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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Related
Does someone know how to disable UMTS for the Trinity?
I've searched on the forum but I couldn't find any good solutions
Settings -> Personal -> Phone -> Band -> Select your network type -> GSM.
Try this...
http://commmgrpro.com/_wsn/page3.html
bonisalive said:
Try this...
http://commmgrpro.com/_wsn/page3.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use this Bandwith app also. However, if you really want to turn off HSDPA and leave on 3G permanently you can use the app on this page called HTweakC http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_Registry
I turn off HSDPA because it blocks incoming calls (my carrier's problem). I can receive calls normally with 3G.
Thank you for that Band Tool. I'm a little confused by something, though. Does it save battery life to disable UMTS? I don't need any 3G functionality at all currently, so does it make battery sense to disable UMTS?
Thanks very much.
WilliamG said:
Thank you for that Band Tool. I'm a little confused by something, though. Does it save battery life to disable UMTS? I don't need any 3G functionality at all currently, so does it make battery sense to disable UMTS?
Thanks very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beleive that it will. UTMS drains the battery quicker as the phone searches for cells more frequently than it does on GSM
korben said:
I beleive that it will. UTMS drains the battery quicker as the phone searches for cells more frequently than it does on GSM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Is there a way to make the Band Tool work every time you turn the phone on? If I turn my phone off and on, the tool resets and I'm back to 3G mode.
Thanks again.
Check out Trinityhacks...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=300783&highlight=trinityhacks
korben said:
Check out Trinityhacks...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=300783&highlight=trinityhacks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for the reply. I installed TrinityHacks, but it's a little confusing with the whole band selection. I see auto, or GSM+UMTS selections. I don't see a GSM without UMTS. Did I miss something?
Bandswitch settings should persist through a soft reset- mine certainly do. Make sure you leave anough time for the registry changes to save before exiting the program, or doing a soft reset.
UMTS typically uses 3x the current that GSM uses as 3G is a much weaker signal. so the gain needs to be much higher. And in marginal reception areas, the constant hunting between bands further hits the battery
NeilM said:
Bandswitch settings should persist through a soft reset- mine certainly do. Make sure you leave anough time for the registry changes to save before exiting the program, or doing a soft reset.
UMTS typically uses 3x the current that GSM uses as 3G is a much weaker signal. so the gain needs to be much higher. And in marginal reception areas, the constant hunting between bands further hits the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I find it all bit a confusing! Gah! I uninstalled that Band Utility, and installed the Trinity Hacks. Not sure what setting to use to make sure it's 2G. Am I correct in assuming that G at the top of the screen means 2G, and 3G = 3G?
Yes
G=GSM; 3G or U = UMTS; H= HSDPA, (but only shows during data exchange)
Ah ok thanks for that! I think something got messed up, because before it would say 3G at the top of the screen, and my network was identified as UMTS Vodafone. Then I installed that Band Utility and switched to GSM only. Then I uninstalled that Band utility while I was on GSM only. So now I'm stuck on GSM, even when switching UMTS on in the Trinity Hack program. I'm so confused now.
Have you tried Phone/Menu/Options/Band and setting the top box to Auto?
NeilM said:
Have you tried Phone/Menu/Options/Band and setting the top box to Auto?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's on Auto right now. I don't even see the *specific* GSM-only setting. Maybe Trinity Hacks doesn't have this feature?
*AH I got it*. I reinstalled Band Switch, put it back to Auto (so 3G worked again), and then uninstalled it. Trinity Hacks now works!
Thanks for the help!
Ok, first off my Vibrant has flat out awful reception.. fluctuates randomly between 4 bars and 0 bars on 3g and sometimes cant get more than 1 bar 3g in the middle of an HSPA+ city(Memphis). Its not a bar display problem, sometimes my speedtest shows download speeds as low as 150kbps. If that wasnt bad enough it takes forever to switch between 3g and edge, by forever I mean sometimes a full 60 seconds+ and if Im running a data using program (Pandora for instance) it sometimes refuses to switch at all... Is this a known issue or is it just my phone?? I know my G1 did not have these issues.
Try doing a master reset on your device.
If the master reset dosen't work, you might reflash the full stock rom from the android dev section. There's alot of people that have been reporting substantial increases in their reception and connection speeds.
And if you think it takes a long time to switch b/t 3g and edge, you ought to try owning an evo for a month. It takes FOREVA to switch the 4g radio on and off, at least 3 min for me, takes about that long to turn it on after a reset too.
Just because you're in a HSPA+ city doesn't mean you're on the HSPA+ network.
If you're having problems with it aquiring the 3G network try a new sim.
The G1 has mediocre reception but it is aided by the fact that the antenna is at the top and not the bottom like all other phones.
Bump,
I am actually having this problem too, I have tried a factory reset, I also tried reflashing the T-Mobile stock fimware, but it has not helped. I have good 3g and edge reception where I live.
Oh yeah, I am using ATT on the vibrant.
When this happens (ie. not switching between network or slow switch time), you can trigger airplane mode and then undo it and the phone will pick up the right network or switch network faster. For example, if use 2g network is checked, it will enter Edge, etc.
I see exactly what you guys are talking about, locking it on 3G will fix this right up. I was driving down the freeway and I KNOW I was passing 3G towers, but the Vibrant stayed on EDGE for way too long. I locked it on 3G and I never lost the signal and it was 4 bars for nearly all of the trip so I know 3G was there, it just wasn't switching back fast enough.
Looking under the Samsung debug mode, the Vibrant will hold onto 3G until -115 Recieve power, which is basically -115dBm under the Android network menu. Of course over -101 RSCP, it will show 0 bars so it's hard to know when reception is acutally really bad.
It should show -0 bars at -113dBm, 1 bar until -101dBm, 2 bars until -89dBm, 3 bars until -79dBm, and 4 bars until -51dBm.
just disable the extra frequencies from service menu and it will be super quick.
I'll try that, at any rate it should be remedied by Samsung.
mohitmoudgil said:
just disable the extra frequencies from service menu and it will be super quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about locking it to 3g or something else?
ttabbal said:
Are you talking about locking it to 3g or something else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure hes talking about only having it on 1900/1700 (combi bands)
pyun said:
If the master reset dosen't work, you might reflash the full stock rom from the android dev section. There's alot of people that have been reporting substantial increases in their reception and connection speeds.
And if you think it takes a long time to switch b/t 3g and edge, you ought to try owning an evo for a month. It takes FOREVA to switch the 4g radio on and off, at least 3 min for me, takes about that long to turn it on after a reset too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it matter if you flash from nandroid backup or oden?
heygrl said:
I'm pretty sure hes talking about only having it on 1900/1700 (combi bands)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an unintuitive user interface. sheesh.
Looking at Wikipedia, it looks like TMO uses 1700/2100 WCDMA and 850/1900 GSM (2G/EDGE). There's also a WCDMA 1900, but according to what I'm reading, TMO doesn't use WCDMA signaling on 1900, just GSM/EDGE.
To try it, go to the service menu using the steps for 3G locking and select 1700 only instead of WCDMA ALL. Then go back using menu/back (not the back button) twice and go to Combi Bands and select WCDMA 2100. That should enable just 1700/2100 WCDMA 3G service. Turning on PCS 1900 does seem to get me an EDGE connection. Enabling GSM 850 ONLY gives me emergency calls only, so it might be worth keeping on for 911 calls. 850 goes further so it might have service when the others don't.
I don't get 3G service in my basement, for example, so I would like to keep EDGE enabled. Hopefully enabling just the bands that I would use will help keep the search times down.
JasonCook said:
Does it matter if you flash from nandroid backup or oden?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To really get a full re-flash, you need Odin right now. It should be possible to do it without Odin now, but I don't know if anyone has put together a stock ROM that way yet.
I didn't see any difference in speed/stability with the stock Odin flash, but others might have. It seems to depend on the network more than the local stuff.
Band IV 1700 includes 2100Mhz so you don't have to enable it. From what I can tell, no.. combi-bands doesn't do much for the slow 3G requisition. I'm just going to lock it on 3G when I'm not at home.
PaiPiePia said:
When this happens (ie. not switching between network or slow switch time), you can trigger airplane mode and then undo it and the phone will pick up the right network or switch network faster. For example, if use 2g network is checked, it will enter Edge, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This didn't work for me. I would do this, and it would only work changing from 3G to EDGE. But, from when I would put it on use 3g, it would first change from airplane mode to EDGE, then take around 1 min to change to 3G.
mohitmoudgil said:
just disable the extra frequencies from service menu and it will be super quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I disable the frequencies? I can only seem to enable them.
HI all!
Right now I am using [Build][10.12.2010][NexusHD2-FRG83D V1.8 PPP+RMNET][Kernel: hastarin r8.5.3_oldcam] and that is quite ok for me.
However I havent found anywhere on that build an option to disable HDSPA speed.
What I would like is accept 3G but disable HSPDA. Now I only have a change to disable 3G totally and only get 2G. Basicly area where I live is keeping me a situation that phone is very often trying to connect HSPDA but then changes is 3G speed. It causes me time&battery drain.
I have found a solution to force phone only use 3G but that is what I wanted. 2G and 3G are ok but I want to disable HSPDA.
Anybody could help me?
Up, Up... anybody have same kind of need?
i also need same help regarding this, reason is my data plan only use 3g (umts) and not 3.5g (hsdpa)... but my android always switch 3g to hsdpa back and forth and drain battery much faster
is there any tweak/program/widget/application that can enable 3g (umts) only?
windows doenst have this problem cause in winmo i can switch the option easily (enable/disable hspa)... but android dont have this kind of thing
I have the same problem. I don't even have HSPDA where I live, yet it tries to connect, fails, and then connects to 3G. It's a very time consuming processor to wait for the phone to do this when I am just trying to load a website.
Yes.. maybe it will not drain much memory but.. who wouldn't want a fast internet..
Afaik Hsdpa uses the same radio towers (or whatever the name is) as Umts... just different software. so there should be no battery drain caused by this.
This mite help you
1. Go to your dialer
2. Dial *#*#INFO#*#*
3. Click 'Phone information'
4. Scroll down to the first dropdown selection and set according to your preference below...
For simplicity, there are two main types of cell carriers, GSM and CDMA.
The following popular data communication technology is associated with each cell carrier type:
GSM = GPRS (2g), EDGE(2g), UMTS(3g), WCDMA(3g), HSDPA(3g) {Cell Carrier examples: AT&T and T-Mobile}
CDMA = CDMA*(2/3g) EV-DO(3g) WiMax(3/4g) {Cell Carrier examples: Verizon and Sprint}
Now that the general stuff is out of the way, here's my take on the Preferred Network types:
WCDMA preferred - The GSM phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 3G is favored more.
GSM only - The GSM phone is capable of using only 2G data communication. When the 2G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
WCDMA only - The GSM phone is capable of using only 3G data communication. When the 3G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
GSM auto (PRL) - The GSM phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more. This one is a bit confusing to me since PRL is associated mostly with CDMA technology and not GSM technology.
CDMA auto (PRL) - The CDMA phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more.
CDMA only - The CDMA phone is capable of using only 2G data communication. When the 2G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
EvDo only - The CDMA phone is capable of using only 3G data communication. When the 3G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) - Some phones are equipped with both GSM and CDMA capabilities. This setting appears to just have the phone attempt to stay connected to the data communication type that works the best. (Maybe the Samsung Galaxy S will take advantage of this???)
Unknown - If none of the above fit or the phone is acting weird as far as connecting to the carrier, you will see your preferred network type is set to this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source http://www.google.ie/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6a327a95211ac789&hl=en
domenukk said:
Afaik Hsdpa uses the same radio towers (or whatever the name is) as Umts... just different software. so there should be no battery drain caused by this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uhh... maybe you dont catch what us mean....
when umts change to hspda (icon change from 3g to H) then it use battery power.. in my case i use 3g (umts and not 3.5g or hspda )data plan only... but android keep searching hspda signal and THIS is when battery used the most (the process) and EVEN when my area have 3.5g covered but because i use 3g only data plan... then the back and forth process (3g<->H) will kep coming and rdrain my battery fast
so... we look for any kind of workaround so our android keep stay in 3g (umts) and not drain any unnecessary battery power searching for hspda
btw sorry for my english
agarp said:
This mite help you
1. Go to your dialer
2. Dial *#*#INFO#*#*
3. Click 'Phone information'
4. Scroll down to the first dropdown selection and set according to your preference below...
Source http://www.google.ie/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6a327a95211ac789&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use this thing before and no luck
i use "wcdma only" as the option and android still process 3g and 3.5 back and forth, maybe android "thinks" 3g/umts and 3.5/hspda as the same?? android categorize umts and hspda as one big fat 3G network
i wonder why newer os like android doesnt have this kind of feature in winmo there is an option :
disable hspa = so hspda disabled.. AKA 2G or UMTS only
enable hspa = enabled hspda, hspa, hsupa etc.. AKA 2G, UMTS and HSPDA
try this settings
CDMA auto (PRL) - The CDMA phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more.
agarp said:
try this settings
CDMA auto (PRL) - The CDMA phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
isnt cdma auto (prl) used exclusively for cdma phones? (those phones with evdo and wimax thing) and not used for our hd2 (GSM)???
C'mon how this is impossible with newer phone software??
This feature has been in WinMo and Symbian in many years!!
It is really frustrating that almost every time my phone is trying to make HSPDA connect and then decide 3G is enough and possible. It causes some delay and sometimes also timed out errors.
agreed
my android keep going back and forth between umts 3G and hspda 3.5G like some clueless kid while 2 experienced guy (symbian & winmo) laugh at him
i know this is a old topic
i have still this issue
my phone is switching to hsdpa an back to 3g after a few seconds
when the phone is connected to my slow wifi connection everything works fine and i can use it for 3 day's
when it is connected to hsdpa my battery is empty after 15 hours and the voip connection is not working properly (i need to start a ping to some server first to keep the connection alive so i can call with voip)
I just came upon this thread, but I don't have this problem, so I can't really test it out this theory. But my thought was, what if you just went into the build.prop file and edited the ro.ril.hsxpa.category settting from ro.ril.hsxpa.category=2 to ro.ril.hsxpa.category=0. I just tested it out and it never jumped from 3g to H. My only concern is that you wouln't get the fastest speed you could be getting. Test it out and let me know though.
at this moment it is not posible to root my phone (SE Xperia pro with latest firmware)
so i am afraid we need to wait to test this
but thanks for the hint
So when I got my Mytouch 4g I realized the default radio is set to GSM only, however with my stock Nexus One it is set to WCDMA preferred.
I've been using my MT4G for about a month now, two weeks with it on GSM Only and another two weeks with it on WCDMA preferred.
I've noticed that while on GSM only it tends to prefer edge instead of 3g or HSDPA+ and find it very annoying because it does it in places where I know i hit HSDPA+.
When I set it to WCDMA preferred i've noticed that it sticks to 3g/hsdpa+ a lot more often and it's stable, except for in the market. A lot of the times when i go into the market while in wcdma preferred it times out and tells me theres no connection or something like that.
Can anyone tell me which network type is best for this phone? Or maybe explain them a little bit? I just find it odd that my Nexus One and my Mytouch 4g have different defaults if they're both on the same carrier
its prob just the setting it was on when the phone was out the box. when i got mine, it was set on auto. "gsm only" will NOT allow you to connect to 3G or hsdpa+! gsm is edge and gprs! if you want it to chose between the two then AUTO is the way to go. it will prob pick wcdma first and then only jump down to gsm when the wcdma signal is weak or non-existent. i prefer mine on wcdma all the time too. i havent had any issues with the market as of yet. you might want to try to clear the data and cache in market and see if that helps. when mine is on auto it 99% of the time stays on wcdma until the signal gets weak and then auto switches to gsm/edge. the only reason i dont keep mine on auto is because when its on auto and i receive a phone call, i dont get data(the H or E disappears while on call, then pick back up when i end the call) and i need to have data going in and out while on the phone to get emails from school and my job so therefore i leave it on wcdma only
Thats pretty much correct. GSM only means 2g only. Wcdma only means 3g only. So if you dont have a 3g sig. You have no sig. Wcdma prefered/auto means that it will stay on 3g untill the signal becomes low and switches to 2g. When it finds a good 3g signal again it will switch back to 3g.
If you hav it on auto, when your on a call it stays on 3g until it gets low then switches to 2g to keep the call alive. But it does NOT switch back to 3G untill you hang up.
I usually keep mine on wcdma only because i have good 3g where i live and i hate when it switches to 2g during a call because i personally can notice a sound quality difference and i alao like to be able to use internet in call if i need it
I'm having some problems with my G2 - I don't have good 3G coverage especially inside and my phone keeps dropping calls when on 3G. It seems the software doesn't reconnect that fast and doesn't switch to 2G when the 3G signal is too low. Is there any way to change the preferred network and stop the device being so agressive at keeping 3G connection?
Settings/networks/tethering & networks/mobile networks/network mode/GSM only.
I already know that. It is the most unhelpful advice to give. I have to constantly go into settings and change that? No way. It isn't in the notification toggles which is really odd. Any idea how to add it? I feel my G2 has some radio issues.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
axlastro said:
I already know that. It is the most unhelpful advice to give. I have to constantly go into settings and change that? No way. It isn't in the notification toggles which is really odd. Any idea how to add it? I feel my G2 has some radio issues.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you're going to be like that then there's no wonder why there aren't a stream of responses on here with people trying to help you out.
Just remember, you're the one with the problem, so you may want to be a little nicer to those that try to give you help.
I'm sorry about that, but there wasn't a stream of responses in the first place. He was just stating the obvious, and the obvious is that the G2 doesn,t have a shortcut to switch between 2g and 3g. I'm just trying to figure out a way to do that, but all the apps that claim to do that and they are too many of them, just don't work. I'm thankful for any help, don't get me wrong.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
axlastro said:
I'm sorry about that, but there wasn't a stream of responses in the first place. He was just stating the obvious, and the obvious is that the G2 doesn,t have a shortcut to switch between 2g and 3g. I'm just trying to figure out a way to do that, but all the apps that claim to do that and they are too many of them, just don't work. I'm thankful for any help, don't get me wrong.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a solution as simple as hitting a switch, but you can try the following:
Go into your Dialer and tap in *#*#4636#*#*
This will take you into the Testing Menu
Select 'Phone Information'
Then about half way down you will have a drop down where you can "Set preferred network type:"
This will allow you to choose whether to use 2G or 3G, but more important to your case you can choose how it will react if signal strength is low.
You probably want to select something like "GSM auto (PRL)"
Bare in mind though that this option will reset itself back to original setting each time you reboot the device.
Now I don't know if this will solve your problem, but it is worth testing out.
Here's a list detailing the main available options:
WCDMA preferred - The GSM phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 3G is favored more.
GSM only - The GSM phone is capable of using only 2G data communication. When the 2G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
WCDMA only - The GSM phone is capable of using only 3G data communication. When the 3G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
GSM auto (PRL) - The GSM phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more.
CDMA auto (PRL) - The CDMA phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more.
CDMA only - The CDMA phone is capable of using only 2G data communication. When the 2G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
EvDo only - The CDMA phone is capable of using only 3G data communication. When the 3G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) - Some phones are equipped with both GSM and CDMA capabilities. This setting appears to just have the phone attempt to stay connected to the data communication type that works the best.
Unknown - If none of the above fit or the phone is acting weird as far as connecting to the carrier, you will see your preferred network type is set to this
Wnderful setting.. amazing speed... performance of handset increased like rocket..
Thanks a lot...
Hi,
After dialing *#*#4636#*#*, it shows up the menu.
But i am not able to select Phone Information option. It says "This application does not work on this device".
Phone info: LG G2 D802 - Rooted - PowerG2 2.1 ROM.
I face frequent network signal drop, I tried CloudyG2 ROM also.
Thanks !