Original commit that introduced the change: https://android.googlesource.com/platform//frameworks/base/+...
I don't know if I want my name on an open source project attached to a commit whose only purpose is to lie?
Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
161–170 of 184 posts
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thats why I experienced 2 bars equals zero internet today?
Bars really don’t matter. You can have full bars and slow to no internet. You can have one bar but relatively decent internet. Honestly kind of wish the signal display would go away and instead show me when I lose internet.
Yes, please!
And while we're at it: Just surface the fact that connectivity sucks to applications (maybe even at the socket layer, by just closing them if there's not been any forward progress for a certain time), rather than showing me loading screens that'll never go anywhere for minutes.
This would give apps that do have some offline caching the chance of falling back to that (looking at a certain green music streaming service here).
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#163Related: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crexqyj7n5lohttps://www.... "Tests carried out by research group PolicyTracker, and shared with BBC's Morning Live, found that nearly 40% of the time a phone displays the 5G symbol, it is actually using a 4G connection"
At least there's some merit to that, since many network don't yet use a 5G core (or SIM cards aren't capable of using it), so the definition of when you "are on 5G" is really murky: https://source.android.com/docs/core/connect/5g-nsa
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#164You know, I don't recall ever seeing 1 bar of signal strength on a smartphone. And once it's down to 2 bars, it barely works, if at all. Human brains: wow, what a bunch of suckers. Damn. By the way, is it legal to be deceptive in this way?
For some reason, I've spent several weeks (across a few years) in Italy with exactly one bar of signal strength on an iPhone when roaming on Vodafone.
It must actually be tricky to space out towers that sparsely without creating any obvious coverage gaps, but if anyone is up to the task, it's certainly Vodafone (let's not talk about the actual service quality, though).
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
I highly recommend Network Cell Info Lite app for the network diag. It shows signal strength with all details for each of the SIM modules, shows on a map in real time where are the base station you are currently connected to, and other interesting statistics.
There’s no way you earnestly recommend the hot steaming pile of ad-ridden caca I just installed on my phone. That might be the worst app I’ve used on my iPhone in a year. Better off vibe coding an app to give you signal strength.
Well, there is a paid version (which I didn't try), presumably without ads. As for the Lite version, I don't know exactly why, but ads in this particular app never load on my phone. I see only a black space at the bottom where they supposedly should be visible, but they never load for some reason, without any action from my side. And I think the same happened on my previous phone too, need to check later.
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be sure, is it possible that, on each subsequent iPhone release, the hardware got better at handling weak signals, and thus a mediocre signal for iPhone N was decent for iPhone N+2 and would give great throughput on iPhone N+4?
Possible sure, but wouldn't it be better marketing for the iphone to have better performance on lower bars? Phones are judged for their performance, but network providers for the number of bars they show on the screen.
Bars are supposed to be an indicator of actually achievable quality of service, in my view. I don't care why I can use my network where I am, I just want to know whether I can.
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#167Original commit that introduced the change: https://android.googlesource.com/platform//frameworks/base/+... I don't know if I want my name on an open source project attached to a commit whose only purpose is to lie?
I would assume that this was a carrier request/demand that got filtered down to some poor employee that had to implement it. There’s a linked bug, but the bug is restricted.
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#168A friend recently got a (carrier-supplied) phone and has been complaining about how it would often have no reception despite showing a good signal; taking mine to the same areas on the same carrier and doing a comparison, mine was indeed showing no bars on the signal indicator. The difference is, mine predates this stupidity, and I can also see the details in the MTK Engineer Mode app, which shows the actual signal s…
I highly recommend Network Cell Info Lite app for the network diag. It shows signal strength with all details for each of the SIM modules, shows on a map in real time where are the base station you are currently connected to, and other interesting statistics.
Does iOS not have built in network signal details?
I don't need to install an app on my Android phone to see my network signal strength. It's kinda hidden though.
Settings->About Phone->Click the sim slot you want to see info for
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
-140 dBm is far beyond no coverage, yeah. -120 dBm is pretty much when LTE stops working (sometimes it can painfully stretch to -123 to -125 but usually not because of noise etc)
Yes, even thermal background noise (the noise level that exists even in complete absence of RF) would be expected to be above -140dBm. It scales with channel size and temperature. As near as I can tell, the smallest subcarrier 5G can use is 15kHz, the thermal noise floor for a 15kHz channel at room temp (300K) would be -132 dBm. My guess is whatever chip doing the measurement simply couldn't measure that low accurate…
Reminds me of "The Hunt For Red October" and the sonar consoles "magma displacement" reportings...
Re: Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
-140 dBm is far beyond no coverage, yeah. -120 dBm is pretty much when LTE stops working (sometimes it can painfully stretch to -123 to -125 but usually not because of noise etc)
Yes, even thermal background noise (the noise level that exists even in complete absence of RF) would be expected to be above -140dBm. It scales with channel size and temperature. As near as I can tell, the smallest subcarrier 5G can use is 15kHz, the thermal noise floor for a 15kHz channel at room temp (300K) would be -132 dBm. My guess is whatever chip doing the measurement simply couldn't measure that low accurate…
GPS receivers can go down to around -160dBm, but that's a very low bitrate signal. Nonetheless it is possible to receive such signals via CDMA techniques.