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Rogers Canada 3G Network help

Just picked up a Hermes 8525 off of ebay.
While upgrading to the latest WM 6.1 roms available - I have been picking up the 3G network in my area here in Montreal.
I do not have a 3G sim card, and do not plan on using any of the data features either. I pretty much just use it as a regular phone - surf via wifi. Am I actually on the 3G network ??
I also do not have a 3G plan with Rogers. Is there any benefit to 3G if just being used as a regular wireless phone ??
If not being used for any data features, etc - will there be an additional charge applied ??
Should I just force the phone to GSM network only - instead of auto ??
Any feedback greatly appreciated
Have a good one

3G is data and voice. So, even if your not using the data plan your voice connection still auto connects to 3G network or Edge.
You wouldnt get charge for data as long as your 3G data connection is disabled.
You could force it to use a specific band (i.e. 850/1900 mhz) but you might have a bad connection on some areas since the phone auto connects to stronger signal. Hence better (sometimes) voice quality.

Force phone to use H network instead of E

Just got the G2...awesome so far...only one annoyance. The tmo HSPA+ network has been available to me almost everywhere (in houston) but it seems to switch to the Edge (3G) network whenever it wants? Is there a way to force or to stay on the 4G network? Thanks!

GPRS (G) AND EDGE (E) are both 2G technologies (EDGE is on top of GPRS). 3G is UMTS, and HSDPA is again on top of UMTS. You can find a setting for 2G only in Android options, but there is nothing to force 3G speeds. The reason is that phone uses HSDPA all the time unless there is no HSDPA signal, then it drops to EDGE, or GPRS.
So you cannot force it, it's defined by what can the mobile network provide at that specific spot. If there is no 3G/HSDPA coverage, you have no 3G speeds. It is as simple as that. It's like if you would like to use WiFi even at places with no WiFi coverage - you cannot, because it's not there.

Ok, but lets say for instance sitting at my desk at work i'll be connected HSPA+ for 10 minutes and then it drops down to Edge? Whats the reason for that?

You were at the the borderline of what is and what is not a acceptable level of signal from the network tower. For 10 minutes it was above the limit, then it dropped and it was not more usable, so the phone dropped to lower speed.

thanks for the explanation man!

Wrong forum though. This this about having separate G2 and DZ forums is bound to lead to lots of this, I guess.

[Q] Option to use only 3G NOT HSPDA

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

g2 from AT&T to T-mobile, won't connect automatically to LTE

HI, I just switched from AT&T to T-mobile. Everything basically works, except when I restart the phone, it connects to 4G only without LTE. Likewise when moving out of wifi range to LTE, i get 4G. However, if I go to Networks Operators and "Search Automatically," it connects to LTE immediately. Is there way I can get it to connect to LTE every time? I live in a area with excellent LTE coverage and I don't wan to have to constantly go and manually do the search for networks.... Thanks!

How to favor 3G over 4G when signal is weak?

I have discovered that my MXP consumes more battery than it needs to over night. This is because, on my night stand, I have strong 3G signal, but weak 4G signal and the phone hangs on to the weak 4G signal consuming unnecessary power, even though I have good WiFi too. If I manually select my 'Preferred network type' to 3G in settings at night, this works, but I can't automate the process of setting 3G or 4G modes.
I discovered the "test mode" (dial #*#*4636*#*# on the phone keypad) and the Phone information section allows you set many more options via the Set preferred network type drop down. I'm unclear what the different options option will achieve. I want the phone to prefer 3G over 4G when the signal is poor. Is there an option for this?
Phone is stock, unrooted, on the EE network in the UK

3G = WCDMA
WCDMA PREFERRED (prefer 3G)
WCDMA ONLY (it will turn off you 4G and 2G.)

thing is if the phone shows it is hanging on to a weak 4g signal you have to remember just because it is displaying a weak signal it is still connected to the stronger 3g signal, it has to be otherwise you wouldn't get calls and texts.

Will have to experiment, but
> WCDMA PREFERRED (prefer 3G)
Does this mean it won't connect to 4G at all if 3G is available?
> if the phone shows it is hanging on to a weak 4g signal you have to remember just because it is displaying a weak signal it is still connected to the stronger 3g signal
Maybe, but my issue is the power consumption when connected to a weak 4G signal
Silly thing is it's not necessary to maintain a connection to 4G at all when WiFi is active, when the only useful benefit of 4G is fast data

If a phone is connected to a weak signal, it will take greater toll on battery.

Try - settings, more, mobile networks and then preferred network type. You can then set 3g?

Richy101 said:
Try - settings, more, mobile networks and then preferred network type. You can then set 3g?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want the phone to automatically prefer 3G over 4G when the 4G signal is poor. Doesn't look like this is possible, and I'm stuck with aggressive 'hanging on to' 4G despite heavy power consumption.