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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 .
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!
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!!!!
Hey guys!
I bought a Moto X Dev Edition, XT1053 with the Tmobile rom i guess.
Thing is, when I got to preferred networks options, I only have "Automatic - 2G".
Automatic would be LTE/3G/2G. I do not have the "middle" option to toggle to 3G/2G, as most phones with LTE support do have.
Hence, either I have ALL bands or just 2G. The problem here is that in my country LTE is being deployed right now, so signal is really week on most places and having my Moto X in "Automatic" REALLY drains my battery. I have to use it with 2G and then switch to Automatic when i need it, which is really annoying. Basically, I really need the "3G" option that most phones have, which involves 3g or 2g depending on signal strenght.
Thing is, I need an app that would let me choose either if I really want the Auto mode (all bands, being 4G preferred) and also being able to choose 'WCDMA preferred', which is the mode my XT1053 is missing and also the mode I'm needing right now.
*#*#4636#*#* code doesn't work on my Moto X. Also I looked at PlayStore and there's a bunch of them, neither of them really generate trust on my, as they are old and receie really low opinions. I don't want to start messing around with apps and broke something here
I read on another forums that "Radio Switcher" works this out, but I saw screenshots of it (didn't actually tried it) and, aside being a really outdated app, it does have the "wcdma preferred" option but do not have the "auto" mode for all bands together (as I think some day I will use, when 4G signal becomes more strong in future).
Do you guys know a cool and updated app that would let me choose between "Auto" and also "WCDMA preferred" (the one missing in my phone) ??
Your help will be really appreciated.
Thanks so much!!!!
Well, I ended up installing Radio Switcher and for my surprise it works perfect!
If I want to use 3G preferred (the option the XT1053 stock doesn't have) I select "WCDMA preferred". If I want to use just 2G I choose "GSM only" and if I want to use the "Auto" option that my XT1053 have, I choose "LTE/gsm auto (PRL)" option.
So, I'm good now. The only problem is that Lollipop seems to have changed this hidden menu, and all these apps are outdated, so I might be in trouble again when I get Lolli in the near future.
I switch between 2G/3G networks often since a 2G connection is quite network efficient.
So I want to save the hassle of navigating to the preferred network option in Settings.
Not sure if I would like to root my phone for the same.
Thanks
purezen said:
I switch between 2G/3G networks often since a 2G connection is quite network efficient.
So I want to save the hassle of navigating to the preferred network option in Settings.
Not sure if I would like to root my phone for the same.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just dial *#*#4636#*#* you can manually switch your network
AEX has this feature
How does this work?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/widget-toggle-network-type-5-0-xda-t2945406