Why isn't my Band 2 counting the floors I climbed correctly?

[DroidUser42]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I'm thinking it's floor count can be thrown off by changes in weather. If the pressure is rising or falling and you're walking at the same time - it can't tell the difference between elevation and weather.

 

[B Hammer]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

If all of you experiencing issues wouldn't mind, please go to the Sticky about Bugs and Defects for Band 2 and mention this problem there. That thread is intended to keep a collection of known bugs/defects and it would be good to have more than a couple of voices mentioning it.

Thanks!

 

[BlueCube4]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I am not happy with the floor count on my new Band 2. I have gone up 6 flights of steps so far but I only have 1 floor count registered. I understand the Band 2 is set up for 10' per floor. I know three of the six floors were going up my basements steps. My basement has low ceilings and the elevation change is probably 9' at best. However, the other three floors was going up to the bedroom and that is probably 10'.

I have been using the Fitbit Surge since the beginning of the year. I always get credit for all stairs that I go up. I almost always end the day with over 20 floors.

Update: I just got back from shopping. I had to walk about 250' up a steep sidewalk. The Band 2 gave me credit for 3 floors; my Surge didn't register any floors. So I have to assume my barometer is working in the Band 2, but the calculation that determines when I have walked up a flight of stairs (increase in elevation 8-10' followed by no change, arms swinging back and forth, and 3-5 seconds time) is off.

BTW - I can fool my Surge into not counting floors by keeping my arms still (happens when I'm carrying a laundry basket up stairs). When your arms aren't moving, it assumes you are on an elevator (lift) or escalator. I did test this at a local Mall. Conversely, I can also get extra floor counts by swinging my arms in an elevator.










I hope MS will adjust the floor count elevation algorithm.

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I can also get extra floor counts by swinging my arms in an elevator

The looks on peoples faces when edging away from you in elevators: priceless. :winktongue:

 

[tigermcm]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I walked up 4 flights of stairs today and the band 2 registered 7 so its differently off and I hope a firmware update comes soon cause I just sold my fitbit surge which im missing the stair count and automatic sleep sensor

 

[insight3fl]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I mowed the lawn (3000 sq ft) got my full step count in and 33 floors!!! I guess it does not work.

 

[astondg]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I'm not trying to defend the band here, if it's not counting floors correctly or if it's noticeably worse than competitor products, then that's a problem. But I do think we need to consider our expectations and what's useful. The Band, or any general purpose fitness device, isn't a high precision tool or piece of medical equipment and I wouldn't expect any of them to perform 100% in isolated tests. I think their value lies in the overall picture they can give, especially over time and with the power of the Microsoft Health platform behind them.

So if I went stair climbing for a day and did 50 flights but my Band only counted 38 that sucks from an isolated perspective of 'exactly how many floors did I climb today' but what's more useful to me is that I can see that I climbed '38' floors today but only 3 floors over the past 5 days and that by climbing '38' floors I might need to take some time to recover before I go stair climbing again. Or that I consistently hit '38' floors a day now where I used to only make 5.

Anyway, there's a level of accuracy I would expect and I would want the Band to be roughly in line with it's competitors, but I also have limited use for knowing exact measurements of floors/HR/steps/etc. at all times and the higher level trends are usually what are more important to me. If I did need the specifics then no matter how good the Fitbit/Band/Basis/etc. I feel like I would be better served with a single purpose, medical/industrial grade device for whatever it was I wanted to track.

 

[rishilal]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

Hi,
I have the Fitbit Surge & when I went to the top of Syney Eye by the lift, it counted around 100 floors

 

[DroidUser42]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I mowed the lawn (3000 sq ft) got my full step count in and 33 floors!!! I guess it does not work.

I'd just about lay money that the barometer was falling while you were mowing. I don't think there's any way any device can tell the difference between walking up stairs and walking with a falling barometer reading. As long as you're walking, it's going to assume that the pressure changes are due to climbing. Maybe the back end can fix it up by checking weather in your area and making adjustments.

As the other poster says, the real question is if the Band is less accurate than other devices.

 

[g2red89]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I was on the interstate and went up a big hill across the lake and then and only then did it register any floor climbed. But not just one floor, 5!!

 

[DroidUser42]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I was on the interstate and went up a big hill across the lake and then and only then did it register any floor climbed. But not just one floor, 5!!

Some people with B1 said that their Band registered steps while driving. Apparently the small back and forth motion of keeping the car going straight ahead confused it. I'd expect B2 would add stairs to any pressure change detected while counting steps.

 

[taymur]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I noticed this too. I went to the mall and went up several escalators and yet still 0 floors. I thought maybe it was because I wasn't actually 'walking' up just kinda gliding, but glad to hear I'm not the only one that has experienced this.

You can't be serious with this? Of course you have to walk them up. The barometer is for added accuracy, specially in hikes not stairs.

 

[taymur]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

Ok, I am really reading weird things here.

Some people are not sure if it counts going up and down, or only up or what ever. We can't be serious here. Why would it count going down? Pretty sure it only counts going up. Hence it shows you how many flights you went up.

The band needs to receive a pattern of movement to start counting anything, just like any tracking device.

If the band senses something like this __|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|, it will use the first number of cycles and extrapolate the number based on the time that's pattern kept on showing and re calibrate every now and then, why would it do this:
1- if you where not really walking or climbing stairs (hence random data), it won't count.
2- if you "while walking" decided to wave you hand at someone (random data between steady cycles of data), the band will neglect this anomaly in the pattern, and still count based on the history it has to fill the gap of the anomaly.

So if while doing any action, you kept doing random stuff with your hand, the band will not register either walking or climbing.

finally, the barometer is most probably there for assistance, but its not a dependent factor in stairs climbing. Pressure is affected by so many variables.

So next time anyone does any activity, think of the pattern your are doing with your hand rather than the barometer.

Finally that's why I think the Fitbit one (worn as a clip) can be way more accurate when it comes to counting anything, sadly I lost two of them because it needs constant changing of holders and charging. :S

 

[Jason Burroughs1]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

Sorry but did not see a post of this before starting a new thread but here is my issue:

OK so yesterday I noticed that the my band said that I had climbed 10+ floors where as my fitbit one recorded only 4 floors... I started to think about why this would happen. I came up with the conclusion that I am a gymnastics instructor and get up and down on and off my knees so many times a day. I also work on the third floor of a building doing this so maybe the barometer is more sensitive? I am going to keep an eye on it more over the next few days. I will post my findings.

ps really hate that the step count is off by 25% and I know the fitbit is more accurate on that also.

 

[obsidianzodiac]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

astondg hit the nail on the head. "Floor" is a generalization. MS Band2 does not have blueprints to buildings to know exactly how high each floor is. It is generalized. Just like step counts. It is impossible to know exactly how many steps you take. Did you stumble on your feet, did you slow down to talk to a coworker in the hall? It is generalized. Don't compare device to device, rather compare to day to day.

 

[Blake Seaman]

It may have been another cause, but I used one of the high speed air dryers for hands on monday, and apparently I climbed 60 floors...

 

[DroidUser42]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

ps really hate that the step count is off by 25% and I know the fitbit is more accurate on that also.

With the Band 1, most people found it more accurate and was fitbit that overcounted.

 

[poit57]

I've had the Band 2 since Sunday afternoon. Here are my observations for the floors it has registered that I climbed in 4 days of use.

Sunday - 2 floors climbed.

• 1 was walking upstairs at my aunt's house.
• 1 when I walked up an incline to the entrance of my church which is about 8 feet above the ground level of the parking lot.

Monday - no floors climbed. I was off work sick and didn't climb any stairs at my doctor's office or the pharmacy.

Tuesday - 7 floors climbed.

• 1 floor climbed upon arriving at work (approximately 30 stair steps between 1st and 2nd floors of our old mall building).
• 3 floors climbed during my lunch hour (I walked down and up the same stairs as that morning).
• 1 floor climbed around the time I left work (walking down this same flight of stairs again).
• 2 floors climbed when I went for a 2 mile run that recorded an elevation change of 41 feet with no stair steps involved.

Wednesday - 9 floors climbed.

• 1 when I arrived at work
• 2 around when I left for lunch walking down stairs.
• 1 when I arrived back at work and walked upstairs.
• 1 during when I walked downstairs and upstairs at the other end of the mall
• 3 at when I walked down, up, and down when I went back to my office and then left work for the day.
• 1 when I walked upstairs at my church.

I don't think it is supposed to count walking down stairs, but sometimes that appears to be the case based on my recollection of my activity. It also seems to be inconsistent in counting the stairs at my work as either 1 or 2 floors. It is definitely registering floors climbed, but it is far from perfect.

Edit: I often, but not always, take stairs two steps at a time. I don't know if that affects the accuracy of the floors climbed measurement.

 

[etphoto]

Re: Not sure Band 2 is counting floors climbed correctly

I think if you are short you need to climb two flights of stairs in order for it to register one.

 

[jtzako]

Mine does not detect if I go downstairs, only when I go UP. I live on the 3rd floor so I climb 2 flights to enter my home. However, when I leave for work I go down 2 flights and those dont get counted.