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battery is ALOT better without 4G. I came from an EVO and its the same thing...just keep it off and we'll be good. its not necessary to have it on at all times, especially when you're in areas where theres no 4g or on the edge of it and it keeps jumping from 1x-3g-4g. I know the dialing method is going around here but i found a better way...not exactly a "widget" but better than dialing.
Instructions
"1. Download an app from market (it is free) called Any Cut.
2. Once downloaded, run the app and Select New Shortcut.
3. Select Activity.
4. Scroll way down to Phone Info and select it.
5. Rename it to what you want it called and tap OK.
6. A new shortcut will be on your homescreen.
7. Go into the newly created shortcut and scroll down to Set Preffered network type:
For 3G only, select: CDMA auto (PRL)
To go back to 3G/4G select: CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto
Hit the back arrow...
Credit for the find goes to ThatDudeButch for this info.
Source : http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-thunderbolt/69957-poor-mans-4g-toggle.htm"
Huge thanks, been wanting to do this since I got it to preserve battery!
I recommend the an app called "Network" From Philipp Manelow.
Its a shortcut that takes you to the settings page to turn 4g on/off.
Just install and open.
All it does it make a shortcut.
Here is the link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=de.mangelow.network&feature=search_result
I actually think I get better 3g speeds with HTC phones than my moto phones. I rarely ever got over .75 down and .5 up. Now that I turned 4G off and tried it I get 1.5 down and about 1 up. With my TP2 I regularly got 1.25+. WIth the D2 I don't remember getting that much ever.
I've been using Quick Battery.
Thanks for the info! How much more time are you seeing now?
I did a combination...
Installed Network AND QuickBattery.
in quick battery, i selected quick action and pointed to the "Network" widget
So now i see a battery meter and if i press it i can go into the setting and turn on my 4g
or dial *#*#4636#*#*
Scroll down to select network type
CDMA = EDGE
EvDo = 3G
LTE = 4G
personally I have mine on LTE only ( live in Houston strong 4G network (D/L speeds constantly in midteens to low 20's Mbps ) and my battery isnt that bad.
1454 said:
I actually think I get better 3g speeds with HTC phones than my moto phones. I rarely ever got over .75 down and .5 up. Now that I turned 4G off and tried it I get 1.5 down and about 1 up. With my TP2 I regularly got 1.25+. WIth the D2 I don't remember getting that much ever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol for me it makes me remember why I left verizon in the frist place. I maybe get .50 down at my house if I am lucky on 3g. My house is like an anti-cellphone but still with AT&T I was almost always at 1.5 down. But with LTE I always pull 10-11 ish at my house, so I have no complaints
thanks I will try any cut now..I have been doing the dailing method...3g off is very good on the battery
I used to get much better results with my old winmo device, I'm not sure why? The droid 2 was just downright awful for 3g speeds. The most I ever remember seeing was maybe 1.0. Maybe different phone act differently with the speed test like apps. Or different radios? I'm not that smart, I just know that there has been a difference between htc and my moto phone.
my_handle said:
or dial *#*#4636#*#*
Scroll down to select network type
CDMA = EDGE
EvDo = 3G
LTE = 4G
personally I have mine on LTE only ( live in Houston strong 4G network (D/L speeds constantly in midteens to low 20's Mbps ) and my battery isnt that bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If anyone have sperodic 4g, switches back and forth on 3g and 4g but you want to it to be consistant with 4g, turn it to LTE only and it'll stay lock on 4g. My house is in the 4G coverage but I'm near the edge. I would get 4g if i move near windows but if i moved to center of my house, it switches to 3g. This drove me nuts. So found out about this shortcut and now after setting to 4G LTE only, I'm lock onto 4g everywhere in my home...Happy camper. Battery life, what battery life? I'm making through the day with 25% left when I come home. Medium to heavy user too.
VY.
I downloaded anycut this morning before going to work and my charge meter was at 96%, 14 hours and 16 minutes later after talking, we browsing with 3g, using my bluetooth and wifi my battery life is still at 37%. Ladies and Gentleman, I'd say we have a winner!
definitely easier to just use network by mangelow..
So i set my phone to cdma PRL auto..
and i was playing with th phone running emulators for about 2 hours.. batt dropped to around 70%. The Battery is already much better....
Now i want to try how long it will last for tomorrow if i leave it in 3g or if i set it to exclusive LTE. In NY verizon has pretty good coverage.
Im sure in 3g it should last a pretty long time. I am assuming this phone should have a pretty efficient 3g chip by now that wont suck dry your battery dry
Yeah. Went to work with just 3g and I went about 8 hour and only hit 86%
damn.. so LTE is sucking like 3x (made up number) more batt power. Guys please keep updating this.. looks like were definetly up to something here lol
BTW im using the stock rom.. havent rooted yet. im gonna leave it in 3g for tomorrow all day and see how i fare..then LTE the next.
Cg006 said:
damn.. so LTE is sucking like 3x (made up number) more batt power. Guys please keep updating this.. looks like were definetly up to something here lol
BTW im using the stock rom.. havent rooted yet. im gonna leave it in 3g for tomorrow all day and see how i fare..then LTE the next.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so much the LTE. Someone else posted that them having LTE only gives them a good amount of use throughout the day with medium to heavy usage. The problem is that the 3g and 4g never cancel each other out, they are both always on....
Ive been doing alot of reading around here.... i didnt catch that piece....i guess i will go LTE only tomorrow for work. If LTE dont suck so much power... i may as well leave it on
I guess this can be addressed in a new software update?
I LOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEE these speeds with LTE. just did a test, 15.78mbps down.... epic!
Sweet thanks, this should help some with the battery life.
I would think that once it is locked onto LTE, it won't drain as much juice as it was. Because before it probably switches back and forth so it is constantly looking for that 4G signal. I was at the verizon store today after work, and when I got there, all they had for their coverage was 1x. The guy said that the converage had been switching back and forth. He left to help other people and i got into the phones settings to change the signal. LTE only got perfect 4G. EvDo wouldn't connect for some reason. CDMA gave the 1x. I also tried to see if i could browse the web while on the different settings, and it only worked with LTE.
I got the phone on day one. The first thing I noticed as I looked at the phone as I walked out the door to my car was the 4g icon. Yay, I am on 4g! Wait, where did the icon go? It's pretty much been that way since I have had it. I keep it on Wifi at home. To put it on 4g, pretty much kills having a MOBILE smartphone. Data is the lifeblood of a smartphone and if it is not there, what's the point.
I have tried every single fix read here (and other forums). Including:
Rev A fix
Hard Reset
Pulling Battery and Sim card and placing back in
I have tried everything but take the phone back and complaining (rooted it).
Per the Verizon coverage map, I am (my house) in a 4g area. On the map, they ask for your address and it say's "I am covered" for 4g. I will note there are a few pockets on the map near my home that is 4g extended. I had been thinking it's just my area. As I would drive around, it would seem to lock onto 4g. But lately, no matter where I go, 4g goes in and out.
When the 4g goes in and out, it is killing all data. It's not like it quickly finds the 3g and resumes data transfer, it just stops. Goes to 1x after a while mostley.
So where I am at right now is that I have forced 3g (using Phone Info app) and now can get reliable mobile data.
Should I be patience with the network and wait it out or should I take this back and ***** (possibly being the device itself)? When does one suppose a possible software fix will be put out for the Thunderbolt?
Hey Man,
I read your post and I am a little confused. In summary is your issue that you dont have great 4G coverage by your house and 3G isnt picking up when 4g drops off?
If thats the case I know you said you tried the Rev A fix but just to double check did you:
Use the ##778# menu (hit call after ##778#)-->password is 000000-->modem settings-->Rev A-->choose enable-->hit the menu button on the tbolt and commit changes
Also have you had verizon try to swap out your sim card and/or called them up and made sure your current sim card is provisioned correctly? If both of these are the case and you tried all the other standard stuff I would go get the phone swapped out for another new device before your time runs out. I had the same problem and the Rev A fix did it for me.
jvward
What city are you in?
psufan5 said:
What city are you in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cincinnati area. Northern suburb. Close to towers and major highways.
Maybe return it and get a new TB?
I didn't have 4G in my home although Verizon's little "insert address" said I would. When I called, however, they said that I was on the border and it's a tough call for now.
When I started driving around to different areas, however, it picked up 4G signal just fine. When driving back into a 3G area it switched with no issue.
psufan5 said:
What city are you in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And thats the right question to ask.
My 4G, in Los Angeles, is amazing. But Verizon is just starting to get 4G up and running in many cities right now, cant expect to have great coverage for many more months.
jvward said:
Hey Man,
I read your post and I am a little confused. In summary is your issue that you dont have great 4G coverage by your house and 3G isnt picking up when 4g drops off?
jvward
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When the 4g drops, data stops. No icon. Sometimes 3g shows up. Mostly 1x. Lately, nothing. No icon, no data.
jawa5636 said:
Cincinnati area. Northern suburb. Close to towers and major highways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in northern Cincinnati too. Contact me before you do anything.
Hey, I have had problems too. I work in the Tri-county area and have GREAT 4G coverage. If you look at the 4G map I am right on the cusp (Maineville) of coverage. In my house, it will rotate between 4g/3g/1x constantly. I downloaded the "LTE OnOFF" app from TeamAndIRC and will toggle 3G only when I'm at home. For some reason I STILL HAVE TO DO THIS even though I'm using wi-fi 100%. When I get to work I toggle to 4G. Doing this, my battery life is exceptional. Before I figured it out I was draining my battery overnight every night. I don't know why the wi-fi requires that 3G only be on but it works.
Almost, but hanging on by a thread....
I am new to Verizon and I picked this up the day after launch. My two weeks are up. I am not in the 4G area (home), but spend most of my waking moment in a 4G area (work). While the phone itself doesn't have a hard time switching between networks on the handheld (I've watched it go from 3 to 4G while driving, I can almost pinpoint the switching area), it does have a hard time when in WiFi Hotspot Mode.
Here's what I mean. I'll be on wireless tether in a 4G zone and then without notice, the phone reports (via Hotspot App) that there is no mobile network ready and there is no data connection icon on the top menu bar. My Xoom is much more reliable on maintaining a connection (3G of course).
This is my only complaint about the 4G network, but it's a small one. The handheld itself is wonderful. I'm keeping both for now.
Check out my speed test on WiFi tether.
Verizon confirmed on the phone with me that there is in fact a bug in HTCs software switching from 4G to 3G when coverage drops. It should be fixed... In the mean time make sure you are using an app from the market to switch to 3G only unless you need 4G.
Other than that, just return it and wait for something else.
ridobe said:
I'm in northern Cincinnati too. Contact me before you do anything.
Hey, I have had problems too. I work in the Tri-county area and have GREAT 4G coverage. If you look at the 4G map I am right on the cusp (Maineville) of coverage. In my house, it will rotate between 4g/3g/1x constantly. I downloaded the "LTE OnOFF" app from TeamAndIRC and will toggle 3G only when I'm at home. For some reason I STILL HAVE TO DO THIS even though I'm using wi-fi 100%. When I get to work I toggle to 4G. Doing this, my battery life is exceptional. Before I figured it out I was draining my battery overnight every night. I don't know why the wi-fi requires that 3G only be on but it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. I live straight down 747 in Liberty Twp. (few miles up from Beckett Ridge). Driving around would get me a better connection (4g) at first but lately, as I drive around, it's all over the board. Most the time there is no data icon. I have another app (Phone Info) that has a toggle.
It gets frustrating in that I don't know if the issue is the phone, network or both. Hard to troubleshoot. I suppose I should mosey on down to the mall for anything and see what kind of 4g I get.
I am in almost the same situation as the OP, I have 4G everywhere but my home which I have confirmed with VZW is in a 4G coverage area, not an extended coverage area either. I have narrowed it down to my street exactly. Right after I turn down imy street I lose 4G.
I then once I am home and no I don't mean indoors just at my house I frequently go between nothing, 1x, and 3G(Very Weak) with sporadic data. Will not get 4G back unless I drive around. This is my second device, and second trouble ticket with VZW this time giving more detailed information.
I have also tried every possible solution but unfortunately switching to Rev. A is not a "solution" for me as I am in a 4G area and if I wanted 3G I probably would have just kept my Droid X.
I sure hope this bug if it is one in the software will be fixed with an update or VZW can sort it out if it is my network.
ridobe said:
I'm in northern Cincinnati too. Contact me before you do anything.
Hey, I have had problems too. I work in the Tri-county area and have GREAT 4G coverage. If you look at the 4G map I am right on the cusp (Maineville) of coverage. In my house, it will rotate between 4g/3g/1x constantly. I downloaded the "LTE OnOFF" app from TeamAndIRC and will toggle 3G only when I'm at home. For some reason I STILL HAVE TO DO THIS even though I'm using wi-fi 100%. When I get to work I toggle to 4G. Doing this, my battery life is exceptional. Before I figured it out I was draining my battery overnight every night. I don't know why the wi-fi requires that 3G only be on but it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update:
Per my experience yesterday, if you are within the 275 loop, you are golden. Once I hit West Chester/Beckett Ridge, LTE started dropping. At my house, it is almost non-existent.
So after the now infamous 4G outage I did notice one important thing on my TB. That day I had the best battery life ever. First time I made it through the day without charging. Hopefully sometime soon we will have an official 4G on/off toggle. I know there is one that takes you to the service menu so you can change the settings but it would be nice to have one that you can just toggle 4G off to 3G then toggle back on without the extra steps.
I'm pretty sure we all knew this was the cause.. look at when the evo came out it had horrible battery life when wimax was still young
And when 3G came out it was killing batteries also... And the circle of life continues...
I'm not sure if I am lucky or what. I am rooted and running BAMF rom. I use my TB just how i used my OG droid and I still get 15 hours on a single charge. I also have full 4G coverage in my area. That might be the cause. I dont see the connection switching around between 3G and 4G. Stays at 4G
Memnoch73 said:
So after the now infamous 4G outage I did notice one important thing on my TB. That day I had the best battery life ever. First time I made it through the day without charging. Hopefully sometime soon we will have an official 4G on/off toggle. I know there is one that takes you to the service menu so you can change the settings but it would be nice to have one that you can just toggle 4G off to 3G then toggle back on without the extra steps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Power 2 antennas will definitely use some juice. That's why individuals in non-4G markets (like myself), disable the feature to keep from constant searching.
Turd Furguson said:
That's why individuals in non-4G markets (like myself), disable the feature to keep from constant searching.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I live in a 3G area, but work in a 4G area, and honestly didn't see much of a difference in normal usage except that my battery would die about 3/4 into the day with 4G enabled. Ever since I disabled 4G my battery lasts the whole day.
I am in a 3g area. Even before the outage my TB was always going from 3g to 1x. I called for help but it only continued. During the outage a fix was posted for a temp. fix to bring 3g back for those in a 3g area. The fix was to apply Rev. A. once I did this not only did I get 3g back but it remained stable and it was loading w a y faster then it ever has before. When I heard the 4g3g problem was fixed I followed the instructions to revert to the original setting. When I did the pages loaded slower like it always did. So I turned it back to Rev A. for good until I find myself in a real 4g environment. Oh and another big plus is that the battery has dramatically improved. So I am very happy leaving it like it is. Sweeet.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
edward_g said:
I am in a 3g area. Even before the outage my TB was always going from 3g to 1x. I called for help but it only continued. During the outage a fix was posted for a temp. fix to bring 3g back for those in a 3g area. The fix was to apply Rev. A. once I did this not only did I get 3g back but it remained stable and it was loading w a y faster then it ever has before. When I heard the 4g3g problem was fixed I followed the instructions to revert to the original setting. When I did the pages loaded slower like it always did. So I turned it back to Rev A. for good until I find myself in a real 4g environment. Oh and another big plus is that the battery has dramatically improved. So I am very happy leaving it like it is. Sweeet.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you still able to do voice/data at the same time running like that?
I did not notice any degradation in terms of battery life after the outage. I'm in 4G area and use LTE Only Mode, so everything is the same as before about 18hrs from a charge.
I did use voice and data at the same time . I was surprised that it actually worked.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
They just turned on LTE in my area of Hawaii (though I don't think officially.) But it constantly switches back from 4G to 3G and vice versa. Sometimes it gets stuck with no data and I have to toggle airplane mode. My buddies phone in same spot could show 4G and mines 3G and vice versa. This significantly drains the battery and not a very good experience. My question is I noticed in the app that we used to turn off 4G there is an option for LTE Only, does anyone know of there would be any negative reprocussions on leaving it on 4G only? Like could it harm the phone, would any certain features/apps not work properly, etc?
I ran it like that today. Data connection seemed better and constant. When I looked at my phone throughout the day I did not notice a time where there was no data. My calls/texts/emails came through like normal. Battery seemed better. Left work with more battery than my LG Revolution which is normally the other way around. I did not run into any negative impact with setting it to LTE Only. Can anyone think of any warnings?
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
All it does is set your radio to only use 4G. If you get to an areabthat has no 4g or wifi you would have to switch back to 3g or 3g/4g auto in order to get data.
No harm, just won't switch out of 4g unless you do it. Probably why the data lock is better and battery life as well.
If you get solid 4G just use LTE only and switch it if you loose 4G.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
MrHawaii said:
They just turned on LTE in my area of Hawaii (though I don't think officially.) But it constantly switches back from 4G to 3G and vice versa. Sometimes it gets stuck with no data and I have to toggle airplane mode. My buddies phone in same spot could show 4G and mines 3G and vice versa. This significantly drains the battery and not a very good experience. My question is I noticed in the app that we used to turn off 4G there is an option for LTE Only, does anyone know of there would be any negative reprocussions on leaving it on 4G only? Like could it harm the phone, would any certain features/apps not work properly, etc?
I ran it like that today. Data connection seemed better and constant. When I looked at my phone throughout the day I did not notice a time where there was no data. My calls/texts/emails came through like normal. Battery seemed better. Left work with more battery than my LG Revolution which is normally the other way around. I did not run into any negative impact with setting it to LTE Only. Can anyone think of any warnings?
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are fine running LTE only. All you will get with that is 4G & 1x, so either extremely fast data, or slow as a turtle. I use that setting almost all the time here in Jersey, I live right outside of NYC so I get constant 4G coverage. It does help with the battery life too.
I live in a really good LTE area, I almost always have 4 or 5 bars no matter where I go.
I've encountered a strange issue, however, in that sometimes I will have a very strong LTE signal-- but the phone will drop to 3G anyway. Restarting the phone will usually make 4G appear for a couple minutes, and I can speedtest at the usual LTE speeds, but then it will randomly drop back to 3G & speedtest at 3G speeds.
I should note that this doesn't happen in all areas, only a few around town where I'm at quite often. One is right by a Verizon store, and I know that there is strong 4G coverage in that area because all of the 4G phones in there have 5 bars.
Has this been happening to anyone else? Is there a way to switch to 4G-only like on the Thunderbolt? I've done some searching but have so far come up empty handed.
Edit: I should note that I'm using a rooted kernel, but this problem happened before I rooted in the exact same fashion.
I'm sorry to say that you probably have no idea what your 4G signal strength really is. You sure can't use the bars at the top of the screen - Those only show your phone call signal strength ... Not your 4G data signal strength.
There is an app out there that will show the different signal strengths available to your phone, but I can't remember the name right now (it's in the Market). If I think of it, I'll repost.
Cheers,
Oh I see... I had just assumed there was a correlation since my speed test results-- around 20mbps down and 6-10 up before switching back to 3G-- seemed to suggest I was getting fairly good reception.
¿GotJazz? said:
I'm sorry to say that you probably have no idea what your 4G signal strength really is. You sure can't use the bars at the top of the screen - Those only show your phone call signal strength ... Not your 4G data signal strength.
There is an app out there that will show the different signal strengths available to your phone, but I can't remember the name right now (it's in the Market). If I think of it, I'll repost.
Cheers,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mobile Signal Widget.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Humble 1.4
kvswim said:
Mobile Signal Widget.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Humble 1.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I was thinking of: Network Signal Info
vash1053 said:
Oh I see... I had just assumed there was a correlation since my speed test results-- around 20mbps down and 6-10 up before switching back to 3G-- seemed to suggest I was getting fairly good reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard to say about your 4G reception drop-outs.
As far as the signal strength indication in the status bar, I found out the hard way. There was a posting a few months ago, where somebody was asking if there was a way to force your Charge to use the LTE network all the time. I actually found a way to do it, but there was a hefty price to pay: You couldn't make phone calls or send text messages. When configured to force LTE only, you could get lots of that 4G love for internet browsing, and you could see the 4G icon in the status bar. However, you also saw a red slash for the signal strength icon, indicating there was no signal.
So, weak or no correlation between the signal strength display and actual 4G signal strength. Someone else confirmed this in that thread.
¿GotJazz? said:
Actually, I was thinking of: Network Signal Info
Hard to say about your 4G reception drop-outs.
As far as the signal strength indication in the status bar, I found out the hard way. There was a posting a few months ago, where somebody was asking if there was a way to force your Charge to use the LTE network all the time. I actually found a way to do it, but there was a hefty price to pay: You couldn't make phone calls or send text messages. When configured to force LTE only, you could get lots of that 4G love for internet browsing, and you could see the 4G icon in the status bar. However, you also saw a red slash for the signal strength icon, indicating there was no signal.
So, weak or no correlation between the signal strength display and actual 4G signal strength. Someone else confirmed this in that thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The signal strength in the notifications bar correlates to the quality of the calling/texting signal (evdo I think). Has nothing to do with the data signal strength.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Humble 1.42
So I've been monitoring things using the suggested apps for a couple weeks, and I'm getting -65dbm on LTE before it switches to 3G in these select areas... I'll post a screenie when I get home.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
This is happening here in Tampa a lot lately. Friends with tbolt are seeing same thing. Started three days ago or so.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
First ~1 - 10 minutes of being at one of these strange areas:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/vash1053/SC20110816-145555.png
After ~1 - 10 minutes:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/vash1053/SC20110816-150708.png
Is there, perhaps, a 3G tower nearby that's erroneously "weighted" heavier than the nearby 4G tower? I have no idea if it even works like that, heh.
Had an odd incident yesterday when my phone switched to 3G and wouldn't switch back to 4G until I rebooted the phone.
Rebooting cures a number of ills, apparently.
This happens to me occasionally, all I do is switch to airplane mode and then switch back.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
I use that method (restarting and the airplane mode trick) and sometimes it works, but never in the areas described in my OP. It might work for a minute or two but it always reverts...
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
Your phone is set to find and capture the strongest signal regardless of download speed... If 3g and 4g are both coming in at -65 dbm then its really a coin flip but your 3g is winning the consistency battle at holding at or below -65
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
-55dbm is about the best you can do signal wise... 3g will always get closer than 4g so on fringe areas your 4g won't work
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
I wish there was a way to lock the phone in 4G only, especially in a good LTE area.