Develop Bugs

Help on fixing cell standby battery drain?

Hey yall, I've got a bit of a problem with cell standby and I know it's a reception issue, hopefully you guys can help me.
You see, I live in one of the outermost neighborhoods in Jerusalem in a big building made out of thick bricks and cement...as one could imagine, reception is really bad.
My problem stems from the fact that the only way I can get 3G service is by sticking my phone right at the window and forcing it to 3G by hitting WCDMA Only in the *#*#4636#*#* menu. then I just tether to my laptop and everything is all good. After I take it off the windowsill, once it is more than a foot away, I lose all service. I forget to put it back to WCDMA preffered and it just looks for 3G all day in my pocket and I get a battery drain.
anyway I guess my question is this... is there a program or setting I can use to force it to 3g when it knows there is a 3G connection possible? WCDMA Preferred doesn't work because the EDGE network overpowers the 3G network and it would never connect unless I completely disable EDGE.
TL;DR Is there a way to make the radio default to EDGE when it is completly impossible to find any trace of 3G?

Menu > Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile Networks > Use only 2G networks
That will force your phone to use only EDGE and will put less drain on your battery when it comes to cell network.

Personally, I would move out of jeruselum and go to a place that pumps out 4g. Or at least theoretical 4g. (Hspa+)
Sent from my G2 CM6.1.1, OC'd to 1.5ghz, using XDA App

Yeah...this june. I am going back to memphis TN with full tmo 4g....I am only here for a year
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

rhodes588 said:
Menu > Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile Networks > Use only 2G networks
That will force your phone to use only EDGE and will put less drain on your battery when it comes to cell network.
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I always do that when I don't need a fast data connection, I have a widget to switch back quick when I need to do some surfing or tethering

WCDMA preferred?

How can you set the Defy to WCDMA Preferred? It constantly reverts off of it.

Bump
Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk

You mean in the INFO menu? I don't believe you can. At least not with the stock ROM. I believe the choice is controlled by the firmware which varies from market to market, I presume.

That's the same as 3G only? Mine has the option under the mobile network settings. I get three choices (this is exactly how it reads): 2G only saves battery, 3G only better performance, and Automatic Default. Hm you should have the same thing.

In my handset, if you go into Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks, there is an option/drop-down box for Select network.
It gives you a choice between 2G only, 3G only and Automatic which is the default option and the only sensible one IMO.
edit: same as bobbyphoenix it seems.
Selecting 3G only means the phone will not use the 2G network ever, so if you were to end up in an area without 3G signal, you'd be disconnected.
Automatic means the phone will use 3G when available and 2G when it's not. As I said before, it's the only sensible choice.

Step666 said:
In my handset, if you go into Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks, there is an option/drop-down box for Select network.
It gives you a choice between 2G only, 3G only and Automatic which is the default option and the only sensible one IMO.
edit: same as bobbyphoenix it seems.
Selecting 3G only means the phone will not use the 2G network ever, so if you were to end up in an area without 3G signal, you'd be disconnected.
Automatic means the phone will use 3G when available and 2G when it's not. As I said before, it's the only sensible choice.
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That doesn't answer the question. There are two settings within the testing menu: wcdma preferred and gsm auto prl. The former tries to hang onto 3G whenever possible, where the latter uses an internal list of networks and it decides when to switch.

hah2110 said:
That doesn't answer the question.
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Yes it does.
Automatic means the handset will use 3G whenever possible - ie 3G preferred.

No - they are two different things, as I explained. The Defy is using GSM PRL, NOT WCDMA Preferred.

hah2110 said:
No - they are two different things, as I explained. The Defy is using GSM PRL, NOT WCDMA Preferred.
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When my phone uses wifi calling with wifi preferred (in the wifi calling menu) the INFO (testing) menu shows "GSM only". This choice will not allow 3G connection (2G, yes). When I turn off wifi, the phone switches to "GSM auto (prl)" and I get 3G. I read on one forum where someone claims they switched to "WCDMA preferred" then did a battery pull and it stuck. Also read that the WCDMA selection depletes battery faster. Hey, don't always believe what you read.

How to Powersave through 3g

I was wondering how one switches from 4g to 3g(which i think people here call edge) to save battery.
I dont see it anywhere in settings so i wasnt sure what people did..
Thanks!

I think you mean 3g to 2g. This phone does not have "4g". It's just 3g with higher throughput.
I'm not sure if you can on the stock rom without a USSD code. But on custom roms it's:
Settings
Wireless and network
Mobile networks
Network mode
GSM only.
Unfortunately apps like llama/JuiceDefender can't do it automatically when you're on WiFi or not using data because Google "blocked" it. I think CM7 allows apps to control 2g/3g toggle though.

I thought if your wifi was on the 4g was turned off.
Also, on stock 2.5.- the system folder for wireless settings has a choice to only use the edge frequency. I don't know for any of the modded roms or the newer stock 2.6.- versions. Hope this helped.

T-Mobile uses 3.5g(which they call it 4g) a more advance 3g speeds so a with a 4g/3g toggle wouldn't do any good unless you wanna go to edge/2g. is not like Verizon where I think you have your Band for 2g/3g and a separate Band for 4g so what the toggle does its just turn off the 4g Band and automatically goes to 3g. but with Tmobile your have your Bands for 1g/2g and another band for 3g/3.5g(fake 4g) so using a toggle you would only be blocking 3g.

[Q]GSM vs WCDMA vs Auto

Hello everyone at XDA
I have an Xperia Play r800a (Rogers Canada)
I was looking in the menus and I remember reading somewhere that if I change the Network prefrences I can get better battery life.
So I was wondering out of these options under Settings> Wireless & Networks> Mobile Networks> Network Prefrences
I have these 4 options
GSM/WCDMA (auto mode)
WCDMA only
GSM only
GSM/WCDMA (WCDMA preferred
What settings should I choose to increase battery life? Also I almost never use mobile data since I am always near wifi.

if you dont use data really just use the data toggle to turn it off till you need it(Way way more battery life)
or if your like me and always need a little data present for google voice and and 4g every once in a while when actually using net then Gsm(= 2g and increded battery life over but 4g connection by couple hours) but alot slower than 4g
then just 4g when you need it (3/4g=wcdma)
auto just choses strongest signal no preference
and Wcdma perfed is just that if both signal available it uses wcdma but if not then then gsm
so for you if no data ever hardly and no constant connection needed then
wcdma perfered and a data toggle by ether a theme with notification toggles or the data switch widget or widgetsoid
hope i helped

Do you know which one would have been the default?
So from what I understand GSM only and data off gets me the best battery life?

For my phone GSM/WCDMA (WCDMA preferred) is default option.
And yes, GSM only and data off gives you the best battery.

3G on T-Mobile via 1900MHz Band

I recently switched from AT&T to T-Mobile, and like the rest of us was suffering without 3G due to our lack of compatibility with the 1700MHz WCDMA that T-Mobile uses. One of my friends (a T-Mobile employee), however, informed me that it is indeed possible to get 3G by using the 1900MHz band, which T-Mobile is currently re-farming to support WCDMA. This trick is simple and easy, and I've had success with it thus far, albeit only in one location as of yet. There is a downside, however... as long as the trick is in place (as long as your phone is set to "WCDMA only" below), you cannot connect to EDGE. In other words, in an area where there is no 1900MHz 3G coverage, this process must be reversed to fall back to EDGE. As such, you may lose connection randomly and be completely unaware of it for hours, and I will mock you openly for attempting to blame me if you lose your job because you missed a call from your boss, lose your girlfriend because you stopped texting her, or lose your bacon because your remote bacon-protection app couldn't connect.
Remember, this is in the testing phase. It WILL get better over time and hopefully one day we won't even have to consider whether a phone supports 1700MHz... for now, though, report your findings below, preferably with location, signal strength/type, and down/up speed.
==PROCEDURE==​
Go to dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*
In the menu that pops up, tap "Phone Information"
Scroll down to the menu labelled "Set preferred network type" (it should be the first one) - this will likely be set to WCDMA preferred
Change it to WCDMA only
Switch to your main Settings app, then navigate to "Mobile Networks" (under "More..." by your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth)
Tap "Network Operators" and wait for the search to complete
Tap T-Mobile if it appears in the list
Once the phone has acquired a signal, you can return the Network Mode setting to WCDMA Preferred. Your phone should now switch back and forth between EDGE and HSPA+ fairly reliably.
===My Results===​
At my home (approx. Colfax and Yosemite in Aurora, CO) I get 0-2 bars, mostly 3G but some H+ if I'm holding my phone and moving around, and 2-3 bars H+ if I set my phone down. Speedtest results range between 4 and 10 Mbps, with around 90ms ping. I've been keeping my phone set down with wireless tethering enabled, and it's been 100% usable thus far.
--Update--
Having used it daily for a few weeks, I'm pleased to report that there is moderate to good connectivity to at least 3G in most places. I still find myself on EDGE regularly, but I usually can get a WCDMA connection. Now, however, I'm annoyed because I exceeded 5GB data usage and am being throttled to below-EDGE speeds, which defeats the purpose of having 3G. >_<

what about AWS band ????/ its work

saqi4you said:
what about AWS band ????/ its work
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Almost certainly not; see here.
If you have it working for some reason, go over there to tell everyone.

I'll test this later tonight. I'd be cool with 3G or H+ if it works. I have a T-Mob pay-by-the-day sim card that I'd like to use to tether my Nexus 7 to when I'm traveling (which is fairly rare).

I'm new to all this but how is this different from changing the APN settings?
Is this method better than changing APN settings?

This didn't work for me, Portsmouth, NH. It picked up the T-Mobile network in Network Operators but when I tried to select it it took forever and then said unable to connect, failed to register. Attempted a few times on a ucdlk3 stock based custom rom (Intergalactic II) and also on stock rooted.
Probably just not in a good location for this to work.
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