don't return any valid information. LTE connections are not affected by this because the commands that gather LTE information are never tied to location services.

 

-Mike

Makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to let you guys know. Northern shentel i81 south to harrisburg then i76 west gci sectors looked normal 01,02,03. They seemed to follow the 1x800 hint sprint 3 sectors also. Scranton, pa had two odd balls though showed sector 00 but good news it shows as band 25.

Chicago has PCS b block us cellular spectrum coming online. Signalcheck recognized it as b26. I got really excited for a minute earlier today. Looks like that spectrum will be using gci 03/04/05. It didn't say band 26 for gci 03, but did for 04/05

 

Thanks guys. As Sprint's new LTE rollout continues, there will be some bumps in the road while SignalCheck tries to keep up with the changes. I rely on reports from users to stay on top of this stuff. The version in testing now handles these situations better; both the Shentel and USCC examples will appear as B25. I expect it to be pushed out to everyone within the next 24 hours.

 

-Mike

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the update, glad it is finally available. I still am not able to see the GCI for that site. SignalCheck says that the GCI is invalid or missing when I try to add a note. I will try to make it over to another LTE site sometime soon, but I suspect that you are correct that it is something with that specific site being misconfigured.

 

I was able to go to another LTE site and it's GCI wasn't showing either on my HTC One.  I have the latest Signal Check update installed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was able to go to another LTE site and it's GCI wasn't showing either on my HTC One. I have the latest Signal Check update installed.

Are you stock, or on a custom ROM? Next time you connect to LTE and don't see information, go to About > Send Diagnostics; it will send me some useful information. There is a new app update that went out overnight that does include some fixes for HTC LTE functions, so that might resolve it also.

 

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A new version of SignalCheck Pro (4.243) was released a few hours ago and should be already available on Google Play. This is a minor release that fixes bugs that popped up in the last update and have been discussed here recently, including:

  • Improved reliability of LTE site note database entries. (Pro)
  • Resolved force closes when certain Site Hint options are enabled. (Pro)
  • Resolved force closes when enabling Location Service on some devices. (Pro)
  • Resolved force closes when Location Service is enabled in locales that use a comma as a decimal separator. (Pro)
  • Resolved issue with existing GSM site notes failing to be pre-filled in popup window. (Pro)
  • Resolved issue with LTE site note display not updating on some HTC devices. (Pro)
  • Resolved issue with no information showing when in EV-DO only mode.
  • Resolved issue with Sprint LTE band 41 display missing.
  • Resolved issue with Sprint users in Shentel and former US Cellular service areas seeing false indications of LTE band 26.

Let me know if any issues pop up!

-Mike

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.


  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Excuse my rookie comments here, but after enabling *#73#, it seems that the rainbow sim V2? requires n70 (I turned it off along with n71 - was hoping to track n66) to be available else it switches to T-Mobile.  So this confirms my suspicion that you need to be close to a site to get on Dish.  Have no idea why they don't just use plmn. To test, I put it into a s21 ultra, rebooted twice, came up on T-Mobile (no n70 on s21).  Tried to manually register on 313340, but it did not connect (tried twice). I am on factory unlocked firmware but used a s22 hack to get *#73# working.  Tried what you were suggesting with a T-Mobile sim partially installed, but that was very unstable with Dish ( I think they had figured that one out).  [edit: and now I see Boost sent me a successful device swap notice which says I can now begin to use my new device.  Sigh.  Will try again later and wait for this message - too impatient.]
    • Hopefully this indicates T-Mobile hasn't completely abandoned mmwave and/or small cells? But then again this is the loop, so take that as you will. Hopefully now that most macro activity is done (besides rural colo/builds), they will start working on small cells.   
    • This has been approved.. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/fcc-approves-t-mobiles-deal-to-purchase-mint-mobile/  
    • In the conference call they had two question on additional spectrum. One was the 800 spectrum. They are not certain what will happen, thus have not really put it into their plans either way (sale or no sale). They do have a reserve level. Nationwide 800Mhz is seen as great for new technologies which I presume is IOT or 5g slices.  T-Mobile did not bite on use of their c-band or DOD.  mmWave rapidly approaching deadlines not mentioned at all. FWA brushes on this as it deals with underutilized spectrum on a sector by sector basis.  They are willing to take more money to allow FWA to be mobile (think RV or camping). Unsure if this represents a higher priority, for example, FWA Mobile in RVs in Walmart parking lots working where mobile phones need all the capacity. In terms of FWA capacity, their offload strategy is fiber through joint ventures where T-Mobile does the marketing, sales, and customer support while the fiber company does the network planning and installation.  50%-50% financial split not being consolidated into their books. I think discussion of other spectrum would have diluted the fiber joint venture discussion. They do have a fund which one use is to purchase new spectrum. Sale of the 800Mhz would go into this. It should be noted that they continue to buy 2.5Ghz spectrum from schools etc to replace leases. They will have a conference this fall  to update their overall strategies. Other notes from the call are 75% of the phones on the network are 5g. About 85% of their sites have n41, n25, and n71, 90% 5g.  93% of traffic is on midband.  SA is also adding to their performance advantage, which they figure is still ahead of other carriers by two years. It took two weeks to put the auction 108 spectrum to use at their existing sites. Mention was also made that their site spacing was designed for midrange thus no gaps in n41 coverage, while competitors was designed for lowband thus toggles back and forth for n77 also with its shorter range.  
    • The manual network selection sounds like it isn't always scanning NR, hence Dish not showing up. Your easiest way to force Dish is going to be forcing the phone into NR-only mode (*#*#4636#*#* menu?), since rainbow sims don't support SA on T-Mobile.
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...