I have a slightly odd requirement, and I wondered if there was any way to fix it:
My carrier has a partnership with a second carrier so we can roam on each others networks for no extra cost.
Where I live, my own carrier only gives me a 2G signal, whereas the other gets 3G. Thing is, I have to physically select the other network. If it's on Automatic, it always "prefers" my own carrier.
This is fine until I'm on the other side of town where the other network gets no signal at all. I then have to manually select my own carrier again!
Is there any way to get it to prefer the other network, or even more ideally, prefer the one that offers the better signal at any given point?
Hi,
a bit of *bump* because I'm struggling with the same issue. I had such option on my previous samsung i780 (oooold) and it worked like a charm.
Currently my mobile operator has 2 roaming partners and if I want to change quickly the preferred order (because in some location it might have better coverage but only there and only for a while) I wold have to switch simcard to the old phone...
Isn't there at even a separate aplication to do that? Does andorid API allow such modification?
Glad I'm not the only one!
Interesting you mention an app to do it... i've not looked actually. If an app can access the list of networks and actually set the phone to use one, then I guess it would be possible. I'll check it out...
to the best of my understanding this is somewhat network option/setting and when suggesting an app I was thinging abount some way to read this setting, modify it and then save/send back to network. It would be a matter of access to the network settings from the API and knowledge how to operate it....
Still investigating this. Looks like the stuff to access the list of networks is in some internal APIs, so a little harder to access. I'll post back when I learn more...
Hey I hope you guys can figure this out have you tried the *#*#4636#*#* command and changed the radio? This will select the most preferred network.. e.g. I'm with Telstra in Australia, the stock radio defaults to 2100MHz but Telstra's HSPA+ is 850Mhz.. so I have to switch to AUS2 radio so it defaults to that every time.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
@Simmo3D
It's not about the radio band but about the service provider itself.
Hi,
From the specs, the TMobile S3 supports 1900MHz 3G network.
Does anyone know for sure if the TMobile S3 work on their refarmed 3G (1900MHz) network?
If yes, how do you change from the current 3G freq to the refarmed freg?
Thanks.
They are in the orocess of refarming. Some places are done, some are not. The phone should automatically choose the best available band to use. There are ways to force it by using the service menus actvated by dialer code, but it's a hassle to mess with every time. Plus, on the T999 I don't think you will ever see it say 3G without a mod. So you coukd be using it but it woukd say H or still 4G because of the way its coded. (If I'm remembering right)
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Yes, the Galaxy S3 does support 3G PCS(1900 Mhz). If you wanted to know what band you're using, just type *#0011# in the Phone app. In the first line, you will see something like "Band4" in the first line, which will tell you what band you're on. Band4 means AWS (1700/2100). Band2 means PCS (1900).
To force a certain band, type *#197328640# in the Phone app and then hit the following in the secret menus: [1]UTMS -> [1] DEBUG SCREEN -> [8]PHONE CONTROL -> [7]NETWORK CONTROL -> [2]BAND SELECTION.
It's "reframed" not "refarmed".
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
No its refarmed. Meaning that they were using it in the GSM system and had to carve it out for use in the UMTS system. Yes the Galaxy s3 will work on UMTS 1900. It is best though to let the phone decide as the carrier is using settings to best choose where you should be. For instance the single 1900 UMTS carrier wont be able to support HSPA 42+ until they add a 2nd 1900 Mhz carrier.
sorry erase this comment
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Thank you all for your replies. I will get the phone in a few weeks and try it out.
DocHoliday77 said:
The phone should automatically choose the best available band to use.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will the phone know if a node is congested?
At my work place, my HTC Sensation 4G shows a "H" with good signal (4 bars). But the data speed is really slow, around 100kbps. My guess is that either the node is congested, or the current 3G signal is blocked by the building. My thinking is that if I switch to the new freg (when it is available), there will be less users and the signal will penetrate building better so my speed will improve.
Will the S3 save me in this situation, or my thinking is completely off?
http://www.airportal.de/
foit2 said:
To force a certain band, type *#197328640# in the Phone app and then hit the following in the secret menus: [1]UTMS -> [1] DEBUG SCREEN -> [8]PHONE CONTROL -> [7]NETWORK CONTROL -> [2]BAND SELECTION.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can actually jump right to the band selection screen with *#2263#
I just play with my S3 I747 and find out how to temporaly remove RAT restriction.
Click phone then punch code : *#197328640# ->Umts->Debag Screen->Phone Control->Network Lock->Rat_Free_Supporting ON
After you click this you see " Now RAT Free Supporting". Click back button and try setting radio by pressing *#2263#.
RTA will lock back after restarting.
could you explain what "RAT restriction" is and what removing it will provide?
kirkgbr said:
could you explain what "RAT restriction" is and what removing it will provide?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a thread that talks about RAT restrictions. It appears to have to do with restricting access to certain bands, but I am swimming in waters that are deeper than my skills will allow.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1189241
norbarb said:
I just play with my S3 I747 and find out how to temporaly remove RAT restriction.
Click phone then punch code : *#197328640# ->Units->Debag Screen->Phone Control->Network Lock->Rat_Free_Supporting ON
After you click this you see " Now RAT Free Supporting". Click back button and try setting radio by pressing *#2263#.
RTA will lock back after restarting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gonna do a run for this later today to see if it will actually work for allowing band selection and sticking.
It seemed to work for me, but it's only been a couple of minutes so far after turning off LTE. BTW, the first menu is "UMTS", not "Units".
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Any suggestions on how to make these changes permanent without rooting?
Since there is now a known code to lift restrictions until reboot, I hope some dev will figure out a way on stock based roms (both stock and mods), as well as AOSP based, to make it permanent. I have tried AOKP and CM10 in hopes the LTE and 2G toggles would work but no dice with AT&T SGS3.
Anonymously_Unknown said:
Any suggestions on how to make these changes permanent without rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given the issue at hand, it is most likely a deeply embedded setting that will not be available to standard user base (non rooted), henceforth root access or even on a programming level will be needed to make the necessary changes. How the changes will be made available, if it is done, will depend on what was needed to make it permanent. This raises the question of where is this restriction coded into the AT&T SGS3. Is it firmware, ROM, SIM related, Radio? Seriously doubt it is hardware itself since there are ways to get around the restriction.
larryka said:
It seemed to work for me, but it's only been a couple of minutes so far after turning off LTE. BTW, the first menu is "UMTS", not "Units".
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are corect. I make correction in OP.
Testing RAT unlock now.
norbarb said:
I just play with my S3 I747 and find out how to temporaly remove RAT restriction.
Click phone then punch code : *#197328640# ->Umts->Debag Screen->Phone Control->Network Lock->Rat_Free_Supporting ON
After you click this you see " Now RAT Free Supporting". Click back button and try setting radio by pressing *#2263#.
RTA will lock back after restarting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Testing this method now. So far I am running on 2G. I will give it at least a couple of hours and will update this post accordingly.
Update: I was messing around and decided to save this USSD (the official name of these secret dialer codes) in my contacts. From dialer you can start pressing *#1 and when it appears just press it. This gives quick access should you need to change radios often. I also want to add that instead of going back into *#2263# you can also select the band from *#197328640#. If you want to change it immediately, then once you get the confirmation "Now RAT Free Supporting" press the menu key on the left of the Home button. Select back and repeat again to go back again. Then, instead of choosing Network Lock choose Network Control-->Band Selection. This takes you to the same menu that *#2263# does and you can select accordingly.
@norbarb...perhaps you can update your OP to reflect that you can stay within the original selection instead of *#2263# and just go back twice to access the band selection. It is just one more way of doing things.
I also did the test of rebooting my phone. As mentioned by norbarb, if you have rebooted the RAT restriction is back in place. Regardless of which option you take to the band selection it will show RAT restriction until you follow the OPs steps again to remove restriction. Have not found a way for permanent removal of the restriction yet (I am optimistic and really want this permanent so I will look very hard to find a solution.). Also when I rebooted I had GSM 2G only selected prior and I kept the option upon reboot so only the RAT restriction is reset...not the network band settings.
Update 2: After 4 hours I am still on 2G Edge. I am in a very good LTE location so this is definitely the most promising outlook. I have found that I despite my love for the look of AOSP roms, the inability to turn on 2G at all will keep me with TW for now. Thankfully I do not mind the look of TW and with root, I can kill the Bloatware. I will look at all of the options in the *#197328640# menus and see if there is anything that may can be applied for permanent access. I also wonder if the secret to overriding the lack of options for network choices in *#*#4636#*#* will be here as well as this would more preferable to shut down LTE only.
aybarrap1 said:
I also did the test of rebooting my phone. As mentioned by norbarb, if you have rebooted the RAT restriction is back in place. Regardless of which option you take to the band selection it will show RAT restriction until you follow the OPs steps again to remove restriction. Have not found a way for permanent removal of the restriction yet (I am optimistic and really want this permanent so I will look very hard to find a solution.). Also when I rebooted I had GSM 2G only selected prior and I kept the option upon reboot so only the RAT restriction is reset...not the network band settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Isn't the problem with doing this, say if you disable LTE and only select HSPA, it wont go to any 2G networks if you are out of coverage. Because its not on 'automatic', its on HSPA. So if you are out of a service zone of HSPA, then you dont have anything to fall back to.
If only there was a way to disable LTE, and use the other networks 'automatically'.
geoldr said:
Isn't the problem with doing this, say if you disable LTE and only select HSPA, it wont go to any 2G networks if you are out of coverage. Because its not on 'automatic', its on HSPA. So if you are out of a service zone of HSPA, then you dont have anything to fall back to.
If only there was a way to disable LTE, and use the other networks 'automatically'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the problem. However, AT&T in their infinite focus on trying to force users to their networks of choice has purposely had the ability to do network selections disabled. Under normal circumstances in android devices the option of network selection is under settings and mobile networks option. This is removed I am sure at AT&T's request. The other way to access this is to use USSD *#*#4636#*#* in dialer and select "Device Information" which will give you an option to choose a network preference. While the USSD works the option to select network preference does not work.
At least with the option to unlock RAT and using USSD *#2263#, it gives some sort of ability to choose a network. For me this is perfect since I want the 2G only due to poor 3G and LTE signals at work. However you are right that it is not convenient if you just want LTE off. For the moment there is no known way to obtain this option on the AT&T SGS3.
aybarrap1 said:
That is the problem. However, AT&T in their infinite focus on trying to force users to their networks of choice has purposely had the ability to do network selections disabled. Under normal circumstances in android devices the option of network selection is under settings and mobile networks option. This is removed I am sure at AT&T's request. The other way to access this is to use USSD *#*#4636#*#* in dialer and select "Device Information" which will give you an option to choose a network preference. While the USSD works the option to select network preference does not work.
At least with the option to unlock RAT and using USSD *#2263#, it gives some sort of ability to choose a network. For me this is perfect since I want the 2G only due to poor 3G and LTE signals at work. However you are right that it is not convenient if you just want LTE off. For the moment there is no known way to obtain this option on the AT&T SGS3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. I also think it's something to do with AT&T network setup. Because on AOSP ROM's we can't toggle LTE either. But the same ROM on a Canadian model phone will work just fine.
Even though the iphone has an LTE toggle. At least I read somewhere that it does.
geoldr said:
Yep. I also think it's something to do with AT&T network setup. Because on AOSP ROM's we can't toggle LTE either. But the same ROM on a Canadian model phone will work just fine.
Even though the iphone has an LTE toggle. At least I read somewhere that it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has nothing to do with the network setup...it is the carrier forcing restrictions on their customers. I have had three other android phones (including my wifes) in the last three years. All of them were restricted from choosing the network from stock rom. The moment I uploaded a ROM such as CM or other AOSP Roms I was magically able to do a network select. I even had to Windows phones (6.1 and 6.5) and both of them were stripped but with some registry edits I was able to add the option back to select between 3G/2G and 2g only. It is AT&T's way and they are notorious for it.
On a side note, I would not be surprised if AT&T is the primary corporate network that pushed for this network SIM lock ruling by the Congressional Librarian. Of all the carriers they have the most to lose.
If you want to select multiple bands and still turn lte off..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37334232
Galaxy S III I747
fmllc said:
If you want to select multiple bands and still turn lte off..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37334232
Galaxy S III I747
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been testing this for the last 4 hours and it does seem to work. Went to 2g only area and it switched perfectly to 2G and reverted back to 3g when I left the area. However I am not able to do GSM ONLY (2G only) using this method. You will have to follow the instructions on this thread for that.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click back button and try setting radio by pressing *#2263#.
norbarb said:
I just play with my S3 I747 and find out how to temporaly remove RAT restriction.
Click phone then punch code : *#197328640# ->Umts->Debag Screen->Phone Control->Network Lock->Rat_Free_Supporting ON
After you click this you see " Now RAT Free Supporting". Click back button and try setting radio by pressing *#2263#.
RTA will lock back after restarting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to set radio by pressing *#2263#?
And what is RTA will lock back after restarting?
So what is the benefit of the ability to change bands?
OKAstro said:
So what is the benefit of the ability to change bands?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could result in battery savings and reduced dropped calls. For instance, I am often in and out of areas with little to no bandwidths under LTE. At default, my phone would always looking for an LTE signal which means my battery takes a pounding. By having my phone only look for 2G/3G, I do not take as large of a battery hit. Besides that, LTE does consume more power. For the most part I leave my phone with LTE off because the data speed is not crucial for me. At home I have a really fast WiFi network so it is better to be on it anyway while at home.
aybarrap1 said:
It could result in battery savings and reduced dropped calls. For instance, I am often in and out of areas with little to no bandwidths under LTE. At default, my phone would always looking for an LTE signal which means my battery takes a pounding. By having my phone only look for 2G/3G, I do not take as large of a battery hit. Besides that, LTE does consume more power. For the most part I leave my phone with LTE off because the data speed is not crucial for me. At home I have a really fast WiFi network so it is better to be on it anyway while at home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK Thanks. But under Settings/More Networks/Mobile Networks/Network Mode there are 13 "band" combination choices. Do those choices not provide what you''re looking for (i.e.2G/3G)?
I've never changed mine, so I'm curious
my understanding is that typically only Samsung's own Field Engineering app will expose and even force the Band in use, often, typically "band IV" or Band II when I have a 3G/HSPA connection (=AWS or PCS band). Is there a way using a rooted phone loaded with a flavor of CM to see that as well? (Either just display the band or even lock on a band. I'm asking if there in an alternative engineering app that would work... if you run CM.
Or is the only solution to return to a stock Samsung/T-mobile Android version if you want expose "Band in use"?
korny249 said:
my understanding is that typically only Samsung's own Field Engineering app will expose and even force the Band in use, often, typically "band IV" or Band II when I have a 3G/HSPA connection (=AWS or PCS band). Is there a way using a rooted phone loaded with a flavor of CM to see that as well? (Either just display the band or even lock on a band. I'm asking if there in an alternative engineering app that would work... if you run CM.
Or is the only solution to return to a stock Samsung/T-mobile Android version if you want expose "Band in use"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if this is what you are after, but go into Settings and under Wireless & Networks choose More...then choose Mobile Networks, in there you can choose Network modes and also force to use only 2G networks.
Thanks for the reply. It's not what I meant though, I want to see which band I'm getting service on. For example AWS or PCS band. my Samsung with stock android on the above examples it would say band 4 or band 2.
But I suspect you need stock android from the OEM to keep that ability.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Hello,
I have an open-line Samsung Galaxy S4 (SGH-M919v) and the problem is that I can't use the LTE feature of this device even though there is a sticker of LTE on the phone. The network mode option doesn't show LTE option as it only says WCDMA/GSM, WCDMA Only and GSM Only. I also tried to change the settings in *#2263# but selecting LTE changes the Signal bars to " Ø " I upgraded from Kitkat (4.4.2) to Lollipop(OTA) and still the LTE option on Network mode is missing.
I am using an LTE sim and also am very sure that I am in an LTE spot. The phone was from Canada but I don't know which network specifically it was subscribed to as it was only given to me.
Hoping to fix this problem as soon as possible, Thank you.
You should ask here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-tmobile
But probably there isn't anything you can do. You phone doesn't really support LTE. It support some bands, but your provider is probably using a different band for LTE. So your phone will never get LTE with that provider.
Choose "automatic" after dialing *#2263*
Worked for me.
Sent from M919V Galaxy S4 via XDA Premium HD app.
I had a vzw s4 and was able to get lte in a hybrid att area. I had to use lte specific locked band in the options and would change to gsm or automatic when i left the hybrid area to be able to place calls etc. In the hybrid area everything worked fine.