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

[Trip]

Mike, I was wondering if you could get 3G in SCP to behave more like LTE: User Note to display for the entire site (all sectors, including 1x800) and to place the User Note at the bottom of the "paragraph". Even better would be if it no longer displayed bsl if a user note was present

 

Currently a note only applies to one 1x1900 or 1x800 sector. I have screen shots if you need them.

 

We are getting ready to display the real site location for some members in several markets using sid nid bid. Thanks

 

Won't try to speak for Mike, but I think the problem with this is that not all carriers treat the 3G BID the same way.  Sprint seems to follow the third character rule, which I assume is what you're seeking.  Verizon usually does, but some former Alltel areas I've been to seem to use sequential numbering for different sectors on the same instead.  (So it goes 0x8A1/0x8A2/0x8A3 instead of 0x18A/0x28A/0x38A.)

 

I'm also not sure how it's identifying 1X 800.  If it's only by SID, then there may not be a simple way to relate the 1X 800 to 1X PCS.  Not sure I know enough about that, though; for all I know the SIDs for 1X 800 may be 1-to-1 mappings to the 1X PCS SIDs.

 

The thing I want to see changed about 1X is the bug where it won't log a 1X sector if no BSL is being reported. 

 

- Trip

[RyanThaDude]

The thing I want to see changed about 1X is the bug where it won't log a 1X sector if no BSL is being reported.

 

- Trip

This is what I'm patiently waiting for. In my area we have three different markets for VZW, South Bend, Chicago, and Indianapolis. South Bend towers (530) do broadcast a BSL and it's actually fairly accurate. However the other two do not and the NULL entries can be a nuisance.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[dkyeager]

Won't try to speak for Mike, but I think the problem with this is that not all carriers treat the 3G BID the same way.  Sprint seems to follow the third character rule, which I assume is what you're seeking.  Verizon usually does, but some former Alltel areas I've been to seem to use sequential numbering for different sectors on the same instead.  (So it goes 0x8A1/0x8A2/0x8A3 instead of 0x18A/0x28A/0x38A.)

 

I'm also not sure how it's identifying 1X 800.  If it's only by SID, then there may not be a simple way to relate the 1X 800 to 1X PCS.  Not sure I know enough about that, though; for all I know the SIDs for 1X 800 may be 1-to-1 mappings to the 1X PCS SIDs.

 

The thing I want to see changed about 1X is the bug where it won't log a 1X sector if no BSL is being reported. 

 

- Trip

 

I agree with your comment "The thing I want to see changed about 1X is the bug where it won't log a 1X sector if no BSL is being reported"  as most nTelos sites don't provide lat long, which we are interested in and overlaps a portion of my market (maybe Signal Detector can do this now that it handles CDMA).

 

We are also trying to use SCP to quickly identify new sites that should be coming online.  Much easier if you can reduce the number of "sites" you are tracking by 2/3 (ie actually notifying via user notes by site rather than sector.  We can find them via logs, but many people are still screen only oriented.  With this feature a site with no notes on the display is likely new.)

 

This will also help when 1x800 becomes active in the International Boundary Exclusion Zone and the surrounding extra Sprint Buffer Zone, which could start at any time.

[dkyeager]

Also, when do you think you might have a beta test for the dreaded "Null GCI" feature. More than half of the GCIs I see are currently being reported as null. I'm about to drive to Philly and back, and would love to be able to track a bajillion sites. Just asking. Lollipop!).

 

Some of our users are exceeding 10,000 null GCI entries in their logs.

[mikejeep]

Mike, I was wondering if you could get 3G in SCP to behave more like LTE: User Note to display for the entire site (all sectors, including 1x800) and to place the User Note at the bottom of the "paragraph". Even better would be if it no longer displayed bsl if a user note was present

I would love to have single-site 1X notes myself, but Trip provided a good answer as to why this is challenging (see below, thanks Trip). I can certainly look into moving the note to the bottom of that section and adding an option to hide the BSL if a note is present.

 

Won't try to speak for Mike, but I think the problem with this is that not all carriers treat the 3G BID the same way. Sprint seems to follow the third character rule, which I assume is what you're seeking. Verizon usually does, but some former Alltel areas I've been to seem to use sequential numbering for different sectors on the same instead. (So it goes 0x8A1/0x8A2/0x8A3 instead of 0x18A/0x28A/0x38A.)

 

I'm also not sure how it's identifying 1X 800. If it's only by SID, then there may not be a simple way to relate the 1X 800 to 1X PCS. Not sure I know enough about that, though; for all I know the SIDs for 1X 800 may be 1-to-1 mappings to the 1X PCS SIDs.

That ^ sums it up pretty well. Even if I just wanted to do it for Sprint, not all Sprint sites assign BIDs the same way. I don't really have a method to apply one site note to all sectors of a site if there isn't a consistent method to identify them across the board. In my area, sector BIDs were seemingly random at each site until last year when the "third character rule" kicked in. I haven't seen confirmation that there is a standard BID pattern implemented nationwide yet.

 

1X 800 is identified by the 22xxx SID. If each SMR SID matched exactly with an associated PCS SID, I might be able to do something about that, but I have no idea if that is the case. Honestly I have gotten very little feedback about the 1X features over the past year or so because of all the focus on LTE, so I haven't done much with it.

 

 

The thing I want to see changed about 1X is the bug where it won't log a 1X sector if no BSL is being reported.

Waiiiiiit a second did I know about this? I don't have it noted anywhere, so if I did, I'm sorry it fell through the cracks. I will look into this ASAP. As I metioned above, non-LTE feedback has dried up.. and I'm very rarely off LTE myself, so I don't notice those hiccups.

 

 

The new second carrier ID feature is nice, but slightly off-center in certain markets like Chicagoland. This may be generic to Samsung markets. In Chicago, on both B25 and B41, the first carrier has GCIs ending in hex 00, 01, and 02. The second carrier has GCIs ending in 03, 04, and 05, which I know that you know. The current beta does not identify 03 as 2nd carrier, which I am guessing is either a minor hiccup on your part, or a problem caused by AlcaLu and/or Ericsson markets.

I should have explained this caveat a little clearer. I intentionally ignore 03 as a second carrier because non-Samsung markets use 01/02/03 for the first carrier. It's not a problem caused by ALU or Ericsson, it's a problem caused by Samsung.

 

The only way I would be able to circumvent this would be to somehow identify the GCI prefixes for every Samsung market and apply different filters to those sites. If someone wants to take charge and create that list, I'd implement it.. but at the moment I can't commit to digging through the forums and doing that myself. (And please don't pepper the board with a zillion "my market is 0123" messages for everyone else's sake!)

 

 

Also, when do you think you might have a beta test for the dreaded "Null GCI" feature. More than half of the GCIs I see are currently being reported as null. I'm about to drive to Philly and back, and would love to be able to track a bajillion sites. Just asking.

 

EDIT: I think I misunderstood an earlier post. Re-reading, I don't see anything suggesting you are on the trail of the Null GCI gremlin. Hope I'm wrong.

Null GCI appearing on the display? Or in the Site Log? I've spent many hours hammering the null/duplicate/invalid entry issues with the Site Logger this week, just haven't had any success yet; my testing last night did not go very well. I pushed out yesterday's update because those particular items were working well. I've been working on it for a few hours today but nothing to share just yet. It's far more of a PITA than I expected!

 

-Mike

[bakedc4]

Here in Shentel land the second carrier isn't being identified.

 

[tommym65]

. . .

I should have explained this caveat a little clearer. I intentionally ignore 03 as a second carrier because non-Samsung markets use 01/02/03 for the first carrier. It's not a problem caused by ALU or Ericsson, it's a problem caused by Samsung.

. . .

Null GCI appearing on the display? Or in the Site Log? I've spent many hours hammering the null/duplicate/invalid entry issues with the Site Logger this week, just haven't had any success yet; my testing last night did not go very well. I pushed out yesterday's update because those particular items were working well. I've been working on it for a few hours today but nothing to share just yet. It's far more of a PITA than I expected!

 

 

2nd carrier:  Naaah, can't be a Samsung glitch, everyone knows Samsung is perfect.  Besides, REAL hexadecimal programmers ALWAYS count from zero! 

 

Null GCI:  The "Null" note is only in the log.  What seems to happen when I'm watching is that an LTE site will appear on screen ID'd as "LTE", and the provider and GCI lines are simply missing, which seems to cause a new "Null" entry in the log.  I presume the same thing is happening in the background when I'm not watching.

 

Thanks for listening.

[Flompholph]

09 That looks like a third carrier. Last time I was in shentel 04,05,06 were the second carrier. 

 

I have a list of 53 market GCI if any one wants to build the rest. Some markets are not active enough to get all the GCI's and I gave up because of Ericsson has multiple market GCIs.

 

On the 1x log/notes I also noticed that the notifications don't show all the 1x info when there is no bsl it's just signal strength. I am not sure if notifications are related to the old 1x not logging just giving you more feedback . I like the idea of removing the BSL if a note is present maybe a setting could be put in to turn that feature on and off.  Is there a way for the user to tell the program I am in a Samsung market like the "Show Site Hints" may cause errors if you live in between markets There could be a  "Is the sector hint 1,2,or 3?" to make sure.

[Galaxyguy]

09 That looks like a third carrier. Last time I was in shentel 04,05,06 were the second carrier.

 

I have a list of 53 market GCI if any one wants to build the rest. Some markets are not active enough to get all the GCI's and I gave up because of Ericsson has multiple market GCIs.

 

On the 1x log/notes I also noticed that the notifications don't show all the 1x info when there is no bsl it's just signal strength. I am not sure if notifications are related to the old 1x not logging just giving you more feedback . I like the idea of removing the BSL if a note is present maybe a setting could be put in to turn that feature on and off. Is there a way for the user to tell the program I am in a Samsung market like the "Show Site Hints" may cause errors if you live in between markets There could be a "Is the sector hint 1,2,or 3?" to make sure.

I live in Shentel territory and have only ever seen 09, 0A, 0B as the second carrier. Where did you ever see 04,05, and 06?

 

Sent from my Note 4.

[Trip]

Waiiiiiit a second did I know about this? I don't have it noted anywhere, so if I did, I'm sorry it fell through the cracks. I will look into this ASAP. As I metioned above, non-LTE feedback has dried up.. and I'm very rarely off LTE myself, so I don't notice those hiccups.

Mike,

 

I remember discussing it, and I think it was in this thread.  It definitely seems as though if no BSL is reported, the 1X site is not logged.  The exception is if a site note is added while connected, but then it doesn't record any information about the strongest signal coordinates or things like that.

 

On an unrelated note, I've connected to some Clear B41 with 09, 0A, and 0B at the end, including the one closest to my house, and I'm assuming that's a second carrier of B41.  Haven't connected to it to see if it picks it up or not.

 

- Trip

[Flompholph]

It's been a while since I was looking for second carrier in Shentel I remember Berkeley Springs, WV a long time ago I thought the sector was 4,5,6 but your from the market so I will differ to what you see. Maybe some one should write second carrier numbers down. I don't look a lot at SCP anymore when I go through Harrisburg if I do it is just the notification to see if band 41 is live. I was just in Hersey the last snow storm when the turnpike was slowed to 45MPH(a week ago?) I probably should look through s4gru for my screenshot I remember posting it and AJ asking why Berkeley Springs,WV. With going all over the country I am most likely wrong. I know I was wrong when the Cleveland second carrier was throwing me off when reporting PCI changing to joski1624.

 

edit sorry sector was 0B but in my defense it was almost a year ago I must be getting old. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5454-network-vision-and-spark-earfcn-logging-thread/?p=342543

[mikejeep]

Here in Shentel land the second carrier isn't being identified.

I live in Shentel territory and have only ever seen 09, 0A, 0B as the second carrier. ...

On an unrelated note, I've connected to some Clear B41 with 09, 0A, and 0B at the end, including the one closest to my house, and I'm assuming that's a second carrier of B41.  Haven't connected to it to see if it picks it up or not.

 

I wasn't aware of the 09, 0A, 0B second carriers until I saw these posts; I only knew about 03/04/05 in Samsung markets. I will add these new ones to B25 and Clearwire B41. If anyone has anything else, please share so I can add them!

 

-Mike

[mikejeep]

2nd carrier:  Naaah, can't be a Samsung glitch, everyone knows Samsung is perfect.  Besides, REAL hexadecimal programmers ALWAYS count from zero! 

 

Null GCI:  The "Null" note is only in the log.  What seems to happen when I'm watching is that an LTE site will appear on screen ID'd as "LTE", and the provider and GCI lines are simply missing, which seems to cause a new "Null" entry in the log.  I presume the same thing is happening in the background when I'm not watching.

 

Well I don't think it's really a glitch, just the way Samsung chose to program their sites.. based on what they do on the UE end, I'm not surprised they do their own thing the on the network side too!

 

I have resolved the null GCI issue you described in the version I'm testing myself at the moment; it was tricky because I didn't want to kill logging entirely for devices that do not report GCI. So, there will be a new option under Preferences > Logger Settings to allow logging sites without a GCI. By default, it is off.

 

 

On the 1x log/notes I also noticed that the notifications don't show all the 1x info when there is no bsl it's just signal strength. I am not sure if notifications are related to the old 1x not logging just giving you more feedback . I like the idea of removing the BSL if a note is present maybe a setting could be put in to turn that feature on and off.  Is there a way for the user to tell the program I am in a Samsung market like the "Show Site Hints" may cause errors if you live in between markets There could be a  "Is the sector hint 1,2,or 3?" to make sure.

 

I'll have to play with the BSL issue some more to figure out what is going on with that. I could have a user setting for Samsung market or not, but an overwhelming majority will have no idea what to do with it. Also, if you ever travel between markets it will throw everything off. 03 will not appear as a second carrier in the app until I have some GCI prefixes; there really is no other way to do it. Sorry!

 

 

I remember discussing it, and I think it was in this thread.  It definitely seems as though if no BSL is reported, the 1X site is not logged.  The exception is if a site note is added while connected, but then it doesn't record any information about the strongest signal coordinates or things like that.

 

Oh I believe you. Between the 3100+ posts here and various other channels of communication, it's amazing that more hasn't fallen through the cracks! 

 

-Mike

[dkyeager]

It will be a noticeable improvement "moving the note to the bottom of that section and adding an option to hide the BSL if a note is present."  The true 3G site location that we load in will have the same appearance as the LTE site location in user notes.

[WiWavelength]

I probably should look through s4gru for my screenshot I remember posting it and AJ asking why Berkeley Springs,WV. With going all over the country I am most likely wrong. I know I was wrong when the Cleveland second carrier was throwing me off when reporting PCI changing to joski1624.

 

When you suspect a second band 25 carrier or a second or even a third band 41 carrier, always be sure to check your LTE engineering screen.  Note the downlink EARFCN.  That definitively will tell the story, while GCI/PCI patterns are just educated guesswork.

 

AJ

[mikejeep]

Hi Mike, just curious about something. I have an HTC Sprint M7, and a while back after an OS update, I lost the ability to see the GCI, PCI, and TAC through Signal Check Pro. I'm still unable to see these in SCP, however in the LTE Discovery app, I can see all three of those values. In SCP, it just tells me those values are invalid or missing. Just curious how that app can see them, but SCP can't. Thanks.

 

With the help of @darickster09, I believe I have figured out what is causing this problem. I'm working on a fix that should resolve this. In the meantime, some users (especially those on newer devices / newer software, like a Nexus 6 on Android 5.1) may see an incorrect or missing GCI and/or missing neighbor cells. I will try to get something at least in testing by tomorrow evening.

 

-Mike

[travisc]

With the help of @darickster09, I believe I have figured out what is causing this problem. I'm working on a fix that should resolve this. In the meantime, some users (especially those on newer devices / newer software, like a Nexus 6 on Android 5.1) may see an incorrect or missing GCI and/or missing neighbor cells. I will try to get something at least in testing by tomorrow evening.

 

-Mike

That's excellent news! I thought maybe my device had you stumped, lol. [emoji3]

[mikejeep]

That's excellent news! I thought maybe my device had you stumped, lol. [emoji3]

It did have me stumped, but a bit more evidence surfaced that got me pointed in the right direction. The biggest drawback to Android development is the variety of devices you have to support.. they all have quirks that don't strictly follow the rules. iOS developers have it easy!

 

-Mike

[tommym65]

iOS developers have it easy!

 

-Mike

 

Until you  try to perform  an operation that Apple prohibits. . . 

[WiWavelength]

Until you  try to perform  an operation that Apple prohibits. . . 

 

Hey, Apple knows what is best for the iRack...

 

 

AJ

[ingenium]

Is there a possibility of having neighboring sites show the band, based on the logs?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[BlueAngel]

Is there a possibility of having neighboring sites show the band, based on the logs?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

That would be great.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[Flompholph]

No at least not in pittsburgh market the same pci is shared between all the band. No way to tell with just a pci.

[mikejeep]

Is there a possibility of having neighboring sites show the band, based on the logs?

 

No.. the PCI is the only bit of data that is available for neighbor cells, and like Flompholph stated, PCIs are re-used across bands (at least on Sprint).

 

-Mike

[Trip]

I managed to fool it a little bit.  All my Clear sites have site notes like "Crystal City East B41" since the Clear sites appear only on B41, so having B41 in the site notes makes it evident. 

 

I wouldn't mind doing the same thing with the Sprint B41 sites which appear to have different PCI from the B25/B26 at the same location, but I think it's better to have them tied together for identifying sites that have newly converted to B41.

 

- Trip