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


mikejeep

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They actively block them. See Nexus 5 with Sprint being the only one with engineering screens and goodies while the other two will have them blocked when their sim is detected. 

That's interesting, I knew that but hadn't really thought about it in that way. How "Carrier" of them.

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That's an interesting point, because on Nexus 5, EARCFN could be carved out of the DEBUG LTE Engineering menu which I find very useful. Send me a beta, and I'll test band indicator on my Nexus 5, gladly!! :)

 

I wish it was that easy! Apps cannot really pull data out of other apps (engineering mode is just a system app). I don't have anything to test yet.

 

-Mike

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I wish it was that easy! Apps cannot really pull data out of other apps (engineering mode is just a system app). I don't have anything to test yet.

 

-Mike

No worries, once your Nexus 5 arrives, you'll see how easy it is ;)

I'm totally convinced that you could do it! :D

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Connected to eHRPD but no 3g symbol or working data in status bar. Could they be upgrading tower to lte? Note: sprint customer in nTelos area on wifes note 2. 

 

It could be due to many different things. You appear to have decent signal strength on the site(s) you are connected to. This happens from time to time. Try turning on airplane mode, waiting about 30 seconds, then turning airplane mode off.. might be enough to re-connect.

 

EDIT: This post in the sponsors forum reports others with a similar issue in nTelos areas last week -- eHRPD but no working data connection. Switch your device from CDMA/LTE to CDMA-only mode and you should be able to connect to EV-DO.

 

-Mike

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Connected to eHRPD but no 3g symbol or working data in status bar. Could they be upgrading tower to lte? Note: sprint customer in nTelos area on wifes note 2. 

That's been my experience in Central VA on Sprint using nTelos towers.  I can turn the Mobile Networks setting on to CDMA/LTE or Automatic and see eHRPD on Signal Check, but it kills my data connection.  I have to switch back to CDMA Only to restore it.

 

nTelos - still a 4G wasteland!

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Is it normal for the app to show eHRPD (Verizon) and 1XRTT (Sprint) ?

Sure, it just means you are roaming on Verizon for data at that moment. You can be connected to different carriers at the same time just like you can be connected to different Sprint sites at the same time.

 

-Mike

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Oh if I could get my hands on the EARFCN information, I would be using that for a foolproof band identifier! Unfortunately, that's not something that Android exposes, so I need to develop my own manufacturer-specific methods to get it. So far, I have only been able to dig it out of HTC devices. Samsung completely blocks all access to this data. Once my Nexus 5 arrives, it will give me my first opportunity to try working on an LG.

 

These difficulties are why I appreciate it when Sprint tosses me a ground ball and sets up their network based on things that are accessible across all devices, like the SID or MCC-MNC :)

 

-Mike

 

Mike.  A new B41 EARFCN 39991 was discovered today in GregSmoov's B41 testing in NYC.  This EARFCN 39991 translates into 2530.1 MHz.

 

This means so far EARFCN 39991 and 40978 has been discovered for B41 LTE deployment.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4989-lg-google-nexus-5-users-thread/?p=241767

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Mike.  A new B41 EARFCN 39991 was discovered today in GregSmoov's B41 testing in NYC.  This EARFCN 39991 translates into 2530.1 MHz.

 

This means so far EARFCN 39991 and 40978 has been discovered for B41 LTE deployment.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4989-lg-google-nexus-5-users-thread/?p=241767

 

Thanks, I caught that too. Happy to see that the Nexus 5 is able to connect to Band 41.. it took longer than I expected to see evidence of that to pop up. My N5 has been shipped (2 weeks early!), can't wait to see what I can dig out of it to improve the app!

 

-Mike

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Thanks, I caught that too. Happy to see that the Nexus 5 is able to connect to Band 41.. it took longer than I expected to see evidence of that to pop up. My N5 has been shipped (2 weeks early!), can't wait to see what I can dig out of it to improve the app!

 

-Mike

 

I am just hoping you will be able to figure out some LG hidden gems and hopefully be able to retrieve the UL and DL frequencies like the HTC devices.

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Sure, it just means you are roaming on Verizon for data at that moment. You can be connected to different carriers at the same time just like you can be connected to different Sprint sites at the same time.

 

 

Thanks.

 

When on Sprint today also, not roaming, the pull down notifications showed 1xRTT (Sprint) and eHRPD (-), this was while downloading a file for more than several minutes. In a 4G area, on the Nexus5, so it wasn't connected to LTE as that is broken as we know.

The phone showed 3G too.

 

[on latest beta version]

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When on Sprint today also, not roaming, the pull down notifications showed 1xRTT (Sprint) and eHRPD (-), this was while downloading a file for more than several minutes. In a 4G area, on the Nexus5, so it wasn't connected to LTE as that is broken as we know.

The phone showed 3G too.

 

[on latest beta version]

 

I have noticed that "-" appearing as the carrier in the notification pulldown occasionally as well.. sometimes on the 1X icon, sometimes on the main icon. If you go into the app, it refreshes it and then shows the proper carrier.

 

Not sure what I did, but I definitely changed something I shouldn't have. I've been trying to figure it out, I'm sure I will stumble across it eventually. Probably deleted something I shouldn't have.. with over 4,200 lines of code at the moment, that is certainly possible.. ;)

 

-Mike

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Mike have you ever thought about expandable notifications. Where you can swipe down with 2 fingers on a notification to show more info. I was thinking this would be useful for something like 1x bsl. I use bsl for 1x 800 alot since it squawks the correct location for me.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

 

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Mike,

 

Just to give you an update to what we were talking about, I'm still seeing LTE 311490 when connecting to LTE in this area.  Also I noticed when in a certain part of town now I get "null" in the pull down notification bar when connecting to that particular tower, when it hands off to another tower it goes back to "Sprint."

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The other day I was visiting a friend of mine and we were doing some work in his basement where the Sprint signal is non-existant so my phone went into roam mode.  I still had Signal Check loaded from my drive there where I was watching it and it said Carrier: US Cellular.  How does Signal Check KNOW the NAME of the roaming carrier?  Does it go to the internet and look it up in some database using the SID returned from the site?

 

PS: After seeing the warning in the new version I finally gave in and enabled network/WI-FI location and now the site addresses update every time-although I got a chuckle out of one that said "unknown street address" followed by the city name!

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The other day I was visiting a friend of mine and we were doing some work in his basement where the Sprint signal is non-existant so my phone went into roam mode. I still had Signal Check loaded from my drive there where I was watching it and it said Carrier: US Cellular. How does Signal Check KNOW the NAME of the roaming carrier? Does it go to the internet and look it up in some database using the SID returned from the site?

 

PS: After seeing the warning in the new version I finally gave in and enabled network/WI-FI location and now the site addresses update every time-although I got a chuckle out of one that said "unknown street address" followed by the city name!

I believe a certain user mentioned a feature to have a list of SIDs contained in the app. I also hear he sent a list of EVDO subnets for HTC users as well. ;)

 

It's been said before the addresses are done via a Google reverse geocode.

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Mike have you ever thought about expandable notifications. Where you can swipe down with 2 fingers on a notification to show more info. I was thinking this would be useful for something like 1x bsl. I use bsl for 1x 800 alot since it squawks the correct location for me.

 

I hadn't thought of it.. only because nobody ever asked for it, and until my Nexus 5 arrived today, Android 4.1 was the newest version I had used. I'll keep that extra space on the pulldown in mind!

 

-Mike

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Just to give you an update to what we were talking about, I'm still seeing LTE 311490 when connecting to LTE in this area.  Also I noticed when in a certain part of town now I get "null" in the pull down notification bar when connecting to that particular tower, when it hands off to another tower it goes back to "Sprint."

 

Thanks.. still trying to get in touch with someone (anyone!?) at Sprint that can have a conversation with me about this.. very curious about your area, I really think those are mistakes. When it says null, what MCC-MNC are you connecting to?

 

-Mike

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Thanks.. still trying to get in touch with someone (anyone!?) at Sprint that can have a conversation with me about this.. very curious about your area, I really think those are mistakes. When it says null, what MCC-MNC are you connecting to?

 

-Mike

I would be curious to see if the LTE engineering screen matches.

 

I also have seen the null a few times when a pull down the notification bar. I will try to snag a screenshot. I thought it was the 31000 thing again but maybe not since I'm not on LTE much.

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I hadn't thought of it.. only because nobody ever asked for it, and until my Nexus 5 arrived today, Android 4.1 was the newest version I had used. I'll keep that extra space on the pulldown in mind!

 

-Mike

Yeah I think the expanded notifications are a great feature that is either not used often by developers and/or also not known by alot of users. Highly underrated.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

 

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The other day I was visiting a friend of mine and we were doing some work in his basement where the Sprint signal is non-existant so my phone went into roam mode.  I still had Signal Check loaded from my drive there where I was watching it and it said Carrier: US Cellular.  How does Signal Check KNOW the NAME of the roaming carrier?  Does it go to the internet and look it up in some database using the SID returned from the site?

 

PS: After seeing the warning in the new version I finally gave in and enabled network/WI-FI location and now the site addresses update every time-although I got a chuckle out of one that said "unknown street address" followed by the city name!

 

digiblur already beat me to it, but I'll elaborate a tiny bit -- the carrier names are pulled from a database built into the app, and the street addresses are the result of geocoding queries that typically hit a Google mapping server. Each 1X site broadcasts a latitude/longitude; the street address shown is the closest address to that point. If the address is wrong, you can put the coordinates into Google Maps in a browser, and hit the "Report a problem" button in the lower right corner. I've done it a few times, usually gets resolved within a couple of weeks.

 

Please understand that if the coordinates do not point to a site, it's not a problem with Google -- as has been discussed on here countless times, Sprint offsets the tower coordinates in many markets. There isn't anything we can do about that, it's clearly intentional.

 

-Mike

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Happy to report that my shiny new Nexus 5 arrived, and shows signal data on both Sprint and T-Mobile without activating either SIM! The Sprint one locked itself out after about 60 seconds, but it continues to receive signal data. On both carriers, it reports LTE GCI, PCI, and TAC, as well as report the MCC-MNC in the most preferred/accurate method. I was expecting this with AOSP, but you never know..

 

As others had mentioned before, it reports an invalid LTE SNR and nothing for CQI. With an AT&T SIM (not activated) inserted, it will not connect to anything. Might try some schmoozing with AT&T to see if there's anything I can do about that. On Verizon, it.. oh wait, nevermind..  ;)

 

Going to start digging into this sucker to see what goodies I can dig out of it.. fingers crossed!

 

-Mike

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