Database Develop

Force Android to use ONLY 3G?

Hi
Is their anyway I could force android to use ONLY the 3G UMTS network ? it keeps jumping to 2g randomly and the download speed drops from 500kb/s to 15 !!!! So its really pissing me off.
If anyone has ANY idea how to do this, please let me know
Krgrds,
Waseem

Well sometimes 3G networks aren't available and your phone can't connect to them. So it uses 2G networks to preserve the download and the connection

Download Any Cut from the market.
Make a short cut using Activity.
Select Phone Info.
Select from the drop down list towards the bottom "WCDMA only".

there is an option on the hero rom to use only 3g networks

Weees said:
Hi
Is their anyway I could force android to use ONLY the 3G UMTS network ? it keeps jumping to 2g randomly and the download speed drops from 500kb/s to 15 !!!! So its really pissing me off.
If anyone has ANY idea how to do this, please let me know
Krgrds,
Waseem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you did this and were downloading something you would get tons of dropped connections. T-Mobiles 3G is still kinda in its beginning stages and isn't near as available or reliable as the bigger networks (Sprint/verizon/AT&T)

dkb218 said:
Download Any Cut from the market.
Make a short cut using Activity.
Select Phone Info.
Select from the drop down list towards the bottom "WCDMA only".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude.....YOUR A GENIUS
Thanks abunch for the suggestion !! Yea..it worked just fine
I would have never guessed that one !!
Thanks to everyone else who contributed ! appreciate your help !.
The reason I wanted this is because my G1 sometimes suddenly drops the 3G and goes to 2g in a zone where 3G signal is excellent and im downloading at 400kb.s but for some wierd reason it switches to 2G and I have to wait untill it decides to switch back to 3G. But thats solved now.......FINALLY

Weees said:
Dude.....YOUR A GENIUS
Thanks abunch for the suggestion !! Yea..it worked just fine
I would have never guessed that one !!
Thanks to everyone else who contributed ! appreciate your help !.
The reason I wanted this is because my G1 sometimes suddenly drops the 3G and goes to 2g in a zone where 3G signal is excellent and im downloading at 400kb.s but for some wierd reason it switches to 2G and I have to wait untill it decides to switch back to 3G. But thats solved now.......FINALLY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense. I'll have to keep that in mind when STL eventually gets damn 3G

thank you!!!
On my operator (italian - TIM) i was going from 4mbit to 8kbit on "edge"
my operator thanks you also (as i was going to switch to another operator with better coverage)

Set phone for only 3G (WCDMA)
There is yet another way...
From the dialer, type exactly:
*#*#4636#*#*
After a moment, a screen will appear called "Testing". Select the drop-down that says "Phone Information". From there, scroll down to where it should say "WCDMA preferred", and change it to "WCDMA only". Use the back key to get out. It should stay selected even through a reboot.
​This works on CRC1 (the latest US 1.5 "Cupcake" ROM) but I can't say for sure if it will work for other phones (myTouch) or other markets (UK).
It's essentially the same as AnyCut/BetterCut, you're just using a different way to get there. This uses more battery than 2G (GSM), but everyone already knew that, right?
HTH!

voxluna said:
There is yet another way...
From the dialer, type exactly:
*#*#4636#*#*
After a moment, a screen will appear called "Testing". Select the drop-down that says "Phone Information". From there, scroll down to where it should say "WCDMA preferred", and change it to "WCDMA only". Use the back key to get out. It should stay selected even through a reboot.
​This works on CRC1 (the latest US 1.5 "Cupcake" ROM) but I can't say for sure if it will work for other phones (myTouch) or other markets (UK).
It's essentially the same as AnyCut/BetterCut, you're just using a different way to get there. This uses more battery than 2G (GSM), but everyone already knew that, right?
HTH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you that worked a dream,am based in uk

voxluna said:
There is yet another way...
From the dialer, type exactly:
*#*#4636#*#*
After a moment, a screen will appear called "Testing". Select the drop-down that says "Phone Information". From there, scroll down to where it should say "WCDMA preferred", and change it to "WCDMA only". Use the back key to get out. It should stay selected even through a reboot.
​This works on CRC1 (the latest US 1.5 "Cupcake" ROM) but I can't say for sure if it will work for other phones (myTouch) or other markets (UK).
It's essentially the same as AnyCut/BetterCut, you're just using a different way to get there. This uses more battery than 2G (GSM), but everyone already knew that, right?
HTH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this with Internet Radio in the Car and it seem to cut out less often, just wondered if there was any other way to increase the 3G signal on the phone as it has not external connector for a 3g antenna, is it possible to solder a connector in, is there any know mod, it would be so cool to listen to internet radio without so many cut outs.

Hi all i am also trying to do this. I have createt The shortcut just fine but if i follow the shortcut and choose from the dropdown menu It doesnt remember the settings when i quit... And there is no save/apply button. Or is there something i am missing here?? please if someone can help i will be wery happy

Well, for me I just choose WCDMA and wait for a few seconds untill the 3G signal appears then just hit the back button and thats it. Its forced to use 3G only. No need to push any save buttons.

Confirmed not working here either, select wcdma, come out of menu, go back in, and it's already changed it back to gsm/cdma auto. Seems it refuses to apply settings.
Galaxy S on t-mobile uk.

Working good using any cut. Thanks!

wtf
this toatly messed up my phone, i swhiched to wcdma preferd and my data speeds have competly crashed, when i go to change it it now says unknown and dosent save my choice

voxluna said:
There is yet another way...
From the dialer, type exactly:
*#*#4636#*#*
After a moment, a screen will appear called "Testing". Select the drop-down that says "Phone Information". From there, scroll down to where it should say "WCDMA preferred", and change it to "WCDMA only". Use the back key to get out. It should stay selected even through a reboot.
​This works on CRC1 (the latest US 1.5 "Cupcake" ROM) but I can't say for sure if it will work for other phones (myTouch) or other markets (UK).
It's essentially the same as AnyCut/BetterCut, you're just using a different way to get there. This uses more battery than 2G (GSM), but everyone already knew that, right?
HTH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude.. ur awesome ty this helped alot!

The above will not work on jelly bean 4.1.1 any other ways to set wmdca only

Confirmed not working here either, select wcdma, come out of menu, go back in, and it's already changed it back to gsm/cdma auto. Seems it refuses to apply settings.
Galaxy S on t-mobile uk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my case it does apply settings, soft of. Switching GSM only ---> WCDMA only, all my bars immediately appear and I the phone starts getting a signal. The settings remain there if I check repeatedly. However the setting do not survive the the phone reboot. It goes back to "GSM only" mode and I have no reception. I can help it changing the settings again, but it is quite annoying.
Started happening to my phone after I travelled with it to east europe. Had some troubles there making it work with their sim-card and had to call the provider. They must have fixed something in my phone remotely. Now I'm back to asia and this is kind of **** is happening.

Force WCDMA Only

Hi all,
Would like to check if anyone knows how could i set "WCDMA Only" (3G Only) on Galaxy S?
I can only Force 2G only via the settings menu, but not 3G only.
Managed to access the "Phone Info" menu via *#*#4636#*#*, selected "WCDMA Only" from the dropdown box.
However, nothing seemed to be set nor i see any button to save the choice?
Anyone happen to know how can i have it set? Or i could manually set it by applying some settings somewhere?
Thanks alot!

you cant force 3g... you would get no signal if you didnt have a 3g connection

boinger66 said:
you cant force 3g... you would get no signal if you didnt have a 3g connection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that. However, such settings are available in Nexus One.

i2umi said:
I know that. However, such settings are available in Nexus One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is also available on the HTC Desire :
WCDMA only
GSM/WCDMA auto
GSM only

*#*#197328640#*#* > debug screen > phone control > network control > band selection
You need to do this after each reboot though as it does not stick.

Is there a way to shortcut this with anycut?

-Double Post-
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App (Which seems less than stable...)

The app Network simplifies the procedure quite a bit. Haven't actually gone into a low signal spot yet to see if it fully works as intended though.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

thank you very much..i have been searching this high and low...you save my day..

Thank you so much! This helped me diagnose the SGS and see if I have 1900 3G in my area (1 bar). here's a tip that I used for quick access to the debug screen just as a trial and it actually worked
Enter ONLY *#*#197328640#*# then hit add to contacts (notice there is no * at the end).
Give it a name (Samsung Debug Screen) and tap to edit the number and enter the final * at the end.
Save and exit. Now whenever u want to enter debug mode to change the network or other stuff just type *#*# and it should appear. Tap on the contact and voila!

clubtech said:
*#*#197328640#*#* > debug screen > phone control > network control > band selection
You need to do this after each reboot though as it does not stick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks for this! Lots of fun debug info in there.
boinger66 said:
you cant force 3g... you would get no signal if you didnt have a 3g connection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My operator doesn't have a 2G network... all they have is 3G. There's no point in my phone looking for anything other than a 3G network.

Solution added to FAQ

sorry to ask if this is already answered but how exactly to i get to CONFIRM my wcdma only selection? i check it and nothing happens, data connection stays on "G" symbol. I know for sure that at the place where i tested i get NO 3g signal. which means probably that i should be losing all signal after choosing wcdma only. that does not happen. also if i close the phone info app and reopen it, choice gets back to default (3g/gprs).
any help appreciated... I really need this.

forcing to only 3g is a bad move, i tested it on my n1 and i kept dropping calls once 3g lost signal.

raspdeep said:
forcing to only 3g is a bad move, i tested it on my n1 and i kept dropping calls once 3g lost signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know but i need it for the internet.. and i need it badly.. please help anyone as soon as possible. thank you guys

Its available in the new firmware I9000XWJM1
Hey, its there in I9000XWJM1 and tested working great as expected! However its a beta so you may see other issues. Not sure if its there in latest stable.

Just to confirm, i upgraded my firmware to XWJM5 today, and i noticed that in settings > wireless and network > mobile networks, there's a new menu 'network mode' in which there's 3 options - auto / gsm only / wcdma only. Nice touch!
In answer to the cynics, there are times when browsing, when the phone is borderline whether to give you 2g or 3g, it does come in handy, and it's safer too, as if i have to browse on 2g it makes me want to smash the phone up!!

spark001uk said:
Just to confirm, i upgraded my firmware to XWJM5 today, and i noticed that in settings > wireless and network > mobile networks, there's a new menu 'network mode' in which there's 3 options - auto / gsm only / wcdma only. Nice touch!
In answer to the cynics, there are times when browsing, when the phone is borderline whether to give you 2g or 3g, it does come in handy, and it's safer too, as if i have to browse on 2g it makes me want to smash the phone up!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL "safer"

@OP Although 'WCDMA only' mode may not be a good idea and hence not recommended but just to confirm
my current Build i9000XXJPH have following three modes
GSM/WCDMA (auto mode)
GSM only
WCDMA only

JM8 build also have this mode. I noticed that when I flash the i9000M (bell version) previously it didn't have these modes.

wCDMA Milestone (mod)

Doing this will boost call QUALITY & response time between the tower and your phone. It also seems to cut alot of the background noises as well.
1. open dialer
2. *#*#4636#*#*
3. change GSM Auto (prl) to wCDMA preferred.
4. click Enable QXDM SD Log
5. SMSC: -refresh, then long hold update.
6. Scroll to top, run ping test...
7. Once done, hit HOME.... NOT BACK!
if you run into any issues, swap back to GSM-Auto (prl) then update your SMSC number again. By default it loads as GSM-Auto, so if you reboot, you will have to swap it again.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Ive been running like this for around 10 days now and & definitely notice a good gain in call quality, not only in response time, but clarity as well. I don't get any background static and outside wind/other noise seems to drop as well also.
-Leave me feedback and let me know what you think if you try it.

Is this working fpr European Phones (in my opinion Germany) too?

gmbhneo said:
Is this working fpr European Phones (in my opinion Germany) too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have EUR version of XT720 and using it with T-Mobile USA; I tried that method, it works.

Ph0z3 said:
Doing this will boost call QUALITY & response ti
1. open dialer
2. *#*#4636#*#*
3. change GSM Auto (prl) to wCDMA preferred.
4. click Enable QXDM SD Log
5. SMSC: -refresh, then long hold update.
6. Scroll to top, run ping test...
7. Once done, hit HOME.... NOT BACK!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1-2-3 no problem
4_ I dont have that option anywhere
5_refresh Ok , but log hold update doesnt change anything ??????
6-7 no problem
I dont really feel any difference . ill tell you in a couple days
also there must be a way to set this on boot or make this persistant , I noticed if you go back in that menu and use back to exit it will also revert changes to default ...

gmbhneo said:
Is this working fpr European Phones (in my opinion Germany) too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it is. like i said, if it doesnt, change back... no harm done.
DAGr8 said:
4_ I dont have that option anywhere
5_refresh Ok , but log hold update doesnt change anything ??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4. Not all phones will... it varies with service.
5. should automatically update, if nothing pops up saying it saved... skip it.
DAGr8 said:
I noticed if you go back in that menu and use back to exit it will also revert changes to default ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats why i said USE HOME... NOT BACK. Also im looking at the radio file to figure out a boot sequence to make this permanent, once i get it solved, ill post it.

Ph0z3 said:
thats why i said USE HOME... NOT BACK. Also im looking at the radio file to figure out a boot sequence to make this permanent, once i get it solved, ill post it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok I know this is confusing but what I meant is if I apply the changes . then hit menu . I do some testing and then I go (again) in *#*#4646 etc etc , even if I dotn do anything and I just hit 'back' it will reset the settings ...
btw got my first compliment today someone said my phone sounded louder then usual 9normally its the otherway aroud ppl say its not loud enough ...

Did it and the network xhanged from GPRS to HSPA will test it and report here
Sent from my Milestone

Im sure ill get it at some point or another.. so here is it...
WHAT IS wCDMA... and why is it better than GSM?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
wCDMA (Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access), an ITU standard derived from Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), is officially known as IMT-2000 direct spread. wCDMA is a third-generation (3G) mobile wireless technology that promises much higher data speeds to mobile and portable wireless devices than commonly offered in today's market.
wCDMA can support mobile/portable voice, images, data, and video communications at up to 2 Mbps (local area access) or 384 Kbps (wide area access). The input signals are digitized and transmitted in coded, spread-spectrum mode over a broad range of frequencies. A 5 MHz-wide carrier is used, compared with 200 KHz-wide carrier for narrowband CDMA.
Summary:
1.WCDMA is a 3G technology while GSM is a 2G technology
2.GSM is slowly being phased out in favor of CDMA
3.GSM is still more widespread than CDMA
4.WCDMA and GSM uses different frequency bands
5.WCDMA offers much faster data speeds than GSM
6.WCDMA would soon replace GSM

It's stated in this thread that it's non-dangerous as you can just reboot the phone / change it back. I'll just pop in here with a word of caution: I couldn't.
I have received a significant increase in speed and response time on my data connection since performing this change. I've received significant performance/quality on my conversations over the phone. I can still receive SMS's, however I can no longer send any...
When I attempt to change it back it's already on "GSM auto (PRL)", and I can no longer get the "Enable QXDM SD Log" button when changing to "WCDMA preferred".
I've attempted to change back by ignoring the step that included the "Enable QXDM SD Log" button, but to no avail.
I've attempted to re-flash GOTs 2.2.1 as that should include the most partitions of any flashable ROM, and I had hoped it re-wrote the radio. Apparently it did not.
I basically have a looong night of debugging ahead of me Such is the nature of modding.
[edit 1]
My phone is a UK Milestone, one of the first models. I am not sure of the technical term for the model.
[edit 2]
Solved it.. The SMSC number was set to 5p41450522.
After some time I found the SMSC (SMS center - responsible for sending SMS on the network) number from my provider. For TDC in Denmark it's +4540390999.
Pressed UPDATE and home button.
NOTE: For non-english phones the menu is translated, and as such the 2 buttons next to the SMSC field may be named the same. The left most button is UPDATE, the right most button is REFRESH. Some languages tend to translate those two words to the same.

The default setting, GSM auto (PRL), will switch to wCDMA when there's a load on the network connection. That is, with a call, a download, or something similar, the phone will accomplish exactly what's been done manually.
The difference is that with this setting, the phone will almost always prefer 3G, meaning you won't have the benefit of using the less power-consuming connection when there's very little load. There has to be almost no traffic for it to step down to 2G.
It won't affect call quality, and if it does, I'm going to go out and state that it's simply a placebo effect. Regardless of which setting you choose, call quality will be the same, as both will have the phone switch to 3G during a call anyways.
One thing you may notice, though. With it set to WCDMA preferred, you may notice a less reliable data connection, and perhaps some dropped calls if you're not in an area with good 3G coverage. GSM auto will prefer 2G network when reception is low, helping to ensure you stay connected.

jlor said:
Solved it.. The SMSC number was set to 5p41450522.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got your issue solved.
xslntx said:
One thing you may notice, though. With it set to WCDMA preferred, you may notice a less reliable data connection, and perhaps some dropped calls if you're not in an area with good 3G coverage. GSM auto will prefer 2G network when reception is low, helping to ensure you stay connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not an issue to me, because ATT is the dominant force here in the south KC metro area, I always have solid signal!

Tag, I did this to see if it fixes my SMS problem.

Thanks to your "wonderful mod" sending SMS didnt work anymore. Make sure you put in the correct SMSC number of your SMS Service Center!

I can no longer send any txt messages after applying this mod, I did a factory wipe and still can't. Any way to revert this?
Took me a while to find the telus SMSC number: +16475800172

gmbhneo said:
Is this working fpr European Phones (in my opinion Germany) too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it does

here are two that I found:
t mobile +2063130004
at&t +13123149810
sorry to any issues you may have recieved whole doing this... but as always, full nandroid back- ups should be done before adding a new mod. yeah I realize I said there was no harm if this didn't work out, so I'm sorry for that.
Anyways just google for "(your carrier) SMSC address" then correct it if you are having issues.

Does 2G work on Telus with Milestone?

I'm currently using CM 6.1.2 on my Milestone.
If I switch to 2G mode in the mobile network settings, I have no connection.
If I use the Toggle 2G app, it doesn't seem to really do anything. If I set 2G to use one of the options that don't disconnect me (WCDMA, CDMA or GSM 2g/3g) it still shows 3G in the status bar so I'm not sure what the point is in using the Toggle 2G app.

Wondering the same thing myself...
Does anyone knows the answer?

zeppelinrox said:
I'm currently using CM 6.1.2 on my Milestone.
If I switch to 2G mode in the mobile network settings, I have no connection.
If I use the Toggle 2G app, it doesn't seem to really do anything. If I set 2G to use one of the options that don't disconnect me (WCDMA, CDMA or GSM 2g/3g) it still shows 3G in the status bar so I'm not sure what the point is in using the Toggle 2G app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not certain about this (i use rogers), but i believe that telus has no 2G (edge) network. They built a 3G only network just in time for the olympics to replace their cdma network:
So the toggler probably cant find a valid connection and retries 3G.
Manual mode cant find a network at all.
On rogers, i can fallback to 2g. This is normal according to what i think i know.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

thanks for the info.
That's what I thought so have given up on the idea of getting 2g to work
I guess when it comes to 3g and saving battery life, juice defender will have to do as it can turn off data when the screen is off but still have the phone working.

Well, I think I made some progress with this.
On my phone, I was also loosing the connection when switching from 3G to 2G but it's working now. I can get calls, it's only the data aver 2G that doesn't work now.
I have the Cronos rom on my phone, I can tell you what I did if you're interested.

Yes please do.
If it works on cm6 then at least I can also save juice by not using juice defender... oh the irony... lol
edit: hey look at all them Canadian flags, eh?!
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

Took me a lot of time to find the right switches combination.
Anyway, I have Toggle 2G auto managing the 2G/3G and for the bottom 2 options:
2G network: WCDMA preferred (3G/2G)
3G network: GSM auto (PRL)(2G/3G)
If I check under Setting/About/Phone/Status, I see written mobile network type UMTS.

Hmm... I had those 2 settings reversed when using toggly2g
I will try that.
Right now, my mobile network type shows up as HSPA.
Your post prompted me to find the difference and came up with these 2 useful pages just before my head exploded.
Awesome thread: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1600012-HSPA-vs.-UMTS
Handy chart at the bottom of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System

s0ulreaver said:
Well, I think I made some progress with this.
On my phone, I was also loosing the connection when switching from 3G to 2G but it's working now. I can get calls, it's only the data aver 2G that doesn't work now.
I have the Cronos rom on my phone, I can tell you what I did if you're interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this not the same then as just shutting off data?

Caz666 said:
Is this not the same then as just shutting off data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure but I don't think so. You can turn off the data but have the phone connected to the 3G network, right?
I think you could get data over 2G but it's just very slow, right?
With Telus I don't think they allow data over 2G.
zeppelinrox, I wonder why yours shows like this, what do you have active under those settings?
What ROMs are you guys using?

zeppelinrox said:
Hmm... I had those 2 settings reversed when using toggly2g
I will try that.
Right now, my mobile network type shows up as HSPA.
Your post prompted me to find the difference and came up with these 2 useful pages just before my head exploded.
Awesome thread: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1600012-HSPA-vs.-UMTS
Handy chart at the bottom of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I'm on 2G it shows as UMTS
With 3G (mobile data enabled) I see it alternating from 3G/UMTS to H/HSPA.

I'm on CM6.
My phone always shows HSPA except if I set it to use 2G then it shows GPRS - which is when I have no data and no phone signal.
I did use the Telus baseband file in AOR though... I wonder how it will behave if I use the Canada baseband....
Also, here's a neat trick....
dial *#*#4636#*#*
A Testing App will show up....
Select Phone Information and then goto the bottom.
You can set your preferred Network type.
Ok so that listbox shows all the different options.
The only options that will save are:
GSM only (2g - I get nothing - shows as GPRS)
WCDMA only (3g - shows as HSPA)
GSM auto (PRL) - (3g - shows as HSPA as well)
All the other options either are not selectable or just revert back to GSM auto (as is the case with WCDMA preferred)
I just did a few speed tests and I seem to get faster speeds with GSM auto than I do with WCDMA only
Gonna try that Canada baseband now....
Edit: Same thing. Except the speed test is slower for both WCDMA and GSM autio so best off using the Telus baseband.

The dial trick doesn't work. I dial the sequence as a phone number, right?
It disappears then nothing changes.

ah.. yeah sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries...
do you use adw launcher?
If so, you can actually create a shortcut for it... I figured it out today.
1 Press and hold on homescreen and select Custom shortcut
2 Press "Pick your activity"
3 Select the second item on the list ie. Activities (with the ADW icon)
4 Wait for all stuff to load, scroll down to Settings, and press the arrow next to it to see the long list of activites that Settings.apk can do.
5 Scroll down near the end of the list, you will see Testing(.TestingSettings)
6. Select that and press OK on the next window.
I also made one for Battery History, which is actually part of the Testing app but is usually only accessible through Spare Parts.

I still can't get the trick to work... doesn't do anything on my phone
Right now I'm on the 2501 rom (latest 2.2.1 from Motorola) and I can say it's the best I've tested so far!
Outstanding battery life!

I found another way to run Testing App.
With Google gesture search you can set it to launch Settings actions
Let it scan and then write "testing" on the screen
Edit: oh crap I mistyped the code.
Its *#*#4636#*#*
I had 4536 before so I fixed it
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

zeppelinrox said:
I'm currently using CM 6.1.2 on my Milestone.
If I switch to 2G mode in the mobile network settings, I have no connection.
If I use the Toggle 2G app, it doesn't seem to really do anything. If I set 2G to use one of the options that don't disconnect me (WCDMA, CDMA or GSM 2g/3g) it still shows 3G in the status bar so I'm not sure what the point is in using the Toggle 2G app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, after doing some more tests and trying different apps (2G/3G switchers) I can say those apps work only if your cell phone company has both 2G/3G network.
In Montreal, only Rogers has both.
Easy to test (btw: I'm using the FroyoMOD rom): go in "Settings" -> "Wireless & Networks" -> "Mobile Network Settings" and check "Use only 2G networks".
See if your cell phone company is listed when you do a search under "Network Operators". If it's not, don't bother using a 2G/3G switcher.
When doing this, in Montreal I see only Rogers listed. If I uncheck "Use only 2G networks" I see all 3 of them: Bell, Telus and Rogers.
Hope this helps!

[Q] XT1053. Preferred network type question. No 2G/3G ?

Hey Guys!
I'm from Argentina and I have bought (via Amazon) this amazing phone. It is the Developer Edition 32GB, XT1053. I think it runs the T-Mobile rom. I bought it because it is the global GSM version and its LTe bands works down here (same bands as US) well.
So far so good with this little and fast phone, but I was really surprised when i went on to check the preferred network types options, and found I only have 2 options: Automatic or 2G. There is no "3G/2G" option as I use to see in other phones. Normally you would expect 3 options here:
LTE (which includes 3G and 2G also), 3G (which includes 2G also) and just 2G.
Thing is, so far I don't mind this since Its cool to have it automatically, the phone will always try to find LTE and if not, 3G... and if not, 2G. The thing is, Argentina is currently setting up LTE over the country these days (yes, we suck), and in the future the operators 'might' charge an extra cost for using LTE instead of 3G, and that's what worries me... not having the option to limit the phone to 3G/2G was something I wasn't expecting and honestly I don't want to flash the phone to another rom, not at least in the near future.
Anyone knows if this "Automatic - 2G" setting is normal to see in this version ? Do you know if there's some kind of workaround to make it work under 3G/2G only in case I need to avoid LTE in the future for extra fees and so ?
Thanks for your help guys!
Edit: Forgot to mention, the phone came out with 4.4.3 but I upgraded it via OTA to 4.4.4 right away.

Yes the Automatic - 2G option is normal for the xt1053 retail stock. Android has hidden menu that gives more options tho.
Use this app to access hidden menu: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.snclabs.radioswitcher&hl=am
Scroll down to where it says set preferred network type and change to whatever you want. gsm only being 2g, wcdma only being 3g, and so on
If the setting doesn't stick after reboot you can try toggling data off then on after changing the setting. try a few times it will stick after reboot.

dtg7 said:
Yes the Automatic - 2G option is normal for the xt1053 retail stock. Android has hidden menu that gives more options tho.
Use this app to access hidden menu: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.snclabs.radioswitcher&hl=am
Scroll down to where it says set preferred network type and change to whatever you want. gsm only being 2g, wcdma only being 3g, and so on
If the setting doesn't stick after reboot you can try toggling data off then on after changing the setting. try a few times it will stick after reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man! That app will be really helpful to me if it happens that the operators start charging extra fee for LTE use in the near future.
Btw, I don't understand that much all that names. What would be the options for having 3G and 2G ? Should it be "WCDMA preferred" ? (I guess that takes away LTE) I will not use it under 3G only since I will be without signal if I happen to run into a 2G zone. (yes, we still have a lot of 2G zones in this country )
Thanks!!!!