Your phone might be showing inaccurate signal strength information. A new study confirms this surprising point. In fact carriers can inflate your signal bars on your phone. It’s a hidden feature for Android devices. To the user, a phone’s signal strength may look stronger than it truly is. This is why sometimes you’ll have full signal bars, but slow internet.
You can thank Google for adding this special features to Android. The feature is called KEY_INFLATE_SIGNAL_STRENGTH_BOOL. And it’s designed to allow carriers to artificially increase the strength of the signal bars on a given device. The carrier can initiate through an over-the-air update. Both locked and unlocked phones will receive the update. In addition, it will initiate and automatically show this behavior on your device through your SIM card.
Some of the major United States carriers such as AT&T and Verizon are utilizing it affecting signal strength on their networks. And based on the Android code, after AT&T and Verizon likely every carrier in the world will use the code in their networks’ signal strength display. The issue may be primarily affecting only a few billion smartphones in the world today. It could take very little efficient time for Indian telecom companies to utilize or adopt this practice themselves.
Ultimately, telecom carriers want to look reliable and have better network coverage than others. This feature provides a greater perception of reliability for marketing and advertising purposes. In this way a user may remain on a poorly performing network simply because the bars make it appear there is a good signal. This misrepresentation affects consumers significantly.
This is not the first such incident. Carriers lobbied in 2017 to hide technical details. They removed dBm readings from phone settings. Android also allows custom signal thresholds. Carriers decide what each bar represents. They control how you see network strength.
Markets like India face particular risk. People often switch networks for better signals. This feature could prevent necessary changes. Users might blame their phones instead. They won’t realize the network is faulty. This hurts consumer choice and experience.
Find your phone’s secret menu for details. Dial ##4636## on most Android devices. Check the dBm reading for actual strength. Lower numbers mean better signals. Compare this with your bar display. Notice any significant differences between them.
Trust your internet experience over bars. Run speed tests during different times. Consider switching if performance stays poor. Don’t rely solely on signal bars. Tell others about this potential issue. Make informed decisions about your carrier.
Also Read: How to Spot Fake Chargers Before They Damage Your Phone
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