Database Develop

3G / GMS

When I set my Diamond to Auto configuration it always chooses GSM with GPRS data, I believe its because the signal is stronger than 3G.. If I set the phone to 3G it works fine (almost always shows full signal strenght). But at my work I have no 3G signal, and I need to manually set the phone to "auto" och GSM again, and it wont change back to 3G when there is 3G in range again (even if I choose Auto).
So, my question is, is there any app or solution to ALWAYS be connected to 3G when there is enough signal, if not, it will choose GSM until it finds the 3G signal again?
Im getting quite irritated when I need to change the band manually several times a day...
Thanks..

Hello
I have diferent problem but i try to find some application to fast switch band from gsm to auto and auto to gsm
Thanks
Nicolas

mil_house said:
Hello
I have diferent problem but i try to find some application to fast switch band from gsm to auto and auto to gsm
Thanks
Nicolas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Advanced Config has an option to add a '3G' button to CommManager which does exactly what you want.
What I would really like however, is a 3G button that toggles between '3G' and 'GSM', rather than 'Auto' and 'GSM'
Anyone ?

GSM auto (PRL) vs. WCDMA preferred

what is the difference between these two settings on my N1? i get 3G/H with either setting, and they both switch to Edge around the same coverage areas too. PRL seems to have ever-so-slightly better dBm power readings, anyone else seen this? both seem to have similar network performance too (based on download speeds), should i stick with one or another? which gives better battery life?
TIA!

Hope this helps!!!
GSM Only - Only uses in G/E and never switches to 3G/H. Should have minimal battery usage.
GSM Auto (PRL) - Automatically switches between G/E/3G/H based on the PRL (Preferred Roaming List) for a provider on your phone. Not supported by all providers and may not be supported in certain regions. Should have moderate battery usage since it uses a predefined list to switch.
WCDMA Preferred - Automatically switches between G/E/3G/H based on the best/strongest signal available and is supported by all providers. Has high battery usage since it constantly scans the network for the strongest signal to switch.
WCDMA Only - Only uses HSDPA and will not switch to G/E/3G even if the HSPDA signal is too low. Use this only if you use your phone in a area with good coverage. Should have moderate battery usage.

craigacgomez said:
Hope this helps!!!
GSM Only - Only uses in G/E and never switches to 3G/H. Should have minimal battery usage.
GSM Auto (PRL) - Automatically switches between G/E/3G/H based on the PRL (Preferred Roaming List) for a provider on your phone. Not supported by all providers and may not be supported in certain regions. Should have moderate battery usage since it uses a predefined list to switch.
WCDMA Preferred - Automatically switches between G/E/3G/H based on the best/strongest signal available and is supported by all providers. Has high battery usage since it constantly scans the network for the strongest signal to switch.
WCDMA Only - Only uses HSDPA and will not switch to G/E/3G even if the HSPDA signal is too low. Use this only if you use your phone in a area with good coverage. Should have moderate battery usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you!! where'd you find this info?

There's a huge thread on this already. Gsm auto (PRL) gives me much better battery life over wcdma preferred but we really don't know exactly why. Both give you 3g and edge access.

RogerPodacter said:
There's a huge thread on this already. Gsm auto (PRL) gives me much better battery life over wcdma preferred but we really don't know exactly why. Both give you 3g and edge access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm discovering the much better battery life as well, pleasantly surprised to be at 70% after coming off charger 11 hours ago!
do you have a link to that thread? i searched before I posted but couldn't find anything of value. xda is a great resource, but sometimes info is difficult to retrieve from old threads. thanks!

mcgoo99 said:
i'm discovering the much better battery life as well, pleasantly surprised to be at 70% after coming off charger 11 hours ago!
do you have a link to that thread? i searched before I posted but couldn't find anything of value. xda is a great resource, but sometimes info is difficult to retrieve from old threads. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=675136&highlight=improve+battery

RogerPodacter said:
There's a huge thread on this already. Gsm auto (PRL) gives me much better battery life over wcdma preferred but we really don't know exactly why. Both give you 3g and edge access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the fact that GSM Auto (PRL) uses a predetermined PRL to switch between G/E/3G/H vs. the phone constantly scanning to find the best signal in the case of WCDMA Preferred is the reason for the better battery life.

many thanks for the responses guys, much appreciated!

craigacgomez said:
Hope this helps!!!
GSM Only - Only uses in G/E and never switches to 3G/H. Should have minimal battery usage.
GSM Auto (PRL) - Automatically switches between G/E/3G/H based on the PRL (Preferred Roaming List) for a provider on your phone. Not supported by all providers and may not be supported in certain regions. Should have moderate battery usage since it uses a predefined list to switch.
WCDMA Preferred - Automatically switches between G/E/3G/H based on the best/strongest signal available and is supported by all providers. Has high battery usage since it constantly scans the network for the strongest signal to switch.
WCDMA Only - Only uses HSDPA and will not switch to G/E/3G even if the HSPDA signal is too low. Use this only if you use your phone in a area with good coverage. Should have moderate battery usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does anyone know what gsm disconnects: =====DATA=====
mean?
my network keeps disconnecting and reconnecting :/

haksam said:
does anyone know what gsm disconnects: =====DATA=====
mean?
my network keeps disconnecting and reconnecting :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beats me....if I set to "gsm only" gsm disconects and doesnt reconnect
until I set it to to "auto mode"
« »

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] Galaxy S4active LTE activation

Hey All,
I searched the web on and on and cant figure it out.
My provider Vodafone in holland provides me with 4G.
On some sites i read there is a minor update which activates the LTE option.
that update is for the I9505..
I cant find if its possible to unlock my LTE option.
i have the I9295. And throug kies or OTA is no update
I hope you can help me out guys.

Thaantje said:
Hey All,
I searched the web on and on and cant figure it out.
My provider Vodafone in holland provides me with 4G.
On some sites i read there is a minor update which activates the LTE option.
that update is for the I9505..
I cant find if its possible to unlock my LTE option.
i have the I9295. And throug kies or OTA is no update
I hope you can help me out guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't really help you but as far as I know LTE is already unlocked and working on all international S4 Actives. Mine certainly worked perfectly out of the box - although I turned it off promptly because I have ****ty 4G coverage where I live so it was nothing but a battery drain for me.
Are you sure you have a 4G sim card, and that you are in an area where 4G has coverage?
If you go in under settings > connections > more networks > mobile networks > network mode don't you have the LTE option at the top?

Cederic said:
I can't really help you but as far as I know LTE is already unlocked and working on all international S4 Actives. Mine certainly worked perfectly out of the box - although I turned it off promptly because I have ****ty 4G coverage where I live so it was nothing but a battery drain for me.
Are you sure you have a 4G sim card, and that you are in an area where 4G has coverage?
If you go in under settings > connections > more networks > mobile networks > network mode don't you have the LTE option at the top?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not 100% but i got the textmessage from my provider, so i recon they only send it to people who are able to use the 4G.
Yes, i am in a 4g coverage area
i dont have the LTE option at the top no. i have:
- wcdma/gsm
- only wcdma
- only gsm

Thaantje said:
Im not 100% but i got the textmessage from my provider, so i recon they only send it to people who are able to use the 4G.
Yes, i am in a 4g coverage area
i dont have the LTE option at the top no. i have:
- wcdma/gsm
- only wcdma
- only gsm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then I really have no idea - the only thing I can think of is that you might need to replace your sim card if your provider didn't already do so in advance of the 4G rollout. Hopefully someone with more information might step in here, but the international version is LTE capable out of the box. If you don't hear anything else I'd suggest to try and contact vodafone and get a clear answer from them first.

If you check the mobile networks in your area and don't see anything that supports LTE, you may just live in an area that doesn't have it yet (people get 4G and LTE somewhat mixed up - 4G is the overall identifier for a whole class of technologies with "4th generation cellular networks" basically while LTE is technically one of those technologies so, it should rightfully be classified as 4G in most respects.
Having said that, the only way I got my GS4A to function in LTE mode - meaning it actually shows LTE in the notification bar under the 4 with a small G and LTE underneath it - was to go into the service menu (*#*#4636#*#*) and change the preferred network type to either LTE only or LTE/GSM auto (PRL). Once I did that the radio would reset and connect and then it would be in proper LTE mode. Doing a speedtest with the Speedtest.net app shows LTE as the connection whereas with my standard setting which is WCDMA Preferred (T-Mobile AWS) it'll just show as "4G."
I've had no luck making alterations in the Settings/Mobile Networks section, I have to change it in the service menu to get LTE functional. I don't use it because here in Vegas where I live (specifically my home location) the LTE mode gets me about 1-2 bars of signal (about 8-12Mbps) whereas the WCDMA Preferred setting pulls in 5 bars rock solid and 25-35Mbps.
Can't do screenshots or I'd add them, I'm running the pre-release MI2 ROM presently and that aspect is borked.

br0adband said:
If you check the mobile networks in your area and don't see anything that supports LTE, you may just live in an area that doesn't have it yet (people get 4G and LTE somewhat mixed up - 4G is the overall identifier for a whole class of technologies with "4th generation cellular networks" basically while LTE is technically one of those technologies so, it should rightfully be classified as 4G in most respects.
Having said that, the only way I got my GS4A to function in LTE mode - meaning it actually shows LTE in the notification bar under the 4 with a small G and LTE underneath it - was to go into the service menu (*#*#4636#*#*) and change the preferred network type to either LTE only or LTE/GSM auto (PRL). Once I did that the radio would reset and connect and then it would be in proper LTE mode. Doing a speedtest with the Speedtest.net app shows LTE as the connection whereas with my standard setting which is WCDMA Preferred (T-Mobile AWS) it'll just show as "4G."
I've had no luck making alterations in the Settings/Mobile Networks section, I have to change it in the service menu to get LTE functional. I don't use it because here in Vegas where I live (specifically my home location) the LTE mode gets me about 1-2 bars of signal (about 8-12Mbps) whereas the WCDMA Preferred setting pulls in 5 bars rock solid and 25-35Mbps.
Can't do screenshots or I'd add them, I'm running the pre-release MI2 ROM presently and that aspect is borked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can check my area on the vodafone site. I live in a 4G network area 100%!
i guess my wcdma is sufficient then.. didnt experience speedboost tho..

br0adband said:
I've had no luck making alterations in the Settings/Mobile Networks section, I have to change it in the service menu to get LTE functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be because you're on the i537 from ATT, rather than the i9295 that this discussion is about. I checked google and vodafone holland does indeed use LTE on the right bands in its brand new rollout, so it isn't that - most likely it's his sim that needs replacing or it's just not activated on his account yet.

[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!!!!