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

[dkyeager]

13 hours ago, clbowens said:

When you say tri-band antenna, is that an antenna on the tower that does B25, B26 and B41 all in one?  If so, is there a pic of one of those?

You have some excellent folks in Cleveland.  Donate the cost of lunch and at become a sponsor to more easily hook up with them.  Then you can go here for more info: 

They also have a Premier forum.

[Ascertion]

Hey @Mikejeep, it looks like LTE shows no connection on my Honor 8 running stock.  Do you know what could be causing this?  I sent in a diagnostics report in case that helps.  

[mikejeep]

On 9/29/2017 at 2:21 PM, Ascertion said:

Hey @Mikejeep, it looks like LTE shows no connection on my Honor 8 running stock.  Do you know what could be causing this?  I sent in a diagnostics report in case that helps.  

Most (all?) Huawei devices do not report valid signal information to the OS, at least not by any methods I have found. It is very annoying. Do any other similar apps seem to work?

There are some non-zero numbers in your report that might be helpful, but I have no idea what they might represent. If you (or anyone else with a Huawei) want to try sending a handful of diagnostic reports from areas with varying signal data, I can compare them to see if they match up with anything useful. You'll need to be somewhere stationary with a fairly stable signal, because I'll need any signal metrics you may be able to gather by other means at the time of your report by either the data on the stock Settings menu (on Oreo it's buried under Settings > System > About > Status > SIM status > Signal strength), a dialer code, or another app. For example, if you say your RSRP is -94 and RSRQ is -3, I can look at your report and see if any of the random integers appear to match, and then we can work from there to confirm things.

-Mike

[mikejeep]

On 9/22/2017 at 3:57 PM, mikejeep said:

It appears that Oreo is not reporting valid Wi-Fi frequency information when DFS is enabled (thanks @ingenium). Please 'star' this issue if you feel inclined, and add any comments with your device and exact OS version so hopefully it gets some attention:

https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/66697994

Android has assigned someone to investigate this issue and they are asking for specific information from users experiencing this problem (@ingenium @lilotimz and others). They need to know what devices are affected as well as OS bug reports taken while the problem is occurring. I do not have DFS so I can't provide any direct feedback for them, but if anyone experiencing this could visit the link above and post their device information and attach a bug report (see below for instructions), they will investigate it. I already replied to their other questions.

Quote

Android bug report
After reproducing the issue, press the volume up, volume down, and power button simultaneously. This will capture a bug report on your device in the “bug reports” directory. Attach the bug report  file to this issue.

Alternate method:
After reproducing the issue, navigate to developer settings, ensure ‘USB debugging’ is enabled, then enable ‘Bug report shortcut’. To take bug report, hold the power button and select the ‘Take bug report’ option.

Let me know if you have any questions. If you prefer not to post directly to the Issue Tracker, send me the bug report (support@bluelinepc.com) and your device details, and I'll pass it along.

Thanks,
-Mike

[david279]

GS8+ Oreo beta shows everything now

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[RyanThaDude]

GS8+ Oreo beta shows everything now

Nice. Makes me wonder if the S7E will be the same, if we get Oreo at all. Then again I'm on the Verizon variant.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[mikejeep]

3 hours ago, david279 said:

GS8+ Oreo beta shows everything now

Woohoo!! That's great news. Is that Android 8.0 or 8.1?

Anyone who is running 8.1, please let me know if you see any improvements.. really hoping neighbor cells on other bands will start working again instead of showing "Unknown".

-Mike

 

[jefbal99]

15 hours ago, mikejeep said:

Woohoo!! That's great news. Is that Android 8.0 or 8.1?

Anyone who is running 8.1, please let me know if you see any improvements.. really hoping neighbor cells on other bands will start working again instead of showing "Unknown".

-Mike

 

I'm on the 8.1 beta, still getting unknown for most neighbor cells

[mikejeep]

Wanted to check in and share an update. I have made tremendous progress in resolving several issues that have been causing crashes and instability.. it's not flashy or exciting, but definitely something that improves the app. It will also allow me to finally release an update to the Lite version. There is still some more testing to be done, but I anticipate a public release within a week. There will be a few other small improvements as well.

-Mike

[dkyeager]

I have picked up a 0F0 in my logs using b41. I will try to figure out if it is an Airave, Magic Box or S1000 (matches that earfcn for the area).

 

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[mikejeep]

2 hours ago, dkyeager said:

I have picked up a 0F0 in my logs using b41. I will try to figure out if it is an Airave, Magic Box or S1000 (matches that earfcn for the area).

I am fairly certain that 0F0 = Magic Box (that's what I have in the current SCP beta). I only have 0E8 and 0EA reported for Airave/S1000 cells. Airave will have a PCI in the low 500's.

-Mike

[RAvirani]

13 minutes ago, mikejeep said:

Airave will have a PCI in the low 500's.

-Mike

Or the high 400s. 

[dkyeager]

I am fairly certain that 0F0 = Magic Box (that's what I have in the current SCP beta). I only have 0E8 and 0EA reported for Airave/S1000 cells. Airave will have a PCI in the low 500's.

-Mike

PCI=502, I will try to find out what it is.

 

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[shaferz]

17 hours ago, dkyeager said:

PCI=502, I will try to find out what it is.

 

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Magic Box.  Per a call with MB Support about a month ago, they told me that to see if I was connected to a MB, to look for a PCI in the 500's.

 

Edit:  Sorry -  I saw others mentioned above that 502 is likely a MB. 

[dkyeager]

Magic Box.  Per a call with MB Support about a month ago, they told me that to see if I was connected to a MB, to look for a PCI in the 500's.

Trust but verify is one of my mottos. It is a Magic Box.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

[mikejeep]

On 11/7/2017 at 4:25 PM, RAvirani said:

Or the high 400s. 

Ahh, didn't know Airaves dipped below 500.. good to know, thanks!

 

12 hours ago, shaferz said:

Magic Box.  Per a call with MB Support about a month ago, they told me that to see if I was connected to a MB, to look for a PCI in the 500's.

Could be an Airave too though.. my Airave 3 is 501, I have heard of 502-503 as well. That's what the CDMA NIDs are/were too.

-Mike

[RyanThaDude]

@mikejeep, a few things:

I'm starting to notice in my area (Chicago/NW Indiana) that Verizon is deploying Band 5, but SCP doesn't display it as such, but without anything other than LTE. The ones in my area are using 16, 26, & 36 (decimal) and was confirmed on my Nexus 6P with NSG and matched up with my Galaxy S7 Edge (no EARFCN ). However, I've noticed elsewhere while browsing CellMapper that B5 has several other sectors such as (15, 25, 35), (18, 28, 38), and (19, 29, 39). Unlike B4 (and maybe B2?) where there are second carriers, these appear not to be as such as I haven't seen any sites with two different B5 sectors. So far I haven't noticed any correlation on the assignments but as soon as I find more data, I'll hopefully see it.

I've also noticed while browsing that there are sectors assigned (72, 82, 92 - B4) and (74, 84, 94 - B2) along with the normal macro-style numbering in the San Francisco area, which appear to be a small cells. To what I've notice so far a site can have three different eNB numbers, but are seem to be treated as sectors. For example, I've found 3 cells with different eNBs but the same PCI (38032, 338032, 638032). The only difference is the starting number (0, 3, 6). Along with the B5 issue, I'll be doing some research on this as well.

 

Last thing, would it be possible to be able to get the cell data in SCP without being actually connected to the network, much like NSG or CellMapper does? I'm using a Nexus 6P that has a SIM issue and in those apps I can still see cell data, although from different carriers. I use it frequently along with NSG to lock bands to determine which carrier(s) are at a site, although it can be unpredictable. Adding the ability to have SCP do this as well would be extremely useful. Maybe, have it be an option to turn this feature on/off.

Thanks as always, Mike!

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that there's also something that could be added is Verizon's Network Extenders (femtocells). So far the ones I've found all start with the hex FA and FB. Many units share the same eNB but have different sectors. Could those be added as well?

Edited November 18, 2017 by RyanThaDude

[mikejeep]

12 hours ago, RyanThaDude said:

@mikejeep, a few things:

I'm starting to notice in my area (Chicago/NW Indiana) that Verizon is deploying Band 5, but SCP doesn't display it as such, but without anything other than LTE. The ones in my area are using 16, 26, & 36 (decimal) and was confirmed on my Nexus 6P with NSG and matched up with my Galaxy S7 Edge (no EARFCN ). However, I've noticed elsewhere while browsing CellMapper that B5 has several other sectors such as (15, 25, 35), (18, 28, 38), and (19, 29, 39). Unlike B4 (and maybe B2?) where there are second carriers, these appear not to be as such as I haven't seen any sites with two different B5 sectors. So far I haven't noticed any correlation on the assignments but as soon as I find more data, I'll hopefully see it.

I have B5 as 17/27/37/47/57/67 (dec) from @Trip but that's the only confirmed B5 data I have received. The 15.. 16.. 18.. 19.. examples do not conflict with anything else I have noted, so all of those might be accurate. Have you definitively confirmed each of those? I can't wait for the day when every device reports EARFCNs.. @david279 mentioned above that Samsungs are reporting on the Oreo 8.1 preview which is huge.

 

Quote

I've also noticed while browsing that there are sectors assigned (72, 82, 92 - B4) and (74, 84, 94 - B2) along with the normal macro-style numbering in the San Francisco area, which appear to be a small cells. To what I've notice so far a site can have three different eNB numbers, but are seem to be treated as sectors. For example, I've found 3 cells with different eNBs but the same PCI (38032, 338032, 638032). The only difference is the starting number (0, 3, 6). Along with the B5 issue, I'll be doing some research on this as well.

Keep me updated.. I just have to be careful to assume that something deployed in one market is going to hold true elsewhere (i.e. T-Mobile's mess).

 

Quote

Last thing, would it be possible to be able to get the cell data in SCP without being actually connected to the network, much like NSG or CellMapper does? I'm using a Nexus 6P that has a SIM issue and in those apps I can still see cell data, although from different carriers. I use it frequently along with NSG to lock bands to determine which carrier(s) are at a site, although it can be unpredictable. Adding the ability to have SCP do this as well would be extremely useful. Maybe, have it be an option to turn this feature on/off.

NSG is not a good comparison, because they do not use native Android API methods, they communicate directly with the modem using routines not available to anyone else. It results in great data, but for now it's not the type of information within my reach. But I should be able to do anything CellMapper is showing -- could you give more details? SCP should show the same data.

 

Quote

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that there's also something that could be added is Verizon's Network Extenders (femtocells). So far the ones I've found all start with the hex FA and FB. Many units share the same eNB but have different sectors. Could those be added as well?

Sure, so GCI like FAxxxxxx / FBxxxxxx? Can you confirm any other details? PLMN 311480 I assume? Nobody has mentioned them.

-Mike

[mikejeep]

On 11/7/2017 at 1:41 PM, mikejeep said:

Wanted to check in and share an update. I have made tremendous progress in resolving several issues that have been causing crashes and instability.. it's not flashy or exciting, but definitely something that improves the app. It will also allow me to finally release an update to the Lite version. There is still some more testing to be done, but I anticipate a public release within a week. There will be a few other small improvements as well.

This has dragged out a bit so I want to keep everyone else in the loop.. just about everything is ready for release. However, I discovered a significant bug in a permissions library that SignalCheck uses. I am working with the developer of that library to get it fixed before I push out a public update. Without the fix, some of the ongoing issues with Android permissions will continue to persist.

-Mike

[RyanThaDude]

1 hour ago, mikejeep said:

I have B5 as 17/27/37/47/57/67 (dec) from @Trip but that's the only confirmed B5 data I have received. The 15.. 16.. 18.. 19.. examples do not conflict with anything else I have noted, so all of those might be accurate. Have you definitively confirmed each of those? I can't wait for the day when every device reports EARFCNs.. @david279 mentioned above that Samsungs are reporting on the Oreo 8.1 preview which is huge.

Yes, it's been confirmed. These are the cells I found a few days ago, which are on CellMapper. Thankfully my N6P got the EARFCNs since the S7E didn't. I saw that post and gave a slight glimmer of hope for Samsung but considering I'm on VZW I'm sure they'll neuter it because, well, that's what they do best.

1 hour ago, mikejeep said:

Keep me updated.. I just have to be careful to assume that something deployed in one market is going to hold true elsewhere (i.e. T-Mobile's mess).

Done & done! Definitely understandable. I'll be doing some more digging around and let you know what I find.

1 hour ago, mikejeep said:

NSG is not a good comparison, because they do not use native Android API methods, they communicate directly with the modem using routines not available to anyone else. It results in great data, but for now it's not the type of information within my reach. But I should be able to do anything CellMapper is showing -- could you give more details? SCP should show the same data.

Fair enough about NSG, but CellMapper will mostly show the same info as well. Here are a few screenshots of my N6P showing the cell data from my network extender in NSG, CM, SCP, and Android's phone info screen. While the device is rooted, CM isn't using it so I can only assume that's it's getting the data via the API. Again, this was just a thought since it would allow capture of data without or with a bad SIM.

1 hour ago, mikejeep said:

Sure, so GCI like FAxxxxxx / FBxxxxxx? Can you confirm any other details? PLMN 311480 I assume? Nobody has mentioned them.

I have an extender (311480, yes) that's currently using the first three hex of 0FB, and a few in the area as well (same ID, different sector), but it was once assigned 0FA a few months ago. By default they use B13, but they can be configured by Big Red to use B4. Sadly, since my S7E doesn't capture EARFCNs, I'm unable to determine if there's a difference in B13 and B4 IDs. Only a select few were able to get captured by the N6P and they were all B13.

Cheers!

[Flompholph]

Question about neighbor cells...

Is there only one control to make it so you can see unkowns? I don't see them on or off.

Are different bands shown only when there is weak signal and when it's looking where to connect to next?

New to seeing the EARFCN in SCP so memory is failing me.

[mikejeep]

Question about neighbor cells...
Is there only one control to make it so you can see unkowns? I don't see them on or off.
Are different bands shown only when there is weak signal and when it's looking where to connect to next?
New to seeing the EARFCN in SCP so memory is failing me.

On the latest beta, check the Unknown Neighbor Cells option to show them, but even if you have them hidden, they are still included in the summary of how many cells were observed. Make sure you have the Show Neighbor Cells option enabled too.

Neighbors only tend to show up when your active connection has a weak signal, or there are others with similar/stronger signals in range. Site density obviously plays a role.. if you're only in range of one site, you'll only see neighbors if you are within coverage of one of the other sectors or another band from that site. Urban areas may see over a dozen at a time.

On Android 7 and 8, neighbors on other bands are shown as Unknown. I'm hoping they fix that in 8.1 but no sign of that yet.

-Mike

[Flompholph]

I see other bands s8 beta.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/g2rmmr3jyr75znk/20171121_193843.jpg?dl=0

[/img]

I was looking for unknown button because I thought unknown was other bands. Since I see other bands in the neighbors I was just double checking. Maybe samsung thought they would get it right for earfcn.

[mikejeep]

I see other bands s8 beta.

I was looking for unknown button because I thought unknown was other bands. Since I see other bands in the neighbors I was just double checking. Maybe samsung thought they would get it right for earfcn.

Oh excellent!! That's a great sign. Although PCI 0 should show as Unknown.. [emoji848]

-Mike

[dkyeager]

On 11/21/2017 at 8:25 PM, mikejeep said:

 

Oh excellent!! That's a great sign. Although PCI 0 should show as Unknown..

-Mike

We have legitimate PCI 0 at a number of sites.