Signal Test - 5G, 4G, WiFi

About Signal Test - 5G, 4G, WiFi

Signal Test is a lightweight signal strength testing app, allowing you to assess the quality of your 5G, 4G, and WiFi signal.

Simply open the app, grant the necessary permissions, and monitor your signal strength in real time.

The app measures the most important signal quality and signal strength metrics, then rates your signal strength on a scale from 0 to 100.

Plus, Signal Test provides other information you can use to troubleshoot and improve your signal, including cell tower/mobile mast data, and band information.

// 5G & 4G Signal Metrics //

- Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP): measures the strength of the usable signal.
- Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ): ratio of quality signal compared to overall signal, measures how much congestion/radio interference there is.
- Signal to Interference + Noise Ratio (SINR): ratio of total signal compared to interference and noise, measures environmental interference.
- Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI): total received signal, less important for 4G and 5G.

In mobile signal mode, the app also provides the following datapoints:

- Evolved NodeB ID (eNB): used to identify the mobile base station your phone is connected to.
- Cell Identity (CID): the specific sector/cell of an eNB.
- 4G/5G Band(s) in use, to help identify why your signal is performing well/poorly.

// WiFi Signal Metrics //

- Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI): measures signal strength. This number is then converted into a score out of a 100 to assess overall quality.

// What can you use Signal Test for? //

Signal Test has a large number of use cases, including:

- Identifying the best location for a 4G/5G router, for home broadband
- Identifying the best location and orientation for a 4G/5G antenna, for home broadband
- Identifying a good place to camp or set up a caravan with good mobile or WiFi signal
- Troubleshooting and improving mobile signal at home or at work
- Identifying the best mobile network in a given area, using multiple phones or SIM plans
- Locating WiFi access points, including routers and mesh WiFi nodes
- Finding the best place for a WiFi access point

// How to use Signal Test //

1. Install the app.
2. Grant the necessary permissions, which will be prompted on the first screen. We require Location and Phone permissions to access WiFi and mobile signal information. We do not store data collected through these permissions or use it for any other purposes.
3. You will land on the WiFi signal testing page. If WiFi is on, you should see your signal strength measured by RSSI and a score out of 100.
4. Tap the button in the bottom right to measure 4G or 5G signal. The app will measure the performance of the active SIM, using the current network connection mode.

If you run into issues, ensure that you have WiFi/mobile data enabled, and try turning airplane mode on and off again.

Some phones provide signal updates more often than others. It is normal that you might have to wait up to 5-10 seconds to see new data reported in the app. In general, if you move to a new location, this is likely to cause the data to update.

If you're having any issues, please generate a debug log by clicking the ? on the top right of the WiFi or mobile signal page, and scrolling to the bottom until you see the debug log link. Then, email us at [email protected] with the debug log and a description of the problem.

2G and 3G mobile connections are not supported by the app at this time.