Change Your BlackBerry Signal Meter

by John P.

Blackberry ScreenIf you’ve got a Blackberry and you’d like a little more specific information about your cellular signal strength than just the 4 little bars, you can actually change them to read the specific DB signal strength you are receiving.

  • On the Home screen, hold ALT and press N, M, L, L.
  • Repeat the above process to switch back to the “traditional” signal meter.

I included a photo of my modified screen to show you what it looks like. Just look over in the top right corner of the screen and you’ll see the -83. That currently equates to 3 bars at my house.

By the way, the screen I’m using can be found on my Free Themes and Apps for Blackberry post.


{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Brandon May 15, 2008 at 8:09 am

Hold what down? It looks like the post messed up John

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2 Steve Elliott May 15, 2008 at 5:23 pm

On the Home screen, hold “Alt” and press “N”, “M”, “L”, “L”…

That’s what the post reads for me.

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3 TheDane May 15, 2008 at 11:28 pm

216 unread messages…. I thought the Filipinos had the world record in texting, but it seems you are doing your part to increase the US average…

Kim:)

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4 Johnny May 17, 2008 at 6:05 am

Interesting, but isn’t it easier to read the signal strength modeled with bars instead of their real dB values?

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5 Fletch May 17, 2008 at 5:53 pm

The HTML on the Johns post looks messed up, so let me try post an edit..

While holding down ALT press N M L L

Johnny – Yes signal bars are easier for basic use… but the exact db reading in numeric is far more exact. you can also then use it to compare reception versus other phones.

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6 John P. May 18, 2008 at 10:12 am

Hey gang, sorry. I guess somehow I got some strange quotes in there which were screwing things up. I think I’ve fixed it now, but of course several of you already notated the process here in the comments anyway. :-)

John

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7 Bill February 21, 2009 at 11:58 am

This is also helpfull in figuring out the best place to stand and get the best reception when you are in certain areas. I work way out in the suburbs and walking 20 feet in one direction or another actually makes a difference. Thanks!

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8 K Sen May 6, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Hi
I use a BB Storm. I want to convert the signal meter.
Pls comment.

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9 bozo July 18, 2009 at 8:37 pm

To enable the numerical (in dBm) signal level display on the storm: open the keyboard; hold ‘!?123′ to enable the number lock; type an exclamation point, a comma, and two sets of double quotation marks. You can revert to the graphical display by retyping the above or rebooting the device.

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10 Valentine August 24, 2009 at 7:14 pm

Te get DB value got to: Options – Status

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11 ben January 18, 2010 at 9:53 am

thats neat ! my signal is always rubbish so instead of watching it jump bars up and down all the time now i can look at the numbers lol

thanks

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12 Yair Laredo September 21, 2010 at 12:51 am

wait I dont get how to change it on my BBstorm. could you please help me? should I type that on the main screen or where at? thanx for your help!

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13 Yair Laredo September 21, 2010 at 1:00 am

wait I do have two BB stroms the first one worked with the code but the second one didnt! does the OS has to be the same or something cuz the first one have the 4.7.0.167 (230) OS and the second one have the 5.0.0.419 (808) thanX agaiin!

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