Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR Your Android phone may be lying to you about signal strength, showing more network bars than it actually should.
Telecom providers can exploit a hidden Android feature to show you an “inflated” signal strength.
AT&T and Verizon have already been spotted using this tactic.
Telecom carriers often battle over broader coverage, the number of zip codes covered by 5G, and faster speeds. These claims, based on the carriers’ own marketing teams, paint a picture that’s far from the actual scenario and are often even contradicted in actual reports by independent parties. However, while it’s natural for corporations to paint a brighter picture, Google has been found colluding with carriers, allowing them to display fake signal strength on your phone.
Beyond tall marketing claims and fake 5G icons, carriers may also be lying through their teeth to you about signal strength. A recent report by Nick vs Networking highlights a flag, KEY_INFLATE_SIGNAL_STRENGTH_BOOL , in the source code for Android’s Carrier Config Manager, related to artificially “inflating” the network strength.
Based on the description, the flag can be turned on to display one more bar for signal strength than what is actually present. Although it has not been logged in Android’s support documents for CarrierConfig manager, it has already been added to Android’s source code, and the commit can be confirmed through Android’s Git repository.
The feature is turned off by default, but carriers can enable it with a simple OTA update. The impact may not be limited to Android devices locked by these two carriers but also applies to unlocked devices, since configuration settings can be loaded from the SIM card. And, phone companies may have little control over it.
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