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

[mikejeep]

Gotcha. I know I've seen B26, I just have yet to see B41 show up when I've looked. I might try disabling B26 and B25 today to force it to look for B41 just to see where it's available around here (Baltimore market).

When the S5 came out, it was not properly reporting the PLMN (numeric identifier) it was connected to; the Sprint variant always reported 310120, which is used for band 25 & 26 but not 41. This prevented SignalCheck from ever identifying B41. Samsung released an app that fixed several of the radio bugs, but I also heard that app might reset some of your settings. Newer baseband updates might have fixed the issue as well, but I don't have any notes on that. See the bottom of this page for more info: http://www.bluelinepc.com/signalcheck/known-issues/

 

-Mike

[joshuam]

When the S5 came out, it was not properly reporting the PLMN (numeric identifier) it was connected to; the Sprint variant always reported 310120, which is used for band 25 & 26 but not 41. This prevented SignalCheck from ever identifying B41. Samsung released an app that fixed several of the radio bugs, but I also heard that app might reset some of your settings. Newer baseband updates might have fixed the issue as well, but I don't have any notes on that. See the bottom of this page for more info: http://www.bluelinepc.com/signalcheck/known-issues/

 

-Mike

Lame Samsung. That's really annoying. I downloaded that app but not sure it did anything... Lol

 

Sent from my Galaxy S5 on the Sprint Network

[joshuam]

When the S5 came out, it was not properly reporting the PLMN (numeric identifier) it was connected to; the Sprint variant always reported 310120, which is used for band 25 & 26 but not 41. This prevented SignalCheck from ever identifying B41. Samsung released an app that fixed several of the radio bugs, but I also heard that app might reset some of your settings. Newer baseband updates might have fixed the issue as well, but I don't have any notes on that. See the bottom of this page for more info: http://www.bluelinepc.com/signalcheck/known-issues/

 

-Mike

Lame Samsung. That's really annoying. I downloaded that app but not sure it did anything... Lol

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy S5 on the Sprint Network

[ddaniels3968]

My S5 will not show band 41. As far as I know it's up to date.

[joshuam]

My S5 will not show band 41. As far as I know it's up to date.

 

At least I know it's connecting to band 41....since I've gotten speeds over 70Mbps...lol

[ddaniels3968]

Yea I saw I was connected to band 41 on the engineering screen but I didn't see it on signal check pro

[stlman314]

Yea I saw I was connected to band 41 on the engineering screen but I didn't see it on signal check pro

 

Signal Check sometimes have issues reporting B41 correctly. Sometimes it will report B41 in the provider portion and sometimes it doesn't. In the MO market B41 towers start with a different set of numbers so that how we can identify B41 vs B25/B26.

[mikejeep]

Yea I saw I was connected to band 41 on the engineering screen but I didn't see it on signal check pro

Yeah, like I said, the S5 has an issue with that. If you try that "Samsung Refresh" app you might have better luck, I know it has worked for others. Its frustrating because the enginerring screens have the correct info, but its not reporting that same information to Android. I've been in contact with Samsung but they aren't very responsive. It has probably been a bug for years, but nobody noticed because you would never connect to another PLMN.

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

Signal Check sometimes have issues reporting B41 correctly. Sometimes it will report B41 in the provider portion and sometimes it doesn't. In the MO market B41 towers start with a different set of numbers so that how we can identify B41 vs B25/B26.

Oh yes I should mention the app is not perfect with B41 detection on several devices.. I was only pointing out that the specific problem on Samsung phones is their enginerrs, not me

 

I have caught a few quick shots of B41 on my N5 in LTE-only mode this week, but it's still very rare and nothing near where I live yet, despite some Clear towers nearby. Makes it hard to troubleshoot. If I could even find a parking lot nearby where I could connect to it easily, I'd set up shop in my Jeep and figure it out!

 

-Mike

[stlman314]

Oh yes I should mention the app is not perfect with B41 detection on several devices.. I was only pointing out that the specific problem on Samsung phones is their enginerrs, not me

 

I have caught a few quick shots of B41 on my N5 in LTE-only mode this week, but it's still very rare and nothing near where I live yet, despite some Clear towers nearby. Makes it hard to troubleshoot. If I could even find a parking lot nearby where I could connect to it easily, I'd set up shop in my Jeep and figure it out!

 

-Mike

 

Hey Mike I was in no way putting down the app. I appreciate all the hard work you put into SCP. Without it we would not half of the information that we have in most of the markets that are being tracked. 

 

Keep up the good work

[ddaniels3968]

Yes great app! ☺

[WiWavelength]

If I could even find a parking lot nearby where I could connect to it easily, I'd set up shop in my Jeep and figure it out!

 

Wait, you have a Jeep?  No way.  That comes as a surprise.

 

AJ

[swintec]

Two local full build towers which had Band 26 launched last week or so i think are in optimization mode now.    They have been playing with the BSL coordinates...i think, on 1x800 and 1xRTT. Does this normally happen during optimizing?

 

As for signal check, when it sees new BSLs, does it bold them the first time it connects?  They are showing up bold now and then unbolded if i open it again.

[mikejeep]

Hey Mike I was in no way putting down the app. I appreciate all the hard work you put into SCP. Without it we would not half of the information that we have in most of the markets that are being tracked.

Oh I wasn't taking it as a putdown, no worries! Just wanted to make sure I mentioned that I knew there were still some issues identifying B41 on non-Samsung devices.

 

Two local full build towers which had Band 26 launched last week or so i think are in optimization mode now. They have been playing with the BSL coordinates...i think, on 1x800 and 1xRTT. Does this normally happen during optimizing?

 

As for signal check, when it sees new BSLs, does it bold them the first time it connects? They are showing up bold now and then unbolded if i open it again.

Many (all?) of the sites around me had their BSL coordinates (offset here in the Boston market) tweaked during the upgrade process.. most were not significant, just a few blocks or so. I have read that in other markets, BSLs that were previously offset are now exact.

 

SignalCheck bolds the BSL if those coordinates were not saved in the cache, indicating a "new" site. If you leave the app and then bring it to the foreground again, it will no longer be bolded because it re-queries the cache and now sees it as a saved coordinate pair. By only caching the coordinates and not the site itself, you don't have to worry about stale BSL information being cached. If Sprint changes something, the app will reflect it immediately.

 

The only time SignalCheck uses any internet access is when you see a bold BSL, because it had to determine the address by submitting a geocoding query to Google. Non-bolded BSL addresses are pulled from the local cache. No reason for those on limited data plans to needlessly waste KBs on a geocoding query every single time they switch 1X sites..

 

-Mike

[travismheim]

Mike, I know you are just bubbling over with spare time, so I have a question:  I just bought a shiny new LivePro projector.  I would like to know what bands it is connecting to, but Google Play refuses to load SCP, saying that it is incompatible with my device.

 

Any insights?

 

Thanks in advance.

Not sure if you had tried it or not, but SCP can be side loaded on the LivePro. It's a little awkward when you have the app open as it forces the screen in portrait mode like a phone so you have to hold it sideways, but the notifications and the status bar seem to work fine so far. I would be willing to bet the screen aspect ratio is the reason google play thinks it's incompatible, every other app I side loaded (speedtest, fcc speed test etc) all do the same thing and force portrait mode but still work perfectly fine.

[mikejeep]

Not sure if you had tried it or not, but SCP can be side loaded on the LivePro. It's a little awkward when you have the app open as it forces the screen in portrait mode like a phone so you have to hold it sideways, but the notifications and the status bar seem to work fine so far. I would be willing to bet the screen aspect ratio is the reason google play thinks it's incompatible, every other app I side loaded (speedtest, fcc speed test etc) all do the same thing and force portrait mode but still work perfectly fine.

Does SCP work any better if you go into Preferences > Display Settings > Enable Orientation Sensor?

 

-Mike

[travismheim]

Does SCP work any better if you go into Preferences > Display Settings > Enable Orientation Sensor?

 

-Mike

That works, didn't realize that setting was even there. You end up having to scroll, but no more holding the device sideways.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[floorguy]

Oh yes I should mention the app is not perfect with B41 detection on several devices.. I was only pointing out that the specific problem on Samsung phones is their enginerrs, not me

 

I have caught a few quick shots of B41 on my N5 in LTE-only mode this week, but it's still very rare and nothing near where I live yet, despite some Clear towers nearby. Makes it hard to troubleshoot. If I could even find a parking lot nearby where I could connect to it easily, I'd set up shop in my Jeep and figure it out!

 

-Mike

I was wondering this about a mth ago when i got the G3.....sometimes it tells me 41 other times no (and i know it is)

 

Hey per chance is there a way to have a notification ring when we connect to 26???

[mikejeep]

I was wondering this about a mth ago when i got the G3.....sometimes it tells me 41 other times no (and i know it is)

 

Hey per chance is there a way to have a notification ring when we connect to 26???

You might see the opposite too.. earlier tonight I was all excited because I was driving around and it was showing B41. After a little bit of time I realized it wasn't true. Must have caught a quick blip of it somewhere, and the app never flipped back.

 

B26 notifications aren't in there yet, but hopefully will be soon. I pick and poke at the code whenever I have a chance, it just isn't too often lately. But, good news on that front.. as of Monday I will have a much lighter workload, at least a few weeks.. that means I can spend some serious time on new updates!

 

-Mike

[davidtm]

Hey, Mike, Llama has been acting up lately, and I'm thinking it's due to network issues. Here's a screenshot, and I notice the utter lack of data other than signal strength. I'm hoping this is due to nTelos network changes (upgrades?)

 

Thoughts?

Thanks

[mikejeep]

Hey, Mike, Llama has been acting up lately, and I'm thinking it's due to network issues. Here's a screenshot, and I notice the utter lack of data other than signal strength. I'm hoping this is due to nTelos network changes (upgrades?)

 

I don't know much about Llama, but isn't it an app that automates tasks based on your location? And missing SID/NID/BID information is a sign that you have mobile location features disabled on your device, so the two issues go hand-in-hand. Go into your device's Settings menu (not SignalCheck's), and ensure that you have the option to determine location by mobile/cellular networks enabled. This is usually separate from the satellite/GPS option, which is not needed by SignalCheck.

 

-Mike

[davidtm]

Ah, bingo! I had changed Location to device only for power savings.

 

Thanks!

[davidtm]

I shoulda known it wasn't nTelos making progress! ;-)

[tommym65]

Mike,

 

In the "Error in Custom LTE Discovery Apps" thread, you say:

 

"Are you sure it's on Band 41 (i.e. confirmed thorough engineering screen)? SignalCheck uses the PLMN to identify B41, it should be 311490 or 311870. Band 25 and 26 use PLMN 310120."

 

The new 8T8R B41sites apparently also use the 310120 PLMN, but offset the B25/B26 GCI.  This has been illustrated in the "TDD LTE 2600 . . ." Premier thread, and I have also seen it in the Chicago market.

 

Just another happy Sprint idiosyncrasy to drive you totally insane as you try to get Signal Check to report the truth.

 

And you thought you'd have time to watch football . . .

[mikejeep]

The new 8T8R B41sites apparently also use the 310120 PLMN, but offset the B25/B26 GCI.  This has been illustrated in the "TDD LTE 2600 . . ." Premier thread, and I have also seen it in the Chicago market.

 

Just another happy Sprint idiosyncrasy to drive you totally insane as you try to get Signal Check to report the truth.

 

And you thought you'd have time to watch football . . .

 

Ah! That is very interesting, I wonder if Sprint is going to eventually transition everything onto 310120. It's not all bad news.. yes, it's more work for me, but identifying the PLMN has proven to be very unreliable. That's why SignalCheck isn't great at B41 identification yet. Is there a confirmed GCI pattern? I thought I follow all the relevant threads, I will go do some digging. The app would actually work much better if it only had to rely on GCI patterns (see Band 26 and AT&T band identification).

 

There's always time for football!!

 

-Mike