I live in an area where I get a 3G signal but it is very weak and telephone calls break up and sometimes drop out. If I manually disable the 3G then the phone reverts to 2G at full signal. It looks like the phone prefers a weaker signal 3G over a stronger 2G.
Is there an application that will allow me to quickly switch between the bands without having to traverse all the menus? Such as a simple button on the today screen to switch between the two bands?
Then all I need to do is press to turn off 3G whilst at home and then press again to turn it back on when I am elsewhere and the signal is good.
Cheers,
Tom
I don't know if you run a custom Image.
But in my 3Lite3 I have the comm manager. And with settings->advanced config I can edit the comm manager's short cuts.
I have from top down: flight mode > phone on/off > bluetooth > wifi > and 3G mode on/off
Related
A work colleague is using a sim free touch cruise on the vodafone network but vodafone don't have any support for this device (mind you neither does HTC ). We got the vodafone settings for billpay vodafone off the internet and input them and can now surf, download gmail etc over HSDPA (H icon shows) and then it automatically reverts to 3G when not in use.
The problem is that the icon for 3G/umts in use is always on (ie the small 3G over the signal strength) and when the bigger 3G icon is touched it shows how long connected to 3G and as the device is still connected it keeps counting time even though the application using 3G is shut down.
My questions are as follows:
In this state (big 3G icon showing and small 3G icon above signal strenght) is this costing anything being constantly connected to 3G but not using it?
How can it be set to automatically disconnect?
My own touch cruise is on the 3 network but I don't have this difficulty.
My thinking is that it might have something to do with "vodafone live" but not sure what is happening or possibly have selected the wrong set of settings for vodafone ireland as there is a few different sets.
Sorry this is a bit long winded but any advice much appreciated.
The always ON connection is general behaviour... it doesn't matter which network is the device on.
The big 3G/H icons only represent the available network (G(PRS)/E(DGE)/3G/H(SDPA))
The smaller is the signal strength...
The cost of the always ON connection depends on the dataplan being used... if it's an unlimited or a fairly large one like 5GB, it won't matter... but it realy depends on the data recieved....
In my case the avarage hourly traffic is around 1 MB, but i have a little e-mail traffic going so... whith a few mails and every 30 minute checking the traffic should be around 500 KB or lower...
As for the Auto-Disconnect, please search the forum... there are several threads about this in both subforums.
Thats great gnick666 thanks for your reply.
I know the Advanced Configuration Tool has an auto disconnect feature, but I had some issues with it and never went back to go play around with it.
You can also hold down the End button and a menu pops up and you can end data connection there. Or alternatively you can configure it so that holding down the End button always disconnects your data connection.
I have an unlimited data plan so not worried about data, I'm not sure however what the impact to battery usage is so I disconnect "just in case".
As for the 3G / H icon behaviors. Depending on which part of the country I'm in, I get different icons. Sometimes I get 3G and it switches to H when doing data. Othertimes it's always H whether disconnected or connected. (This is assuming that I'm in a 3G location) and not switching back to Edge.
Mine mostly shows the bigger 3G icon and the signal strenght icon with the little antenna icon (I'm on the 3 network which is 3g) but when I download data the small icon changes to 3G and then both change to H as required. Once finished it disconnects and reverts back to 3G. I have Schapps Advanced config tool installed.
So far my Touch Pro has been great, but the battery life has been a bit lacking.
I'm wondering if there is a program which can turn on and off 3G easily and quickly, but without rebooting the phone, so you can turn on 3G when you want to surf the web for 10-15 minutes, but turn it off for the majority of the day to conserve battery.
Any ideas?
Regards
If your ROM has Band Selection enabled, go to Settings -> Phone -> Band and you can choose GSM (2G) or UMTS (3G)
What do I change? Under Select Network Type there's Auto, GSM, or WCDMA
or under Select your GSM/UTMS band there's Auto, GSM(900+1800)+UMTS(2100), GSM(1900+850)+UTMS(1900+850) or UTMS(2100+800)
At the moment both are on auto. Which do I want for just GSM and which would I want for 3G when I want it on?
Thanks for the reply
you would want Select Network Type to be set to GSM for GSM/EDGE only, and WCDMA for UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA.
(the other setting is to choose which frequencies you're using)
It would appear that there's exactly the app I was looking for which turns 3G on and off. It's here
I live in an area where my 3G signal strength is often 1 bar or below and is weak but my non 3G signal strength is 4 bars and strong.
Is there an app that I can use to set up when 3G cuts out and reverts to normal GSM signal.. I know I can set 3G to auto switch but it only cuts in when it feels like and often this means my phone is limbo with no 3G signal and no auto option to switch over to GSM and will often just drop my signal mid call at home.. or am I asking too much.. cheers..
When your 3G signal becomes weak it should automatically switch to GSM. If switching between the two is causing your phone to drop calls you can lock your phone to GSM only by changing it via the Comm Manager, tap on "change phone settings" and then "Band" on the bottom.
ok. cheers..
For all the people that need their battery for a day or more I wanted to add the instructions on how to disable 3G.
Go into the dialer and type in *#*#197328640#*#*
Select "Debug Screen" on the menu
then hit "Phone Control"
then "UE State Control"
"Change RAT to GSM" will turn off 3G access and will leave your DATA on 2G.
This will save lots of battery especially for those who have low 3G signals.
Please note that rebooting the phone or even turning on "Airplane mode" will reverse these changes.
This means you will have to change the settings again (this is also the fastest way to cancel the changes and go back to 3G).
Thanks a ton for this. I'm sure it was in another thread, but I always saw mixed reports and hadn't tried it myself.
I have a 3-4 bar EDGE signal in my office, but only a 0-3 3G signal, so this will be a lifesaver.
However, as soon as there's a ROM that adds the force 2G option that should be there back into settings (and removes any other locks AT&T put in the software), I'll probably go that direction just because it is a pretty clunky way to do something that should be an option as is.
I have something to add to this. If you use a reboot or airplane mode to turn 3G back on, the next time you go to turn 3G off, you may need to re-enable 3G (WCDMA) before changing back to GSM. Apparently, the setting didn't get changed in the debug menu even though I got switched to 3G, so I had to put it back on 3G first.
Is this still the only way to disable 3G but leave 2G enabled on the Captivate? The apps in the Market are still all or nothing (3G or no data connection at all).
Thanks!
3G, 2G disabling?
Is there a way to disable the 3G/2G altogether but still use wireless?
You can always put it in airplane mode and then turn WiFi on if you don't want to use the AT&T network at all.
Ok I've got a few questions about the different network types and battery usage.
As far as I know there are 4 different possible scenarios:
3G mode active
3G mode active and connected to mobile data (3G/H showing in notification bar)
2G mode active
2G mode active and connected to mobile data (E or G showing in notification bar)
Currently I have settings default with "Use only 2G networks" unchecked, and "data enabled" unchecked. I have tasker made to automatically turn mobile data on whenever I open any app that may require it, and then turn it off after the app closes, or I can switch it on from the status bar power control.
This is because I assumed having it constantly activated would consume more power. Is this true? does it consume more power having data enabled even when no traffic is going through? If this wasn't the case, I might as well leave it enabled. However with my current system I could still be saving power because if I leave data on, traffic WOULD periodically be used for automatic sync and apps randomly using network and stuff.
The other thing I was wondering about is if there was any major difference in power consumption between 2G and 3G network modes with no mobile data connected. if 2G uses much less power, I could have it set on 2G by default then use tasker to switch to 3G and activate mobile data when opening any internet requiring app. Are there any other advantages of having 3G active over 2G other than mobile data transfer speeds?
Thanks for any help!
Imho your settings are good. Mobile network is one of the battery killlers, so not using (or better using it when you really it), is very good. You are right, 3g has a higher speed on mobile network. Whereas the 2g-network has a much better network coverage. And the permament switch between 2g and 3g drains the battery very fast, too (happens e.g. when you travel).
To sum it up: Use 2g and mobile network off. If you need to use mobile network, turn 3g and mobile network on. Are you done, turn them off again and switch back to 2g.
When you say mobile network, do you mean when an active data connection is enabled?
Because just by the name 'Mobile network", you can be connected to a mobile network for calling and texting etc. without being connected to mobile internet/data.
Is there a difference in call quality between 3G and 2G networks?
Also when toggling between forced 2G only and 3G there seems to be an inactivity period where the reception icon at the top shows like 'disconnected' like it cuts all network communications, then shortly connects again to the specified network type. This delay might be annoying when trying to get internet fast on apps that need it... might not be worth the power saving, if it is only minimal power saving
battery
for the best battery duration, use GSM ONLY!