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

[mikejeep]

fyi, signal check stuck on waiting for update.

 

tapping will dismiss the notice but screen never updates.

 

on nexus 7/2013 (wifi only), android 6/mra58v

 

you may ask why using it on a wifi tablet, and I would say that it (used to from what I remember) provide easy visibility to wifi access point name, speed and IP information.

The reason you see no updates is because the app is waiting for an update from the cellular radio.. which your device will never receive. Most of the time it's a non-issue, because cellular signals typically change faster (or at least often enough) than the WiFi.

 

I'm halfway done with am overhaul of the WiFi functions so users can choose to allow WiFi changes to display "live". Until your mention of using it on a wifi-only tablet, I only considered this to be an issue when on an airplane!

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

I'm aware of that Tim. However the GCI market code (first 3 characters) is not unique. It is shared by a Sprint market in a different part of the country. So, while it is easy for you to tell you are connected to Clear B41, it's not as easy for the app/Mike when you just look at GCI.

I do have another trick up my sleeve.. not sure why that stopped working though. If anyone is seeing this issue, please send a diagnostic report from within the app. I haven't been able to replicate the problem in my Clearwire market.

 

-Mike

[Tengen31]

I do have another trick up my sleeve.. not sure why that stopped working though. If anyone is seeing this issue, please send a diagnostic report from within the app. I haven't been able to replicate the problem in my Clearwire market.

 

-Mike

I don't know if this week help or not. I'm currently connected to this. Band41 with it saying b25. So I sent another report.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[mmark27]

I don't know if this week help or not. I'm currently connected to this. Band41 with it saying b25. So I sent another report.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

I've seen this a few times as well on my Note5 with the latest SCP.  I'll send a report next chance I see it.  Happens right near work usually. 

[Tengen31]

I've seen this a few times as well on my Note5 with the latest SCP. I'll send a report next chance I see it. Happens right near work usually.

If you can post a screenshot of it also. Right here in this forum.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[mikejeep]

I don't know if this week help or not. I'm currently connected to this. Band41 with it saying b25. So I sent another report.

 

Thank you for those reports, I just got a chance to get to a computer and check them out.. are you a Boost Mobile subscriber?

 

I've seen this a few times as well on my Note5 with the latest SCP.  I'll send a report next chance I see it.  Happens right near work usually. 

 

Are you seeing Boost B25 where you expect Clear B41 as Tengen31 is? Or something different?

 

-Mike

[mmark27]

Are you seeing Boost B25 where you expect Clear B41 as Tengen31 is? Or something different?

 

-Mike

 

Sorry, something different.  I don't have clear sites here.  I was getting B41 speeds and it was reporting B25.  Engineering screen said B41.  I'll try to catch it again, but perhaps it was either a buggy Samsung issue or mistiming of my looking and/or a frozen report from SCP screen, which does happen occasionally. 

[mikejeep]

Sorry, something different.  I don't have clear sites here.  I was getting B41 speeds and it was reporting B25.  Engineering screen said B41.  I'll try to catch it again, but perhaps it was either a buggy Samsung issue or mistiming of my looking and/or a frozen report from SCP screen, which does happen occasionally. 

 

Next time you see it, send a diagnostic report for me, that would be most helpful. Does your Note 5 usually report LTE bands correctly? Did it say "B25" or was there no band indicator? SignalCheck sometimes has trouble grabbing the GCI on Samsungs for some reason; if it can't get the GCI, it doesn't indicate a specific band.

 

-Mike

[mmark27]

Next time you see it, send a diagnostic report for me, that would be most helpful. Does your Note 5 usually report LTE bands correctly? Did it say "B25" or was there no band indicator? SignalCheck sometimes has trouble grabbing the GCI on Samsungs for some reason; if it can't get the GCI, it doesn't indicate a specific band.

 

-Mike

 

This happens frequently where it will just say "LTE" instead of LTE B26 or whatever.  I figured it was a Samsung issue and wasn't too overly concerned.  

 

In this particular case I mentioned above, it said "LTE B25" in the bar, but was giving 73 mbps down and the engineering screen said B41.  I'll send a report next time. 

 

I often get the LTE connection (no band reported) and the 1xRTT or 1x800 both showing up in SCP (not notification area) as well, but that sounds like a widespread Android issue if I'm reading this thread right. 

[Flompholph]

Make sure you have a valid gci. I know my provider stays the same if it loses the gci and it change bands or sites.

[mikejeep]

Make sure you have a valid gci. I know my provider stays the same if it loses the gci and it change bands or sites.

 

Well that shouldn't happen either! Another bug on the list..

 

-Mike

[Jeffrey_J]

Mike, I have a 1X/LTE issue of not updating the GCI, PCI and TAC that could be because of an IF/CASE with CDMA.
I have notice on my Nexus 5X that if the phone shows 1X and LTE SCP does not show valid PCI and TAC it also does not show the GCI but Phone info and CellMapper app does show valid info.
 
If you can get SCP to show all LTE info with 1X the Neighbor cell and Site Notes may work.
 
Edit: On your To-Do List the "Android 5+: Some devices are showing “extra” connections that are not valid, i.e. simultaneous 1X/GSM and LTE connections." my Nexus 5X does show valid 1X and LTE info. It is just the issue of invalid/not updating PCI and TAC.

Edited November 14, 2015 by Jeffrey_J

[Tengen31]

Mike, I have a 1X/LTE issue of not updating the GCI, PCI and TAC that could be because of an IF/CASE with CDMA.

I have notice on my Nexus 5X that if the phone shows 1X and LTE SCP does not show valid PCI and TAC it also does not show the GCI but Phone info and CellMapper app does show valid info.

 

If you can get SCP to show all LTE info with 1X the Neighbor cell and Site Notes may work.

I found another clearwire site

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[Marv1]

Anyone else experiencing battery drain?

 

[mikejeep]

If you can get SCP to show all LTE info with 1X the Neighbor cell and Site Notes may work.

 

...my Nexus 5X does show valid 1X and LTE info. It is just the issue of invalid/not updating PCI and TAC.

SignalCheck shows any LTE information the device is reporting. 1X, EV-DO, and LTE connection information is independent of one other, so it doesn't matter if 1X is appearing or not. In fact, I am fairly certain that your 5X (like nearly all Sprint-supported LTE devices released over the past couple of years) is incapable of maintaining simultaneous 1X and LTE connections. There are many theories as to why some newer devices are showing these connections, but it's generally believed to be an Android glitch. There have been discussions in this thread and others.

 

I found another clearwire site

What you are seeing is not site-specific; your device is reporting that it is connected to the Boost Mobile network, that's why you are not seeing Clearwire information. Did you see my earlier post? Curious if you are in fact a Boost subscriber.

 

Anyone else experiencing battery drain?

I'm seeing your image as a small thumbnail that is too blurry to read. What device/OS? There have been numerous recent reports of the battery stats showing wacky data attributed to apps that are not at fault.

 

-Mike

[Dkoellerwx]

What you are seeing is not site-specific; your device is reporting that it is connected to the Boost Mobile network, that's why you are not seeing Clearwire information. Did you see my earlier post? Curious if you are in fact a Boost subscriber.

 

He does use Boost.

 

I'm seeing your image as a small thumbnail that is too blurry to read. What device/OS? There have been numerous recent reports of the battery stats showing wacky data attributed to apps that are not at fault.

 

-Mike

 

Try this. http://postimg.org/image/k3ied0jep/

 

Looks like a Samsung. Note 5?

[Jeffrey_J]

In fact, I am fairly certain that your 5X (like nearly all Sprint-supported LTE devices released over the past couple of years) is incapable of maintaining simultaneous 1X and LTE connections. There are many theories as to why some newer devices are showing these connections, but it's generally believed to be an Android glitch. There have been discussions in this thread and others.

 

-Mike

As for the 1X and LTE I think it is doing something similar to the iPhone as in it keeps a 1X connection for some time than it goes to just LTE. Some times my phone goes from 3G to LTE with out the simultaneous 1X/LTE.

The issue that I and others have is that Site Notes and Neighbor cells don't work on your app but Neighbor cells does on CellMapper during the simultaneous 1X/LTE.

 

Mike I will help you if I can. I did send you a diagnostic report with 1X/LTE and with just LTE showing.

Sorry to keep bothering you about the 1X/LTE issue.

[Marv1]

Try this. http://postimg.org/image/k3ied0jep/ Looks like a Samsung. Note 5?

Yes it's a Note 5

[WiWavelength]

Mike...

 

Here is something to consider.  You may wish to change the second carrier signifier from "B25^2" to "B25#2," for example.  Honestly, I like the caret signifier, but too many users jump to the conclusion that it definitively means 2x CA is active.

 

AJ

[ingenium]

So there's nothing that can be done to show more info with the 1x + LTE bug is present? As it is now, SCP has become useless on the Nexus 6. The bug is constantly present, so nothing get logged and the info screen has nothing useful. Airplane mode toggling fixes the issue maybe 25% of the time, and it comes back within 15 minutes. LTE discovery is able to still pull the GCI (and thus band) along with neighbor cells:

 

 

 

[mikejeep]

Here is something to consider.  You may wish to change the second carrier signifier from "B25^2" to "B25#2," for example.  Honestly, I like the caret signifier, but too many users jump to the conclusion that it definitively means 2x CA is active.

 

Not a bad idea, I'll consider it. I just like a clean look, and sometimes making a change causes more confusion than good. I went with the ² because it was small but clean and easy to see. Unless Android introduces some new routines under the hood for developers, I'm not sure how I'm ever going to be able to identify CA.

 

So there's nothing that can be done to show more info with the 1x + LTE bug is present? As it is now, SCP has become useless on the Nexus 6. The bug is constantly present, so nothing get logged and the info screen has nothing useful. Airplane mode toggling fixes the issue maybe 25% of the time, and it comes back within 15 minutes. LTE discovery is able to still pull the GCI (and thus band) along with neighbor cells:

 

I never said there was nothing that can be done about it, but I haven't figured out why it is happening yet or why some people experience stale data. I've reached out to the LTE Discovery guys and it doesn't sound like they are doing any special voodoo on their end, so I'm really scratching my head. The fact that it only happens on Android 5+ means something changed in the framework (perhaps unintentionally) that SignalCheck is unhappy with. I'm in the early stages of re-writing the core functionality of the app with the hopes that I'll inadvertently do something slightly differently that alleviates the problem.

 

I know the problem exists and I'm working on it whenever I can -- literally dozens of hours each week. I've gotten a lot of PMs and e-mails from many of you; it's not unique to you, but it's not being experienced by every device. I'll get back to your messages one of these days, but I'm trying to spend my free time solving the issue instead of replying to 300 unread messages..

 

-Mike

[kct1975]

 

 

So there's nothing that can be done to show more info with the 1x + LTE bug is present? As it is now, SCP has become useless on the Nexus 6. The bug is constantly present, so nothing get logged and the info screen has nothing useful. Airplane mode toggling fixes the issue maybe 25% of the time, and it comes back within 15 minutes. LTE discovery is able to still pull the GCI (and thus band) along with neighbor cells:

 

 

I never said there was nothing that can be done about it, but I haven't figured out why it is happening yet or why some people experience stale data. I've reached out to the LTE Discovery guys and it doesn't sound like they are doing any special voodoo on their end, so I'm really scratching my head. The fact that it only happens on Android 5+ means something changed in the framework (perhaps unintentionally) that SignalCheck is unhappy with. I'm in the early stages of re-writing the core functionality of the app with the hopes that I'll inadvertently do something slightly differently that alleviates the problem.

 

I know the problem exists and I'm working on it whenever I can -- literally dozens of hours each week. I've gotten a lot of PMs and e-mails from many of you; it's not unique to you, but it's not being experienced by every device. I'll get back to your messages one of these days, but I'm trying to spend my free time solving the issue instead of replying to 300 unread messages..

 

-Mike

Mike,

 

First,

I just wanted to mention that I actually like the fact that SCP is showing both the 1x and the LTE info together. Personally, I actually consider it a feature, instead of a bug.

 

Second,

While you and everyone else on this forum knows that I am not that knowledgeable about the technical aspect of mobile phone signal, I personally think the reason for duel 1x and LTE is that it might have something to do with Android Marshmallow forcing the Nexus 6 to stay connected to 1x and LTE, which seems to be the Fix for the problem that the Nexus 6 had with receiving calls while connected to WiFi.

 

Of course I could be wrong (and probability am), but that is just my thought.

[Dkoellerwx]

 

 

 

Mike,

 

First,

I just wanted to mention that I actually like the fact that SCP is showing both the 1x and the LTE info together. Personally, I actually consider it a feature, instead of a bug.

 

Second,

While you and everyone else on this forum knows that I am not that knowledgeable about the technical aspect of mobile phone signal, I personally think the reason for duel 1x and LTE is that it might have something to do with Android Marshmallow forcing the Nexus 6 to stay connected to 1x and LTE, which seems to be the Fix for the problem that the Nexus 6 had with receiving calls while connected to WiFi.

 

Of course I could be wrong (and probability am), but that is just my thought.

 

The problem is, it is not supposed to work this way. A single radio device (which all tri-band phones are) should not be able to connect to 1x and LTE at the same time. One technology at a time. 

[ingenium]

The problem is, it is not supposed to work this way. A single radio device (which all tri-band phones are) should not be able to connect to 1x and LTE at the same time. One technology at a time.

It definitely shouldn't work this way, but signal levels for both update at the same time. My non-scientific observations seem to be that if it ever connected to 1x and switched to/from LTE, then when connected to that LTE site it also shows 1x data. Is it possible that it's quickly switching to 1x occasionally to check the status for eCSFB reasons?

 

I'm also fine with SCP displaying both sets of information. The problem is that basically all the LTE details are missing when this happens, but the details are there in LTE Discovery so it must be available somewhere.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

[kojitsari]

It definitely shouldn't work this way, but signal levels for both update at the same time. My non-scientific observations seem to be that if it ever connected to 1x and switched to/from LTE, then when connected to that LTE site it also shows 1x data. Is it possible that it's quickly switching to 1x occasionally to check the status for eCSFB reasons?

 

I'm also fine with SCP displaying both sets of information. The problem is that basically all the LTE details are missing when this happens, but the details are there in LTE Discovery so it must be available somewhere.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

You're intermixing how IOS devices and Android devices handle things. Signalcheck cannot show both at the same time properly because it's not possible. The sole reason 1X data is showing while LTE data is showing currently is due to a change in Android 5.0+ that is causing it to report false information or causing stale information to hang around.