Database Develop

Switch from 2G to 3G

Recently bought a Samsung I897 Captivate. Its a unlocked phone and I'm using it in Argentina with Movistar. My previous phone was a Motorola Milestone, and it sometimes changed the connection from 3G / HSDPA to 2G (EDGE), in 3G areas. The solution was to go to APN settings, enable "2G only", then disabling it, and the phone instantly switched to 3G again.
However, the Captivate doesn't have such option. Setting the phone to Flight Mode its useless, it will keep connecting in 2G.
Only solution I found at the moment was to go to Network Mode (*#0011#) then navigate to Network Control => Band Selection, selecting WCDMA only, and then enabling Automatic again.
That seems to reset the connection.
I searched in the market for free and paid apps to help me fix this issue, but I found nothing, only the Toggle 2G app, but it only works with Cyanogen Mod.
I have some questions:
If I set the connection to WCDMA only, then I'll have no signal at all in 2G areas, right?.
Does anyone know a quicker way to do this?. I tried to make a shortcut to ServiceMode with dg Quickcut but when I try to open it it crashed the phone.
Thanks in advance.
Whipon.

Whipon said:
Recently bought a Samsung I897 Captivate. Its a unlocked phone and I'm using it in Argentina with Movistar. My previous phone was a Motorola Milestone, and it sometimes changed the connection from 3G / HSDPA to 2G (EDGE), in 3G areas. The solution was to go to APN settings, enable "2G only", then disabling it, and the phone instantly switched to 3G again.
However, the Captivate doesn't have such option. Setting the phone to Flight Mode its useless, it will keep connecting in 2G.
Only solution I found at the moment was to go to Network Mode (*#0011#) then navigate to Network Control => Band Selection, selecting WCDMA only, and then enabling Automatic again.
That seems to reset the connection.
I searched in the market for free and paid apps to help me fix this issue, but I found nothing, only the Toggle 2G app, but it only works with Cyanogen Mod.
I have some questions:
If I set the connection to WCDMA only, then I'll have no signal at all in 2G areas, right?.
Does anyone know a quicker way to do this?. I tried to make a shortcut to ServiceMode with dg Quickcut but when I try to open it it crashed the phone.
Thanks in advance.
Whipon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as of right now, there is no "fix" for this. the best you COULD do is to flash Eugene's VibrantHybrid ROM where the "use 2g networks only" option does exist, but you'll lose GPS (for now)

Kaik541 said:
as of right now, there is no "fix" for this. the best you COULD do is to flash Eugene's VibrantHybrid ROM where the "use 2g networks only" option does exist, but you'll lose GPS (for now)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply Kaik541.
Does the signal strength improve with that rom?.
Currently I'm using I897UCJH7 from samfirmware.

Whipon said:
Thanks for the quick reply Kaik541.
Does the signal strength improve with that rom?.
Currently I'm using I897UCJH7 from samfirmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should revert back to JH3 if you're going to use Hybrid (I don't believe JH7 is compatible yet, there are some issues that cropped up with SRE, so it would be safer to do JH3, or even better JF6). I've seen slightly better reception and MUCH better battery life running Hybrid

Kaik541 said:
you should revert back to JH3 if you're going to use Hybrid (I don't believe JH7 is compatible yet, there are some issues that cropped up with SRE, so it would be safer to do JH3, or even better JF6). I've seen slightly better reception and MUCH better battery life running Hybrid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems it will be updated soon.
Maybe I'll give it a try.
Do you know if it removes the 850 band?.
I need it, because my carrier uses it for WCDMA.

Try this:
1. In the Market, download Any Cut. (This is a free app) 2. open Any Cut and choose New Shortcut 3. select Activity 4. Scroll down the list until you get to Phone Info 5. Select OK. (this will place the short cut on your homescreen) 6. Open the shortcut and scroll down until you see "Set Preferred Network Type" 7. Choose GSM only and you are set. This forces the phone to EGDE
I used this to force edge. Use google to download AnyCut, it doesn't exist on the market for the unknown reason
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I just discovered Juice Defender. One of its features is to set phone to 2G automatically (seems very configurable). I haven't really had a chance to test it, but thought I'd mention it to you anyway

DarkVasyaK said:
Try this:
1. In the Market, download Any Cut. (This is a free app) 2. open Any Cut and choose New Shortcut 3. select Activity 4. Scroll down the list until you get to Phone Info 5. Select OK. (this will place the short cut on your homescreen) 6. Open the shortcut and scroll down until you see "Set Preferred Network Type" 7. Choose GSM only and you are set. This forces the phone to EGDE
I used this to force edge. Use google to download AnyCut, it doesn't exist on the market for the unknown reason
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot. I use dg Quickcut for that.
But, I don't need to force EDGE, I need a way to force 3G .
The phone usually switchs to EDGE in 3G areas, and I need to change it back to 3G.
I've used your suggestion to make such shortcut, changed it to WCDMA only, clicked the Disable Radio button twice (because it didn't changed to 3G), and when it switched back to 3G, I changed back the network to GSM / CDMA auto.
What about WCDMA preferred?. Will it try to allways connect to 3G?.

can yall not just dial * # * # 4636 #*#* scroll to the bottom and chnage it there, just so happens i posted a how to earlier in the general section, works on stock ROMS afaik.
also GPS still works

Whipon said:
Thanks a lot. I use dg Quickcut for that.
But, I don't need to force EDGE, I need a way to force 3G .
The phone usually switchs to EDGE in 3G areas, and I need to change it back to 3G.
I've used your suggestion to make such shortcut, changed it to WCDMA only, clicked the Disable Radio button twice (because it didn't changed to 3G), and when it switched back to 3G, I changed back the network to GSM / CDMA auto.
What about WCDMA preferred?. Will it try to allways connect to 3G?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read my previous post.
it has a WCDMA preferred WDMA only (only uses 3g) and a bunch of others. read my post in general for a more detailed explanation.

Thanks a lot
xatrekak said:
can yall not just dial * # * # 4636 #*#* scroll to the bottom and chnage it there, just so happens i posted a how to earlier in the general section, works on stock ROMS afaik.
also GPS still works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but Mesasone pointed me to a great app in the market.
Its called Samservmode. It opens service mode without entering any codes.
Anyways, thanks for your help .

3g

I'm wondering if there is a way to set the phone to only use 3g and not hit edge. ATT has ran fiber to the towers where i live and the signals have jumped up about 30%. but for some reason since Edge hits 4-5 bars it jumpbs back and forth. 3g i can get 2-3 bars which is still faster than the 5 bars of edge. is there any way to set it to only use 3g?
Samsung Captivate
Rooted.
ota'd update 2.1update1
nothing else done or added as far as that.

In general your phone will ALWAYS try to grab 3G if the signal is stable enough to support the connection.
However, I know some people use this method to lock their phone to 2G until they manually tell it to switch to 3G, though I'm not sure if it will work in reverse since the phone will generally downgrade to next best as soon as it loses stable 3G, this might not BIND it to 3G, but I suppose it's worth a shot:
Use your phone dialer and dial in *#*#197328640#*#* Click [1] Debug Screen then [8] Phone Control then [4] UE State Control and choose [2] Change RAT to WCDMA. You might have to give it a minute or two to negotiate the connection.
This option isn't super practical though, you'll have to reenter it everytime you reboot, and if it works the way you want it to work you'll be stuck doing the same procedure to change it to GSM if your network drops below 3G quality. My suggestion is to leave it alone and hope that AT&T upgrades your 3G coverage to acceptable levels =/

[Q] phone conectivity stuck at H

Hi All,
I have a weird issue. My phone seems to be permantently stuck at "H" (HDSPA), it never switches back to 3G. Does anyone know what the problem could be?
It's sucking up my battery real fast.
I'm currently using a Generic Northamerican R3 rom. My phone is the X1a model.
Help would be much appreciated, thanks.
EDIT: I should also add that "Bands" option is set to Auto (both of them). If i play around i can get it to use Edge only, but thats not what i want. Id like it to work as it should, 3G when data is not being used, otherwise H.

download WMlonglife.cab n setting it..i forget the link..u can googling...

to the OP:
here's some info to let you figure out if you actually have a problem at all or not:
H(SDPA) is a data-extension of UMTS = 3G, E(DGE) is an extension of GSM/GPRS (always data, voice is either GSM or 3G). with band-setting, you just choose between gsm or 3g, if you get edge or hdspa for data depends on what your provider is delivering in that area.
standard behaviour with hdspa is to show the icon only if there's actually data transfered, if not it should show the 3g-icon. but some providers break that standard and will always let the phone show H.
so either you have one of those providers and are just complaining about the higher power-consumption of 3G compared to GSM. then normal power-saving measures come into play, search for them, there's a thread for it.
OR you don't have one of those providers, the symbol should fall back to 3G. this would mean you have constant data-transfer going on, causing higher power-consumption. if that's the case, remember what you installed and set to autostart (skype, irc-client, webradio... - web-stuff running in background)

[Q] How to prefer 4G over 3G

Here in Wichita, we finally got LTE, so when I got my HTC One, I was thrilled. Sure enough, on any given day, I get anywhere from 5MB to 15MB speed on 4G. On 3G though, even with full bars, I average between .05MB to sometimes all the way up to .5MB speed. Those speeds aren't new, and have nothing to do with my One. Had the same results on my old Evo3D, and E4GT. My question really is, is there some way that I can force the phone to prefer 4G instead of 3G? If my 3G signal is stronger, it uses that, even though the speeds are absolutely terrible.
I have gone in and changed the priority, but through the normal options, the only real choices I have are either Auto, or CDMA/LTE. I have used both options, and see no difference in behavior. Using the dialer menu, I can change it to LTE Only, but of course that makes it so I can't get phone calls.
I really wish there was a toggle to specify which network I want to run on. As it is, if it won't switch to 4G, my workaround is to turn the mobile data off through the toggle, wait a few seconds and turn it back on, then cross my fingers that it will choose to connect to the 4G network.

adarict said:
Here in Wichita, we finally got LTE, so when I got my HTC One, I was thrilled. Sure enough, on any given day, I get anywhere from 5MB to 15MB speed on 4G. On 3G though, even with full bars, I average between .05MB to sometimes all the way up to .5MB speed. Those speeds aren't new, and have nothing to do with my One. Had the same results on my old Evo3D, and E4GT. My question really is, is there some way that I can force the phone to prefer 4G instead of 3G? If my 3G signal is stronger, it uses that, even though the speeds are absolutely terrible.
I have gone in and changed the priority, but through the normal options, the only real choices I have are either Auto, or CDMA/LTE. I have used both options, and see no difference in behavior. Using the dialer menu, I can change it to LTE Only, but of course that makes it so I can't get phone calls.
I really wish there was a toggle to specify which network I want to run on. As it is, if it won't switch to 4G, my workaround is to turn the mobile data off through the toggle, wait a few seconds and turn it back on, then cross my fingers that it will choose to connect to the 4G network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*#*#4636#*#* and go to Phone Information. There you can set the radio mode. You can set it to LTE,CDMA. That will force LTE and give you 1X for voice calls, but if the LTE signal isn't strong enough it drops to 1X and not EVDO (3G).

I will give it a try now that I am on 4.3. I did that on 4.1 not long after release, and it did force 4g, but it prevented me from getting voice calls. I called my number from another phone, while I was just sitting at my home screen with no apps open, and the call never came through. Tried it multiple times from two areas of town to make sure. Anyway, it is worth trying again. Thanks.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4

Using 2G data on z3c

I'm still using stock 5.1.1 ROM, because I'm not clear whether I lose some functionality by rooting / unlocking the bootloader.
I like to use my phone in 2G data mode, that feels safer on my body than 3G and above - but this device considers 2G only mode to be calls and text only (i.e. data off!).... this seems crazy to me since data off is achieved more easily with the option just for that. Is there any way to have proper 2G data only mode?
So when I go into the data options I get the usual set of things, and 2G says "2G (voice and calls only)", then when I switch to this, data is actually turned off. When try to turn data on, I get a message saying I've got to switch data mode to be able to do this - data stays off until I choose "3G (preferred) / 2G". It seems like the software on my device is designed to turn data off when you choose 2G - very odd.
No updates are available when I check. I'd love to go to marshmallow, but I guess I've missed that until Sony release their tested version of it - that update might fix this issue.
Missing my rooted Samsung Galaxy S3 already! - recently bought second hand device.
Many thanks, Geoff

For me this used to work on kitkat (i can't remember on lollipop because i use concept 6.0.1):
in quick settings i'd turn off LTE and then in settings - mobile networks i'd set to 2G only. And afterwards by switching LTE on and off form quick settings phone would toggle from 2G and LTE. But since i didn't pay for 4G to my provider, my phone would toggle from 2G to 3G - just what i wanted.
I used to use 2G on my old Xperia P since it improved my battery life dramatically. I continued to use it on my Z3c while on kitkat, but it didn't affect my battery life so i stopped - hence I don't know if you can do this trick on lollipop.
Goog luck and I hope this helps.

I don't really understand you... I'm using 5.1.1 and if I switch to GSM only, ALL network stuff is using 2G - calls, texts, mobile data (little E letter right next to the signal icon). So... what's really a problem? Maybe I don't understand the context (I am not a fluent english speaker but I understand it pretty well) but please describe your problem more precisely
P.S.:
Rooting doesn't harm your device, your camera resolution won't change at all so don't worry
[Unlocking bootloader DOES harm your device (losing some DRM-related stuff) but there are plenty of other benefits from this AND you can revert the DRM changes.]

Wait, what ?
Are you seriously thinking that 3G(HSDPA) or 4G(LTE) is somehow more harmful to your body ?
That's ridiculous. The power levels used in 2G and 3G and 4G are all roughly the same and always below 250mW.

yes from discussion and reading research I feel there's a case for being cautious, that we've not had enough time to adjust to this technology - see for example http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=473209

Better start wearing tinfoil hats m8
(That's so esoteric I won't even bother responding. The power levels used are not even remotely high enough to cause cellular changes)

thanks for your message - I think you understand well, but your phone is giving different behaviour. I've added more description, in case that helps anyone

like I said, we each choose - and choose how much we look into it. Probably similar comments from people in the 60s to anyone questioning Aspestos. It's easy for either of us to generalise that it's OK or not, with examples from the past, but there's information out there that's looked into this and is thorough, including significant instances of phone engineers with brain tumors. We don't agree, let’s at least be respectful.

1) When 2G is working on 1800 MHz band (this happens especially if you live in a big city), the energy is more or less the same used by 3G technology.
Anyway this is not the point.
2) Are you sure your network operator has 2G data connection available? Is your firmware branded?
You don't lose DRM keys while you flash an unbranded firmware or you root the device with giefroot method.
Have a look at the general section

thanks for your reply - yes definitely there's a 2G connection, as I live in the countryside I end up on this quite a bit of the time, when in "3G/2G" mode.
I'm on a UK network called Tesco that uses the O2 network. Phone originally came from O2 (telefonica), but is now SIM unlocked. Behaviour was the same before and after unlock - no surprise as software the same. Build number is 23.4.A.1.264, kernel 3.4.0-perf-gbe52486 (September 17 2015)

Threads like the one you linked and statements like above just reek of not understanding how GSM and 2G/3G/4G actually works.
Stuff like
As 2G and 3G have different requirements, they also have different power consumption. It doesn't require much more than common logic to understand that since 3G needs to transfer more data during a short period of time, it would use more resources than 2G, which needs less during the same period.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is just wrong. It's all about modulation. MATH basically.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-shift_keying
Just check the last page of that thread and have someone who actually knows what he's talking about explain it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12163015&postcount=61
But whatever floats your boat m8.