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How to set treshold for automatic switching between WCDMA and GSM?

greeting from Czech republic, can u help me fix this problem pls?
When i use my Universal at home, there is pretty low level of UMTS/WCDMA signal and full level of standard GSM signal. By default Universal changes between those two sources automaticaly. But in my case, the quality of WCDMA signal is often varying just around critical level. So the result is that Universal changes band to GSM and back. And then again. And again. And... Due this, there is sometimes not possible to make data connection, because Uni is so much occupied by changing bands back and forth...
I would like to find a better solution, than select only GSM manually in phone settings. Especially because i have to unselect it manually every time when leaving home :-(
Is there any way to set treshold value (i expect increase it) for automatic switching between WCDMA and GSM?
Thnx a lot,
BTW: i am using I-Mate 1.90.94WWE with 1.11.00 radio version.
Tomas

nothing?
any ideas or hints?

mikrotom said:
any ideas or hints?
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Greetings,
Go to Settings, click on Phone in the personal settings, then select Band.
In the Select your network type, click the dropdown and select GSM.
Should do the trick
Mav

As i write, I would like to find a better solution, than select only GSM manually in phone settings. Especially because i have to unselect it manually every time when leaving home :-(

Not that I know of.
But you or maybe someone can write an Apps to do so. But maybe difficult.

Yeah I often had the same problem. Switched WCDMA off completely to get rid of it, but indeed it would be nice to be able to use it automatically if it was available at a usable strength.
But then in my case, the UMTS speed and GPRS speed does not differ much anyway. UMTS is capped at 64kbs in my subscription.

For me, UMTS is much faster than GPRS.
But only switch manually to UMTS when needed. Most time, to save battery, I am on GSM/GPRS mode.

UMTS is capped at 64kbs in my subscription.
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man that sucks :-(

r3bel said:
man that sucks :-(
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It's enough for me. I've got a flat fee internet connection for 10 euro a month with T-Mobile. If I want more speed I'd have to pay 20 euro (192 Kbs), 40 euro (384Kbs) or even 70 euro (1.8Mbs). I was amazed I could get unlimited traffic for that amount. Before that I paid 5 euro a month for 1MB with Vodaphone. Not even enough to check my mail!

Forcing 3G/HSPA on HD2?

Hello xda-developers.com,
I was wandering if it is possible to force my HD2 (running Windows Mobile 6.5) to only accept a data connection if it is 3G/HSPA instead of the normal GSM . Where I live, the connection is poor, although even when it has zero bars of reception, the connection is good and fast response through websites (latency is low on the mobile speed test).
Even though the phone thinks it's poor reception and thus switches to GSM, is there a way to block GSM and only accept a 3G/HSPA connection?
Thanks for any help,
Thazandril.
EDIT: GSM/GPRS I don't know which one it is, it just has a big G as the connection symbol, and it's terribly slow.

in my phone settings->phone->band
select your gsm/umts band.
I can choose
UMTS
and it only use 3g/hspa

Rudegar said:
in my phone settings->phone->band
select your gsm/umts band.
I can choose
UMTS
and it only use 3g/hspa
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Click to collapse
Hi Rudegar,
Thank you for the fast response, however, I cannot seem to find that option anywhere in my settings. I've checked the 'connections' but can't find anything that sounds like what you have mentioned in your post.

Rudegar said:
in my phone settings->phone->band
select your gsm/umts band.
I can choose
UMTS
and it only use 3g/hspa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to Settings -> Menu, All Settings -> Personal -> Phone
That will take you to the right area, then just have a look through those options.

Thanks a lot, cheers for the help, have a good one!

Any way to lock onto 3g only and not hsdpa

I was wondering if there is a way to lock onto ONLY umts and not hsdpa? It can sometimes take forever to load web pages because it is constantly searching for hsdpa. I am also wondering if you might be able to get better battery life this way as well?

I don't think battery life is going to be different since it's still technically a 3G connection. But if it is really searching for HSDPA a lot then it -may- make a difference.
Are you on T-Mobile? It seems that I'm on HSDPA at all the times, pretty much.

switching between 3g and HSDPA is not the same as switching between EDGE and 3G
As the poster above says 3G and HSDPA are basically the same technology using the same frequencies so would not make much difference to battery life.
Dont forget that on the stock rom it always displays 3g anyway so you cant see if you are using HSDPA or not.
Also this phenomenon seems to vary as to what network you are on, mine mostly stays on H anyway.
From memory the early 3g handsets that did not support HSDPA topped out at about 300kbps, not sure if that translates to the 3g symbol not the n1 though. not sure if thats what you would want, as its not much faster than EDGE anyway? so you might as well force EDGE only and save battery life

changing bands 3g only
yes this is possible. Go to your phone dialer and enter the following: *#*#4636#*# .you will go to another screen, select phone, scroll down and there is a drop down box that shoud say wcdma preferred. Select wcdma only and that should give you 3g connectivity only. You can change back or select other settings from this screen. You can choose what works best for you in your area. It should slightly improve battery life, since it is no longer looking for other connections. If you have poor 3g service in your area, then you probably do not want to select wcdma only. I hope this helps. I have done this on my rooted n1 and a non rooted n1. As long as you only change this one one setting it shoud not harm your phone.

Gonz7711 said:
yes this is possible. Go to your phone dialer and enter the following: *#*#4636#*# .you will go to another screen, select phone, scroll down and there is a drop down box that shoud say wcdma preferred. Select wcdma only and that should give you 3g connectivity only. You can change back or select other settings from this screen. You can choose what works best for you in your area. It should slightly improve battery life, since it is no longer looking for other connections. If you have poor 3g service in your area, then you probably do not want to select wcdma only. I hope this helps. I have done this on my rooted n1 and a non rooted n1. As long as you only change this one one setting it shoud not harm your phone.
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Good answer, but totally NOT what the OP was asking. He wants to know if there's a way to lock the phone to UMTS and not HSDPA... the answer to that is NO... because both are 3G, as someone else already alluded to.

How to Disable 3G?

Does anyone know how to turn of 3G as its sucking my phone dry and it lasts for less than a day. i installed a cab file and now i no longer get the 3g connection in the manager. Is there another way to disable it as i can see it switching between the networks and 3g is on and off like crazy.

U should really considering searching before u ask something like that
going to phone>menu>options>band is the same as going to settings>phone>band.

i checked the options in connection manager and advanced but never saw anything which said 3G, is it a band setting i need to change instead, if so what is the band setting to not use 3G?

A|ex said:
i checked the options in connection manager and advanced but never saw anything which said 3G, is it a band setting i need to change instead, if so what is the band setting to not use 3G?
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Click to collapse
WCDMA = 3G. So just set network type to "GSM" instead of "Automatic".

kilrah said:
WCDMA = 3G. So just set network type to "GSM" instead of "Automatic".
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Click to collapse
thanks this worked a treat!

Improving battery life

Has anyone tried this on Nexus One?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=670999
"GSM auto (PRL)" works on AT&T Nexus, I don't know if it improves the battery life over "WCDMA preferred"
***EDIT***
Looks like this process works by improving battery life when phone is idle. Here are the instructions from the first original post.
1) Goto dialer and dial *#*#4636#*#* (DO NOT press send)
wait a second and you will get the test menu.
2) In the test menu choose 'Phone Information'
3) scroll down and choose on the first drop down - GSM auto (PRL) (for high speed data) or GSM only (You may get 3g if not use GSM auto (PRL)) Don't know what PRL means, but GSM auto (PRL) allows High speed data HSDPA (it was previously on GSM/CDMA auto(PRL) I think.)
4) Back all the way out.
5) You might want to reboot, but I found the settings worked straight away.
Edit 3 - I don't take any responsibility for step 6 -
6) Try other settings on the dropdown if you are brave as I don't know the consequencies of using settings like "EvDo only" and "unknown" as they may be better depending on the way your provider provides information.
Edit 4 - can't seem to select the other settings like EvDo and unkown anyway.
Edit 3 - TBH - GSM auto (PRL) is working for me with HSDPA and I will try (PRL) instead of GSM auto (PRL) <- edit - previously it mistakenly said GSM only the CDMA and WCDMA settings later to see what other effects there are.
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Results for HTC Hero:
Your results will vary depending on the rom, but it should improve battery performance - some have had better results than me using this.
GSM only <---- If you don't get 3g with this it is the same as 2g setting then use GSM auto (PRL) if you want faster than 2g (as some people are getting 3g on GSM only - I will investigate. (if you don't use internet or don't need fast internet)
5½ Hrs - lost 5% Battery - This one is same as running 2g as you don't get HSDPA, but using Opera browser makes browsing fast even using this. If you want Higher speed data use the one below.
GSM auto (PRL) <---- Recommended if you want High speed Internet and save battery
1:40am to 2:00pm (12hrs 20 mins) - lost 40% battery with moderate use a bit of surfing at HSDPA speeds, a few calls and messing with a few apps. Other people have had even better results than me though, so I might change my rom and try again. (I would usually about this amount of time I would have lost about 70-75% - and yes it was that ridiculous - I had to find something to stop this).
" WCDMA Only"
2:06pm to 11:37pm - (9hrs 31mins) lost 46% battery again moderate use and a reboot
This one might be useful if you live in a place that has low GSM signal like the chap in post #10 as it does give HSDPA - but this is only a suggestion as I cannot test it in Iceland. Anyway
" WCDMA preferred"
6:02am to 2:51pm - (8hr 49mins) lost 41% battery this time with less use that the WCDMA use and no reboots.
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I'll give it a try

i read the first page, what exactly does "PRL" stand for? and isnt this just using GSM-only? how is it able to use gsm but then switch to HSDPA (3g) for data? i didnt think that was possible.

I have been doing that for a long time and I'm pretty sure it helps...
Just set it to WCDMA only and you are all set...

well I think this really might help. I changed it to gsm auto (PRL) and my phone still uses 3g and my battery only dropped 2% in an hour and 10 min. went from 86 to 84% which it used to drop like 6% in That same time period.
I have to do more testing though to really know for sure.

mine was on WCDMA preferred....will i lose anything by switching to GSM AUTO (PRL)?

Giving this a whirl. When I'm at home and at work I'm on wifi which, combined, is like 90% of the time the phone is running so not sure how much it will affect me, but lets see
Jim

mine was on WCDMA preferred....will i lose anything by switching to GSM AUTO (PRL)?
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you won't lose anything from my testing so far. full 3g still works and my data speeds are over 1.5 Mbps.
my theory is that this stops our phone from constantly searching for a roaming partner/network. if true ATT has no roaming agreements so who cares.

RogerPodacter said:
you won't lose anything from my testing so far. full 3g still works and my data speeds are over 1.5 Mbps.
my theory is that this stops our phone from constantly searching for a roaming partner/network. if true ATT has no roaming agreements so who cares.
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it seemed to not allow me to download anything from the app market
edit: it just takes a long time now

apolloms said:
it seemed to not allow me to download anything from the app market
edit: it just takes a long time now
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Click to collapse
I had that problem too but i wasnt sure if it was just where i was

Just set to GSM AUTO (PRL) and reboot.
I downloaded two apps from the market and both downloaded faster than usual. Also the browser seems to load faster.
I'll report back with battery data.

It may be that this saves battery by using the PRL acquisition and system tables for allowed frequency + system lists, thus stopping the phone from searching all the time.
I've not had it on this setting very long so I can't really tell yet, but it looks encouraging so far...

i still am testing, but i have definitely noticed a MAJOR improvement so far. for example this morning my phoen has been off the charger for 4 hours, and i'm still above 90%. on normal days, my phone would have dropped much more than this.
and the battery voltage seems to be staying constant too. for example my batter was at 4040 mV, and i checked an hour later, and it was still at 4040 mV. this NEVER happened before, it would always drop some amount.
is it possible that this entire time our phones have been actively searching and updating the roaming list, but with this setting now its just locked on the home network and not searching anymore?

RogerPodacter said:
i still am testing, but i have definitely noticed a MAJOR improvement so far.
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I can confirm that. My phone seems to use much less power while in standby mode and it just dropped from 99% to 89% in 7 hrs, with auto synching of Gmail, Facebook and other stuff, while in the last days I could experience drops of 10% in about 1.5/2 hrs. I'll keep testing this mode and will post back if I'll have something interesting to share
Thanks for sharing the trick mate!

Drakknar said:
I can confirm that. My phone seems to use much less power while in standby mode and it just dropped from 99% to 89% in 7 hrs, with auto synching of Gmail, Facebook and other stuff, while in the last days I could experience drops of 10% in about 1.5/2 hrs. I'll keep testing this mode and will post back if I'll have something interesting to share
Thanks for sharing the trick mate!
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exactly my usage pattern, and my battery used to drop the same amount as you.
i used to kill 10% in an hour EASILY, sometimes more if i used the phone hear and there. but now with this setting, i'm now at 7.5 hours, and way more than half battery left still. on normal days my battery would be dead in 6 hours sometimes. huge improvement.

I am not with a GSM carrier. Would I click CDMA?

Macmee said:
I am not with a GSM carrier. Would I click CDMA?
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i think the other thread said for CDMA users, you pick CDMA Auto (PRL). you should probably read the linked thread to be sure.

Macmee said:
I am not with a GSM carrier. Would I click CDMA?
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I didn't think there was a CDMA version of the Nexus out, just the two GSM versions.

well the CDMA option didn't do anything and gave me no service sadly.

Macmee said:
well the CDMA option didn't do anything and gave me no service sadly.
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Well, that's because you aren't on a CDMA carrier then. I checked and the Nexus One only comes in GSM. If this is a Nexus One you have, then you are have a GSM version, and are on a GSM carrier.
Um, surprise!