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

[jefbal99]

How would you like reports of SIDs that are not getting labeled properly?  I'm on a Sprint site in Lansing, MI getting SID 16678, but the app is not labeling it as Sprint.  I'll toss up a screenshot later

[digiblur]

How would you like reports of SIDs that are not getting labeled properly?  I'm on a Sprint site in Lansing, MI getting SID 16678, but the app is not labeling it as Sprint.  I'll toss up a screenshot later

 

16678 isn't a Sprint SID.  I don't even see it in the PRL nor is it assigned to anyone that I can find.  Sounds like another bogus CM thing.

[tongboy]

This one in the Chicago area is not showing sprint.

The work you are doing is awesome! Thanks for doing this.

Sent from my EVO LTE
 

Edit - I am having some issues posting images.  It is SID 4384.

[mikejeep]

How would you like reports of SIDs that are not getting labeled properly? I'm on a Sprint site in Lansing, MI getting SID 16678, but the app is not labeling it as Sprint. I'll toss up a screenshot later

Go ahead and post it here so if there any doubts it can be discussed. I don't need a screenshot, just the SID, what network you're seeing, and what network you think it should be and why.

 

Like digiblur and a couple others have mentioned, there are some things in progress on the CM nightlies right now that are causing weird values..

 

-Mike

[jefbal99]

16678 isn't a Sprint SID.  I don't even see it in the PRL nor is it assigned to anyone that I can find.  Sounds like another bogus CM thing.

 

 

Go ahead and post it here so if there any doubts it can be discussed. I don't need a screenshot, just the SID, what network you're seeing, and what network you think it should be and why.

 

Like digiblur and a couple others have mentioned, there are some things in progress on the CM nightlies right now that are causing weird values..

 

-Mike

 

I'm on a CM nightly, so that is very possible, I know the RIL changes have been very frequent recently.

 

The 1xRTT stats are SID: 16678, NID: 5, BID: 923

[lordsutch]

I'm on a CM nightly, so that is very possible, I know the RIL changes have been very frequent recently.

 

The 1xRTT stats are SID: 16678, NID: 5, BID: 923

 

You're really on SID 4126. What is happening is that the SID and NID are being interpreted on the Samsung RIL as they are hexadecimal values, although the RIL reports them as decimal.  Nightly CM builds dated 20130720 and earlier should be fine.

 

EDIT: I reported this to the relevant Gerrit code review; hopefully the change will be backed out. The latest patch for the HTC RIL has a similar problem too, although it hasn't made it into CM yet (probably because they're busily working to integrate the Android 4.3 code dump).

[Fubie]

Mike,

 

Worked like a charm today.  All CID showed up in perfect hex.  I have a suggestion/request.  Would it be possible to have lat/long of where you currently are along with time and date so this would all show on the screen cap?

 

I travel a lot and don't always have the time to cap maps or other data.  With the requested info I could easily track where I was when I took one of the many I take. 

 

A really cool feature (you don't have time for) would be to put your data on an video overlay like Torque so we could just record it as we drove around...

[mikejeep]

Worked like a charm today.  All CID showed up in perfect hex.  I have a suggestion/request.  Would it be possible to have lat/long of where you currently are along with time and date so this would all show on the screen cap?

 

I travel a lot and don't always have the time to cap maps or other data.  With the requested info I could easily track where I was when I took one of the many I take. 

 

A really cool feature (you don't have time for) would be to put your data on an video overlay like Torque so we could just record it as we drove around...

 

Excellent, glad to hear the CID's are displaying properly.  Location features are in progress; I was leaning more towards logging than displaying the lat/long on screen, but I can consider that too.

 

Video overlays?!  You guys are killing me.. we clearly need to find better ways to waste our time..

 

-Mike

[bucdenny]

Hello Mike, is it possible to add optional notification if we were to get better than -50 db signal?  This would be great option because it tells us we are right next to the site!  

[mrrogers1]

Excellent, glad to hear the CID's are displaying properly.  Location features are in progress; I was leaning more towards logging than displaying the lat/long on screen, but I can consider that too.

 

Video overlays?!  You guys are killing me.. we clearly need to find better ways to waste our time..

 

-Mike

 

Ha ha! Yeah, here is what I like to do but these days it's EXTRA spendy. 

 

 

Thanks for helping fill some of the void Mike! 

[digiblur]

Hello Mike, is it possible to add optional notification if we were to get better than -50 db signal? This would be great option because it tells us we are right next to the site!

That can vary so much. I stand right in line with a LTE site and only get -70, go to another and I can get down to -55. That one is a short site with some screwy downtilt since it only covers about 400 yards or so.

[mikejeep]

Hello Mike, is it possible to add optional notification if we were to get better than -50 db signal?  This would be great option because it tells us we are right next to the site!  

 

I see what you are saying, but like digiblur said, a wide variety factors will affect your signal levels, not just distance from the site.  Keep a chocolate bar in your pocket, and when it suddenly starts melting, you're close to the antenna.. when your phone suddenly starts melting, you're too close to the antenna. 

 

-Mike

[jefbal99]

You're really on SID 4126. What is happening is that the SID and NID are being interpreted on the Samsung RIL as they are hexadecimal values, although the RIL reports them as decimal.  Nightly CM builds dated 20130720 and earlier should be fine.

 

EDIT: I reported this to the relevant Gerrit code review; hopefully the change will be backed out. The latest patch for the HTC RIL has a similar problem too, although it hasn't made it into CM yet (probably because they're busily working to integrate the Android 4.3 code dump).

 

I just realized that all last weekend and in the parking ramp today that SignalCheck said I was roaming on AT&T.  That is great and all except that I only roam on VZW

[mikejeep]

I just realized that all last weekend and in the parking ramp today that SignalCheck said I was roaming on AT&T. That is great and all except that I only roam on VZW

Heh, that would be a problem.. you're definitely not roaming on AT&T. What SID were you showing? That's what it is based on.

 

-Mike

[WiWavelength]

Keep a chocolate bar in your pocket, and when it suddenly starts melting, you're close to the antenna.. when your phone suddenly starts melting, you're too close to the antenna. 

 

And when you start melting, well, that might not be an antenna.  It could be the Ark of the Covenant...

 

 

AJ

[lordsutch]

Looks like 20130730 and later nightlies revert the Samsung change.

 

Also, got SID 1996 today reported as "Lukas Nace Gutierrez & Sachs"; this appears to be a law firm that specializes in communications law, not the actual license holder.  I believe SID 1996 (and possibly the other SIDs in the region attributed to LNG&S) is really C-Spire.

[WiWavelength]

Also, got SID 1996 today reported as "Lukas Nace Gutierrez & Sachs"; this appears to be a law firm that specializes in communications law, not the actual license holder.  I believe SID 1996 (and possibly the other SIDs in the region attributed to LNG&S) is really C-Spire.

 

Indeed.  In my many years of digging through the FCC ULS, I can corroborate that "Lukas Nace Gutierrez & Sachs" shows up fairly often as interim license holder.  Lawyers, not engineers.  For various reasons, I will say no more.

 

AJ

[mikejeep]

There are hundreds of entries listing law firms in all of the SID lists I was able to find.  I almost deleted them all (the app will show the numeric SID if there is no matching entry), but decided against it in the end.  Perhaps I will move forward with that idea.. makes more sense to show a SID than a bunch of names that will only end up confusing people.

 

lordsutch, I'm going to send you a PM..

 

-Mike

[digiblur]

There are hundreds of entries listing law firms in all of the SID lists I was able to find.  I almost deleted them all (the app will show the numeric SID if there is no matching entry), but decided against it in the end.  Perhaps I will move forward with that idea.. makes more sense to show a SID than a bunch of names that will only end up confusing people.

 

lordsutch, I'm going to send you a PM..

 

-Mike

 

Might have to throw together your list and my list.  Maybe sort by name and pull out the weird ones?    I have this in my list for the PRL app

 

1996,Cellular South,MISSISSIPPI 06 MONTGOMERY

 

It's kinda right, just need to rename them.

[mikejeep]

SignalCheck Lite (it's free!) was just updated to version 4.06L on Google Play.

 

I'm also suddenly receiving lots of reports of stale LTE data being displayed on more devices than just the HTC One.  Nothing changed in the code, but I am guessing that the number of people in LTE areas has grown so much that pre-existing issues are just coming to light now.  More LTE coverage is a good problem to have.  The next version will alleviate all of those issues; it will only show LTE data if the current data connection is LTE.  I plan to add an option for users who would prefer the old way, to still "see" LTE signals your device is not connecting to.

 

I'm making decent progress on brand new logging/mapping features.. still needs work though.

 

-Mike

[BPHusker]

I had SignalCheck Pro open just now and I just had it show me that I was connected to LTE but the Serving Cell was blank and I had a new line that said RFBand: [Restricted].  What does that mean?

[mikejeep]

I had SignalCheck Pro open just now and I just had it show me that I was connected to LTE but the Serving Cell was blank and I had a new line that said RFBand: [Restricted]. What does that mean?

Are you sure it didn't say Exception instead of Restricted? That's a bug, it is fixed in the next version. I accidentally left some testing code in there.

 

You may or may not have been on LTE.. if you were, it was probably only connected to that site for a brief moment.

 

-Mike

[Jaggrey]

Is there any way the location of the tower can be cached so it doesn't have to look it up each time? Even tho it only takes a second anyway....

 

Also, when you're roaming, does the app tell you who you're roaming on? I thought I saw that alluded to in some posts, but I haven't actually seen it do this.

[Tx/Rx]

Fantastic! I've been looking for something similar to this, on MIUI ROMs, other places, etc. I've got the free version installed on my very old Samsung Epic 4G with modem EC05. When I launch the app, it tells me I have the exact same signal strength for 1X and 3G all the time, everytime.

 

Others have pointed out that RIL implementations by various vendors may be to blame for certain anomalies. Do you think it's the same here?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

EDIT: Ha! the forum marks me as 'smoke signal' level, which I assure you isn't true

Edited August 2, 2013 by Tx/Rx

[mikejeep]

Is there any way the location of the tower can be cached so it doesn't have to look it up each time? Even tho it only takes a second anyway....

Yes, that is something I've been working on; maybe I can get it wrapped up for the update I hope to get out next week. Right now it only re-queries the geocoding server when the reported lat/long changes, but that's still a lot of queries.

 

Also, when you're roaming, does the app tell you who you're roaming on? I thought I saw that alluded to in some posts, but I haven't actually seen it do this.

Yes, the latest version (4.06) does. Even if you are on a custom PRL that changes your home provider, it should show the actual network you are connected to.

 

-Mike