Signal bar on iOS 11

Tinkernaught

Well-known member
May 29, 2017
212
0
0
Visit site
Actually the dots would. Apple gave us 5 dots but only 4 bars. It’s reading the same signal regardless. The most accurate signal reading is frequency, which can be gotten to pre iOS 11 using the Field Test Mode glitch.

Yeah, the reduction from five marks to four is the only thing I have reservations about.
 

Tinkernaught

Well-known member
May 29, 2017
212
0
0
Visit site
I never understand why that matters to so many people. If I have a bar (or dot) I am good, the data "3G", "LTE", etc. indicator is much more important to me.

Can't speak for others, but for me when I'm searching for a spot to park my motor home it makes a huge difference whether the campsite has one bar or three bars. Three means that the signal will usually stay reliably on LTE, while the one-bar site will often fluctuate and go to 3G or even 1x instead of LTE. I speak from experience—full-time RV traveler for the past six years. ;)
 

camaroz1985

Trusted Member
Sep 2, 2016
805
0
16
Visit site
Can't speak for others, but for me when I'm searching for a spot to park my motor home it makes a huge difference whether the campsite has one bar or three bars. Three means that the signal will usually stay reliably on LTE, while the one-bar site will often fluctuate and go to 3G or even 1x instead of LTE. I speak from experience—full-time RV traveler for the past six years. ;)

That makes sense, and is definitely something I never have had to consider haha. You are one of the people that would probably benefit more with a numerical reading like the field test mode.
 

doogald

Trusted Member
Oct 23, 2012
2,736
71
48
Visit site
Can't speak for others, but for me when I'm searching for a spot to park my motor home it makes a huge difference whether the campsite has one bar or three bars. Three means that the signal will usually stay reliably on LTE, while the one-bar site will often fluctuate and go to 3G or even 1x instead of LTE. I speak from experience—full-time RV traveler for the past six years. ;)

Again, that's why I'd prefer a more stoplight control. Green for great, maybe a yellow for marginal, red for a bad signal. There is no universal standard for number of bars equals a particular signal, and Apple even famously changed the strength they used for each bar when the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue happened. These are digital signals, not analog. It's either good enough or it's bad.

See https://qz.com/92866/apples-signal-strength-indicator-in-ios-7-will-lie-to-you-in-a-whole-new-way/
 

Tinkernaught

Well-known member
May 29, 2017
212
0
0
Visit site
Again, that's why I'd prefer a more stoplight control. Green for great, maybe a yellow for marginal, red for a bad signal. There is no universal standard for number of bars equals a particular signal, and Apple even famously changed the strength they used for each bar when the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue happened. These are digital signals, not analog. It's either good enough or it's bad.

See https://qz.com/92866/apples-signal-strength-indicator-in-ios-7-will-lie-to-you-in-a-whole-new-way/

It's the relative strength that matters to me the most, even if the absolute value of, say, "two bars" varies. How *close* am I to a marginal signal? Green doesn't inform me how close I am to getting a marginal yellow.

And that's why I hope the Field Test "bug" is reinstated in iOS 11.
 

libra89

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2016
988
0
16
Visit site
Can't speak for others, but for me when I'm searching for a spot to park my motor home it makes a huge difference whether the campsite has one bar or three bars. Three means that the signal will usually stay reliably on LTE, while the one-bar site will often fluctuate and go to 3G or even 1x instead of LTE. I speak from experience—full-time RV traveler for the past six years. ;)

Yeah for me, one dot is bad but two dots is decent, three is very good, four is great and five is excellent, but I prefer the dBm much more.
 

mogelijk

iPad Champion
Champion
Jan 25, 2014
1,137
4
38
Visit site
Again, that's why I'd prefer a more stoplight control. Green for great, maybe a yellow for marginal, red for a bad signal. There is no universal standard for number of bars equals a particular signal, and Apple even famously changed the strength they used for each bar when the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue happened. These are digital signals, not analog. It's either good enough or it's bad.

See https://qz.com/92866/apples-signal-strength-indicator-in-ios-7-will-lie-to-you-in-a-whole-new-way/

Personally, I'd prefer just having the numeric dBm value there. Granted, users would need to learn what the numbers mean, especially that is -75 or lower is very good, while above -100 is very weak. But having the numbers means you don't have to worry about what each bar or dot represents.
 

camaroz1985

Trusted Member
Sep 2, 2016
805
0
16
Visit site
They could also change the numbers to 0-100 instead of -50 to -120 or whatever it is. I think the bars or dots are done to hide what the values really are. Like has been pointed out elsewhere, 3 dots now isn't 60% of the signal you get with 5 bars, it might only be 10-20% difference.
 

doogald

Trusted Member
Oct 23, 2012
2,736
71
48
Visit site
Personally, I'd prefer just having the numeric dBm value there. Granted, users would need to learn what the numbers mean, especially that is -75 or lower is very good, while above -100 is very weak. But having the numbers means you don't have to worry about what each bar or dot represents.

Each network type has different signal strengths for each dBm. -110 is no signal on CDMA or GSM but fair on LTE. (The difference is about 23 dBm; -87 on CDMA is about the same at -110 on LTE.)

Again, green circle for good signal, red square for bad. That's all you need to know. Apple likes to keep things simple for people, so should consider it, imo.
 

Tinkernaught

Well-known member
May 29, 2017
212
0
0
Visit site
Each network type has different signal strengths for each dBm. -110 is no signal on CDMA or GSM but fair on LTE. (The difference is about 23 dBm; -87 on CDMA is about the same at -110 on LTE.)

Again, green circle for good signal, red square for bad. That's all you need to know. Apple likes to keep things simple for people, so should consider it, imo.
That might be all that you need to know. I need to know more, as I've explained a couple times. If Apple followed your advice I would very reluctantly switch away from iPhone. It's that important to me.
 

Ledsteplin

Ambassador
Oct 2, 2013
50,100
688
108
Visit site
It's the relative strength that matters to me the most, even if the absolute value of, say, "two bars" varies. How *close* am I to a marginal signal? Green doesn't inform me how close I am to getting a marginal yellow.

And that's why I hope the Field Test "bug" is reinstated in iOS 11.

I still have dots. At home, I show -114 most of the time. That's 1 dot. I don't ever have issues with that. No dropped calls or anything. But 1 dot could be bad if it went beyond -120. So I see your point.
Did you see this?

https://youtu.be/bKHvDK3_IRk
 

Tinkernaught

Well-known member
May 29, 2017
212
0
0
Visit site
I still have dots. At home, I show -114 most of the time. That's 1 dot. I don't ever have issues with that. No dropped calls or anything. But 1 dot could be bad if it went beyond -120. So I see your point.

Coincidentally, I had -114 dBm LTE when on my couch when I first arrive here as a volunteer. Good enough, but when I stood and moved around it would often drop to 3G. Too borderlne.

Forty feet away another volunteer site opened up. I tried it: -104 dBm LTE when relaxing in that same couch position. And it stays LTE no matter where I walk within my motor home.

A short distance made a big difference; being able to walk around with Dbm displayed on my iPhone made it easy to discover that better site.

Sure, maybe most people don't really need Dbm or even bars/dots. Some of us, however, make use of it quite often and it makes a difference in the quality of our lives. :)
 
Last edited:

camaroz1985

Trusted Member
Sep 2, 2016
805
0
16
Visit site
Coincidentally, I had -114 dBm LTE when on my couch when I first arrive here as a volunteer. Good enough, but when I stood and moved around it would often drop to 3G. Too borderlne.

Forty feet away another volunteer site opened up. I tried it: -104 dBm LTE when relaxing in that same couch position. And it stays LTE no matter where I walk within my motor home.

A short distance made a big difference; being able to walk around with Dbm displayed on my iPhone made it easy to discover that better site.

Sure, maybe most people don't really need Dbm or even bars/dots. Some of us, however, make use of it quite often and it makes a difference in the quality of our lives. :)

Is there an app that shows this if Apple does away with the ability to change to the dBm? Might be something that could help people that use this feature like you do.
 

Tinkernaught

Well-known member
May 29, 2017
212
0
0
Visit site
Is there an app that shows this if Apple does away with the ability to change to the dBm? Might be something that could help people that use this feature like you do.

That would be nice, but I haven't seen one. I think the dBm-stuff access level is too deep for appa. It needs to be an Apple thing.
 

Ledsteplin

Ambassador
Oct 2, 2013
50,100
688
108
Visit site
Is there an app that shows this if Apple does away with the ability to change to the dBm? Might be something that could help people that use this feature like you do.

I don't see any way that would be possible. You have to remember, the field test info is not a feature for users. It's for carrier use. Most of it is useless for users. A lot of cell tower info. So, I don't see this available for developers to use in an app.
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
259,860
Messages
1,764,751
Members
441,207
Latest member
Erik4711