Database Users

Idea: 3G/EDGE Auto Switcher

Hey guys, I'm by no means an Android developer, so I could never make my idea a reality. But do you guys think this would be possible?
THE IDEA:
A small program that runs in the background, switching the network between HSDPA and EDGE. It would default to EDGE while idling, but activate HSDPA when a user-defined program is run (such as Opera, google maps, marketplace, etc). This way, you can idle on EDGE (and save power), but still have the speed of HSDPA when you need it!
I have no idea if this is even remotely possible so please don't flame the noob

I don't know if you searched the forums...but this was 4 threads down from yours. Don't know if it answers your application or what not...also try out Juice Defender
EDIT: oh hi from OCN

bloke226 said:
I don't know if you searched the forums...but this was 4 threads down from yours. Don't know if it answers your application or what not...also try out Juice Defender
EDIT: oh hi from OCN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea already tried it But I still have the OCN mentality of "the pursuit of performance".. in this case, the pursuit of battery performance
Juice Defender does not switch between EDGE/3G based on the applications you're running AFAIK

I kinda had the same idea as you so last week I created a topic on the Nexus One Themes and Apps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=678227
Feel free to join the discussion

I believe 3g uses less power while idling than edge
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

r34p3rex said:
Yea already tried it But I still have the OCN mentality of "the pursuit of performance".. in this case, the pursuit of battery performance
Juice Defender does not switch between EDGE/3G based on the applications you're running AFAIK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya about the performance. I guess I read your post too quick and missed the part where it would be application based. I can't think of anything on the top of my head that can do that, it would be difficult I would imagine...

I think there are a couple problems here
1) the "context switch" (if you will) from Edge to 3G and back devours battery
2) its slow, so you grab your idling phone to figure out the nearest Starbucks and you miss your exit while it jumps from Edge to 3G

I know on the google api it isn't possible to do this, but I don't think that isn't the problem.
At the moment you have 3 options. GSM only, WCDMA only and GSM/WCDMA. Whenever you switch between the 3 of them, the phone will lose signal for 10 seconds before it can find the best network. So the switcher here is not the best as you will lose connection, and what if you are downloading something at the same time...
What you need is when the phone is on GSM/WCDMA that it knows the best network to pick from depending on the phones lifecycle. GSM/WCDMA loses battery power because it always tries to find the best network to connect to, so for example if you are on GSM it will constantly try to find a 3G network etc (as far as I understand it).
What we need is the ability for the phone to stay on GSM when the phone is idle and then when the phone is woken up to automatically start to search for a WCDMA network and then gracefully switch over like it does now. For this I have no idea if it is possible as I don't know how the scanning of the network works. If it is possible then that would be wicked. But this is what we need.

crachel said:
I think there are a couple problems here
1) the "context switch" (if you will) from Edge to 3G and back devours battery
2) its slow, so you grab your idling phone to figure out the nearest Starbucks and you miss your exit while it jumps from Edge to 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS.
It's the switch between the two that really eats battery. That said, I'm pretty sure you can do that with Tasker already.

Check out Chainfire's app http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=807989

Just figured something out!

When you hold down the search sensor button you get in-app-wifi toggle, It's really hot, because if your online and you decide to turn on your wifi, no more going to home screen to use your power widget, you just hold down that button and it automatically toggles your wifi. Every day I'm learning something new about this beautiful phone. Also, they have fixed the issue with the 3D gallery, all the pictures load lighting quick and at the same time, wifi seems to be enhanced, and phone reception to, I was on the train earlier and I went into a tunnel and I was able to talk until I reached the station, which is a bit of a way underground. I'm using the prioritizer app, and I used to get reception like that on my G1 when I used it, people didn't believe me until I got a phone call in the subway one day, I heard a kid say who gets phone calls in the subway, lol, and whenever I pass one of those grates that lead to outside, text messages come through sometimes. Share your experiences with this incredible device. Screenshot taken with Android Commander 0.7.9.6
Rooted N1 w/locked bootloader
FRF91 eViL n-One-sh0t Noir 7
Setcpu= underclocked 883200 Max / 768000 Min
8GB sdcard class 6 / 512 ext3 partition/no swap

Mine is set to always use voice search. Anyone know who to change this?

I use QuickDesk Beta with a Power Control Widget as well as some other nifty shortcuts. If you download it from the market, the next time long press search there will be and option for the QuickDesk.
If you want to change yours going to search you have to go to settings>application>search(or the program being opened) and undo the defaults for that program.
Is that a stock option, on-app wifi? Or is it a piece of a wifi toggle app, why don't i have it.

You actually need an app to do that, try search in the market 'In App Wifi Toogle'
it's by Oliver Pearmain

A few ROMs have this in as standard (it's pretty useful) but it's not a FroYo thing. It's not in the CM ROMs and possibly won't be.

Just downloaded the in-app wifi toggle from the market. What an extremely handy app!!!
(need to toggle 3g - Wifi a lot since the froyo radio...3g reception in house has worsened quite a bit)
Thanks for the info!

My vote goes to QuickDesk Pro + Power widget as well... much more useful IMHO

http://www.xda-developers.com/android/in-app-wifi-toggle-for-android/

Best thing to use on the search long press is Quick Settings.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.bwx.bequick
You can customize which settings appear on that list, it's awesome. I use it to toggle wifi, sound, brightness (including an auto-brightness toggle), auto-rotate, and a few more.
Play with the settings and configure it to exactly what you want and then every setting is one click away wherever you are.

A little help
olavjunior said:
Mine is set to always use voice search. Anyone know who to change this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into application setting, then manage applications, scroll until you find voice search, click on it and there should be a option to clear defaults, clear it. next time you use this function you'll be prompted to choose default action, just don't check the box and the prompt will always come up.

Clarkster said:
Best thing to use on the search long press is Quick Settings.
You can customize which settings appear on that list, it's awesome. I use it to toggle wifi, sound, brightness (including an auto-brightness toggle), auto-rotate, and a few more.
Play with the settings and configure it to exactly what you want and then every setting is one click away wherever you are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet thanks for sharing this, awesome app

aureliusmaximus said:
Just downloaded the in-app wifi toggle from the market. What an extremely handy app!!!
(need to toggle 3g - Wifi a lot since the froyo radio...3g reception in house has worsened quite a bit)
Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can change your network type for improved reception, go to phone press *#*#4636#*#* and wait for the hidden testing area. Click on phone information, scroll down until you see your set network. Try them all to see which one gives you the best reception. Once you choose one it will reset your network so let it do its thing, your bars and 3G icon should reappear.

blas4me said:
You can change your network type for improved reception, go to phone press *#*#4636#*#* and wait for the hidden testing area. Click on phone information, scroll down until you see your set network. Try them all to see which one gives you the best reception. Once you choose one it will reset your network so let it do its thing, your bars and 3G icon should reappear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Er, not really...it may improve network selection, but it won't improve signal.
WCDMA preferred - Use 3G but when signal is weak prefer 3G over GSM.
GSM only - obvious.
WCDMA only - Use only 3G, has no signal then when only GSM present.
GSM auto PRL - Use 3G but when signal is weak, prefer GSM over 3G
All the CDMA/EvDO stuff does apply to our phones...its the same stuff for, but for those networks and GSM/CDMA auto is for combination phones... (ie - "world" phones from Verizon, etc)
Easiest way to improve Nexus One reception - hold it in your left hand.

aureliusmaximus said:
Just downloaded the in-app wifi toggle from the market. What an extremely handy app!!!
(need to toggle 3g - Wifi a lot since the froyo radio...3g reception in house has worsened quite a bit)
Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can change your network type for improved reception, go to phone press *#*#4636#*#* and wait for the hidden testing area. Click on phone information, scroll down until you see your set network. Try them all to see which one gives you the best reception. Once you choose one it will reset your network so let it do its thing, your bars and 3G icon should reappear.

blas4me said:
When you hold down the search sensor button you get in-app-wifi toggle, It's really hot, because if your online and you decide to turn on your wifi, no more going to home screen to use your power widget, you just hold down that button and it automatically toggles your wifi. Every day I'm learning something new about this beautiful phone. Also, they have fixed the issue with the 3D gallery, all the pictures load lighting quick and at the same time, wifi seems to be enhanced, and phone reception to, I was on the train earlier and I went into a tunnel and I was able to talk until I reached the station, which is a bit of a way underground. I'm using the prioritizer app, and I used to get reception like that on my G1 when I used it, people didn't believe me until I got a phone call in the subway one day, I heard a kid say who gets phone calls in the subway, lol, and whenever I pass one of those grates that lead to outside, text messages come through sometimes. Share your experiences with this incredible device. Screenshot taken with Android Commander 0.7.9.6
Rooted N1 w/locked bootloader
FRF91 eViL n-One-sh0t Noir 7
Setcpu= underclocked 883200 Max / 768000 Min
8GB sdcard class 6 / 512 ext3 partition/no swap
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a way to configure this, because i only get voice search, which is sort of useless. I would rather have in app wifi.
-bb

Dude between which stations can you make and hold a call underground thru a tunnel?

Clarkster said:
Best thing to use on the search long press is Quick Settings.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.bwx.bequick
You can customize which settings appear on that list, it's awesome. I use it to toggle wifi, sound, brightness (including an auto-brightness toggle), auto-rotate, and a few more.
Play with the settings and configure it to exactly what you want and then every setting is one click away wherever you are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is actually a really neat app! Thanks for the tip, I like it.

thepawn said:
Er, not really...it may improve network selection, but it won't improve signal.
WCDMA preferred - Use 3G but when signal is weak prefer 3G over GSM.
GSM only - obvious.
WCDMA only - Use only 3G, has no signal then when only GSM present.
GSM auto PRL - Use 3G but when signal is weak, prefer GSM over 3G
All the CDMA/EvDO stuff does apply to our phones...its the same stuff for, but for those networks and GSM/CDMA auto is for combination phones... (ie - "world" phones from Verizon, etc)
Easiest way to improve Nexus One reception - hold it in your left hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the "auto PRL" info, and I LOVE the iPhone 4 dig

blas4me;7090838Also said:
they[/B] have fixed the issue with the 3D gallery, all the pictures load lighting quick and at the same time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhhh... they WHO???
Billy

Google with the FRF91 update. Why do you think updates kept coming out so quickly. Google has a ear to the ground, they put the Nexus out there as a test of Android OS, and they want feedback to improve it. It's all about feedback and improvement.

gsm/3g problem - dealbreaker :(

This might force me to use samsungs dead-on-arrival-refund and switch to the both uglier and slower Desire Unless you have a solution.
The phone finds several networks where two are associated with my telecom-provider. One is old gsm and one is 3g/H. I search and manually picks out the 3g-network and gets an H-connection with 2 mbps (max for what I pay for). But this only lasts for about 10 - 20 seconds, then it falls back to the gsm-network.
So to speek, it overrides my manually selected network and uses an automatic pick and i get gsm with crappy 56 kbps.
I have done this:
1. a new sim-card (telecom sent me one)
2. Resetted the phone (samsung asked me to do this)
The problem is still there and samsung now say I should send it back to them...
But what are the odds that it will work on another device... the problem is probably a combination of phone + telenetwork. The simcard works perfectly in the same location on the Touch HD (blackstone) and the sales-dude that also claims to have an SGS with another network have no problems.
Swedish telecom-provider: TELE2
Help...! I dont wanna switch to a 9 month old desire and the desire hd looks like the specs are the same as sgs without the samoled and a too large 4,3" screen.

Have you asked the sales dude which firmware he is using? This sounds a bit software related. It can definitely be teleco, however I think you're paying a premium doing more than keeping up appearances should be important to them.
Sent from my SHW-M110S using XDA App

Did you try setting the phone on "WCDMA ONLY" in the network menu?
Every time the phone gets a stronger GSM signal, it will switch to gsm, just like any other phone.
Just disable GSM.

hmmm no i have not tried that... sounds quite promissing, but if it works that will result in no network at all if i go outside a 3g-area, right?
I have stock rom at eclair.xwjfb - i90000xxjf5
But where do i find this option? from a secret code?
in the network-menu i only have "use only 2g networks"
EDIT
Found this:
*#*#4636#*#* for battery and other general setttings like GSM/CDMA
Testing.....
EDIT
No change
I set it to WCDMA ONLY and tried all the other options as well. Most of them resulted in to network access.
###! this sounded so good

so all i have to do is type that number i get the option to only use 3G covarge right? is that how you did it?
Tackar!

yes but read it again - did NOT work
are you having the same problem with tele2?

Ah okey, such a shame. Nope, i'm using Halebop, but if you have this problem i might also experiance it aswell, hopefully not though..
But my phone had a really strange problem which caused me to send it back, it lost the signal completly, like i had no simcard in it. This could accur around 20min-4 hours, and i seem to be the only one affected by this.. really strange, hopefully i'll get my phone back soon without this problem, whatever it might be..

im returning it today as a d-o-a and will hopefully get a new one that works. Would really be a shame to let go of such a nice handset!
the wifi-radio cant stay connected to dynamic ips either, something that clearly works for others with sgs

Just replace it with another. I think your unit is defective.
There have been no reports of network problems with the SGS, and personally, i live in a place with terrible coverage, but when i set to WCDMA only it still somehow manages to maintain a good signal.

surely this could also be due to not all places being covered by 3g signal.

possibly but not likely sinse i can manually force it to use another network and then max out the payed bandwith of 2 mbps easily, but only for a very short period of time...
anyway, its sent away now. Hopefully they fix this fast

Phone is in EDGE 90% of the time!

Is there anything I can do to allow the phone to be in HSPA more often? My fiancee has a Mytouch 4g and I have the G2, her phone is almost always in HSPA and mine seems to always be in Edge, even when we are next to eachother. Is this a known issue???

Try this *#*#INFO#*#* this is the phone testing option. Try turning radio off and on and set it to wcdma preferred that could get you bettter speed . Also give us more info. Are yo rooted? Which radio are you using stuff like that.
sev said:
Is there anything I can do to allow the phone to be in HSPA more often? My fiancee has a Mytouch 4g and I have the G2, her phone is almost always in HSPA and mine seems to always be in Edge, even when we are next to eachother. Is this a known issue???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

nikon1b4 said:
Try this *#*#INFO#*#* this is the phone testing option. Try turning radio off and on and set it to wcdma preferred that could get you bettter speed . Also give us more info. Are yo rooted? Which radio are you using stuff like that.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick response, I'm running 100% stock tmobile rom.
The *#*#info#*#* says wcdma preferred. Not sure what radio Im running, could you guide me on how I can tell?
Seperate issue but the bluetooth on this phone is HORRIBLE!!!! Everyone always complains that they have a bad echo/cant hear me/it is crackly. Ive tried a jawbone 2 and a jabra bt-350. The jawbone is marginally better than the jabra but really the bluetooth is unusable!

My phone is on EDGE 100% of the time!
/Live in Montana and use a local CellOne provider...

sev said:
Thanks for the quick response, I'm running 100% stock tmobile rom.
The *#*#info#*#* says wcdma preferred. Not sure what radio Im running, could you guide me on how I can tell?
Seperate issue but the bluetooth on this phone is HORRIBLE!!!! Everyone always complains that they have a bad echo/cant hear me/it is crackly. Ive tried a jawbone 2 and a jabra bt-350. The jawbone is marginally better than the jabra but really the bluetooth is unusable!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forget "preferred"... set it to wcdma ONLY, but it will NEVER connect to EDGE.... but sorry, you can't have it both ways.

I don't know anything about the MT4G, so I'm jyst guessing here. But is it really in HSPA or is it just reporting that wrongly ?
You can always try flashing a different radio (see the radio thread in the dev forum) to see if that improves your reception.
I presume your phone has the right hardware bands for your carrier, i.e. you're not trying to use a G2 on, say, AT&T, which will stay on Edge at best because the phone doesn't have the right hardware radio bands to do 3G.

Possible fix for data stalling issues some of us are having.

Right, a little back story.
I brought my SGS2 at the start of May in the UK on O2 so I have an early model which came with the firmware before KE1. I rooted in the first week and was flashing Villainrom 1.0 before too long with no data problems.
I think it was around KE2 with Lite'ning rom that I first saw my phone constantly switching between H & 3G and stalling when receiving or sending data. This behaviour has continued through all the firmwares I've tried with many different modems. I moved onto to Cognition when it was v1.01 and have been using it all the way unto 1.2 with the KG3 modem. Again still with data connecting problems.
Things I have tried -
Turning off fast dormacy
Editing the build.prop http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097612&highlight=build.prop pages 1-5
Switching off HSDPA/HSUPA via the *#301279# command
Disabling juice defender
Switching to WCDMA only
Changing modems
Full hard reset and reflasing of roms
Even with the above on multiple roms and rom versions my data connection was unreliable at best and killing spree warranting at its worst.
Possible fix-
What i found lurking on XDA on a slow day at work was the command below
*#2263#
This allows you to select which bands your phone uses. I selected option 2 then tested the 4 available bands. They all resulted in a complete loss of reception except WCDMA 2100. this is probably network specific you'll need to try it yourselves.
The results and current settings
Now when I try to use my data connection the phone no longer switches between H & 3G. It will start on 3G then find H and stay there, I see a slight delay if its been in deep sleep or JD has cut the connect but this is normal for the phone to start on 3G to save power.
Fast dormacy - off
build.prop -stock/unedited (I found this worked for me for a while but since 2.3.4 it didnt seem to help)
HSDPA/HSUPA via the *#301279# command - both on
Juice defender - on
WCDMA only selected as when picking a band it doesn't seem to like having a GSM band selected as well (happy to be corrected on that)
Modem KG3 -
Rom cog 1.2 - I'm patiently waiting 1.4 based on KG6 to test my findings.
Conclusion-
Okay it could be that selecting a band does F'all and that I'm seeing better results for a completely different reason. I'm not a developer so my fixing skills amount to playing with stuff I don't fully understand and seeing how more or less broke I've made it.
After thought -
Ive seen on the sensation forum they have discussed the wrong IMEI code being the cause of poor data speeds so I may look into that next.
Please share your experiences and anything else you've tried.

Ive seen on the sensation forum they have discussed the wrong IMEI code being the cause of poor data speeds so I may look into that next.
That should be no connection as IMEI belongs to phone and handshakes with network first .
KG6 modem some report as better .
jje

I will have to give this a try and see how it works, thanks for the share.

I am in the same boat, it is VERY frustrating to say the least. A typical scenario for me is: reading a web page on my S2 for a good few minutes (3g has gone to sleep mode by the time I have finished reading), I click on a link, 3g flashes, H comes up and flashes once.....wait.....wait.......wait......10 seconds later it decides to initiate a connection and take me where I want to go! It does the same thing with the XDA app. I have been onto O2 about this a couple of weeks ago, all they did was give me the settings over the phone (which were the exact same ones I already had) and they also sent me a replacement sim card, suffice to say, there is no change. Now I am convinced its a network problem of some sort, I have a three sim card which I have been trying out and the above problems do not exist anymore when using three, I click a link after 3g has gone to sleep and it goes from 3g to H and initialises the data transfer in one smooth motion. It looks like I'll be getting my PAC code and moving to Three!

would be interested to hear if switching to the 2100 band helps at all seeing as your on O2 as well

Mine is O2 via Giffgaff and no problems at all .
Tested KG6 modem Wi|Fi only and it is a stronger signal .
jje

Yeah, forgot to mention that, I have just enabled it. I can't test at the moment though coz there is no 3G coverage where I am. The only problem with enabling it is you will not be able to connect to GPRS or Edge if you need to. But it is worth testing regardless.

Just been out and about and tried that setting, didn't make much difference unfortunately

Maybe it was a combination of tweaks on my end. What rom & modem are you using?

bentez2003 said:
Maybe it was a combination of tweaks on my end. What rom & modem are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Villain 2.3 with KG3 modem. The problem has been the same whatever ROM I have used, I even flashed back to O2 stock a couple of weeks ago to see if it was a ROM problem, but that was the same. I can't remember what it was like when I first got the handset though, mine was the first batch as well.

JJEgan said:
Mine is O2 via Giffgaff and no problems at all .
Tested KG6 modem Wi|Fi only and it is a stronger signal .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wife is on Giffgaff so I think I'll give that sim a try before I get my PAC off O2.

bentez2003 said:
Right, a little back story.
What i found lurking on XDA on a slow day at work was the command below
*#2263#
This allows you to select which bands your phone uses. I selected option 2 then tested the 4 available bands. They all resulted in a complete loss of reception except WCDMA 2100. this is probably network specific you'll need to try it yourselves.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi
i am just testing now this fix. i have an o2 phone and i did the same changes you did, disable fast dormancy, changed build.prop settings, will let you know after going a few times underground ;-)
gabrio

confirm, this is working, even when i go underground or when the signal goes away, it gets back to H/H+ and works, gabrio

Give it a little while, I think you'll be back saying it didn't work
Personally, I went ahead with my threat and moved over to 3uk, never looked back since with this problem, been perfect!

I've tried it all. Disabled fast dormancy, hspa, toyed with band selection, edited build.prop (btw, don't bother with it, the network settings you find on the web to type in don't work on the s2) you name it - but it would still cut out. Luckily, my phone is unlocked so I switched my provider and now it works like a charm with all the bells and whistles enabled. I can ride the tram all across warsaw and maybe have a handful of 2-3 second hiccups when I'm listening to online radio. Curiously enough, on my previous provider I've noted that there are some areas (like a busy mall - Arkadia) where it would not stall as well as a few other places, and most other areas that were notorious with data hanging. I'm convinced now that it is an issue on the telco side (*cough*Orange*cough*), and too bad because I was on a prepaid plan with them that for roughly $30 I had 7GB of transfer. I guess they figured they can promise the world on their trash network, because nobody would actually use it up. YMMV.

Had this issue with a UK GS2 purchased from Negri using it on AT&T.
Since upgrading to the latest UK firmware with 2.3.4 I have not had the issue going on about 2 weeks now!
Man was that issue annoying. Had to restart the phone sometimes to get data back.
Joe

Ok I did that too though how abt lag? Phone lags a bit opening large sms conversations and browsing home screens.. But peace. Yours too?
Gabrio
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App