Develop Bugs

2G mode and 3G mode only

I've noticed in the menu options, there is an option to keep the phone in 2G mode only. On the other hand, is there any way to keep the phone in 3G / 3.5 / 4G mode? Any software that can do this?

hkalltheway said:
I've noticed in the menu options, there is an option to keep the phone in 2G mode only. On the other hand, is there any way to keep the phone in 3G / 3.5 / 4G mode? Any software that can do this?
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Click to collapse
The phone will only switch to 2G if faster speeds are not available. The 2G mode option allows you to prevent the phone from switching to faster (and more battery consuming) data connections....

From the dialer, you can type in *#*#4636#*#* to bring up some "secret" settings. From there you can configure your phone to only use 3G.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

NPuter said:
The phone will only switch to 2G if faster speeds are not available. The 2G mode option allows you to prevent the phone from switching to faster (and more battery consuming) data connections....
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Click to collapse
How about if I don't want 2G at all and want it to stay 3G only, even if there is no signal? I remember this option on the SGS 2..

hkalltheway said:
How about if I don't want 2G at all and want it to stay 3G only, even if there is no signal? I remember this option on the SGS 2..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do what chrono just said and the hidden menu let's you force 3g only. *#*#4636#*#* on the dial pad.

RogerPodacter said:
You do what chrono just said and the hidden menu let's you force 3g only. *#*#4636#*#* on the dial pad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't stick all the time for some reason. Same with atrix. And other phones.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Chrono_Tata said:
From the dialer, you can type in *#*#4636#*#* to bring up some "secret" settings. From there you can configure your phone to only use 3G.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What setting to change? I see phone information, battery information, etc..but no settings..any help please? Thanks!

hkalltheway said:
What setting to change? I see phone information, battery information, etc..but no settings..any help please? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into phone info. From there if you scroll down a bit you will see a text that says something like "GSM/CDMA auto". Press that and you should get a drop down menu. Change the setting to "CDMA only". That should work.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Chrono_Tata said:
Go into phone info. From there if you scroll down a bit you will see a text that says something like "GSM/CDMA auto". Press that and you should get a drop down menu. Change the setting to "CDMA only". That should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how that disables 2G (1xRTT). Unless I'm mistaken, both 1xRTT (2G) and EVDO (3G) run on top of CDMA.
Also, you can get to this from settings->wireless & networks->More...->Mobile Networks->Network Mode
There you can select LTE/CDMA or CDMA.
And it always sticks

At&t temoraly RAT removal

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?
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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

[Q] LTE Only?

Is there any way to force the phone into LTE only mode?
There are two towers near my house, but only one has LTE. My phone keeps switching back and forth from LTE to CDMA, but when it's on LTE it works great. I just want a way to keep my phone from using CDMA.

Dial 3845#*970#, scroll down to iot hidden menu, system selection, network mode, lte only. However you have any CDMA service at all so you won't be able to call or text.

jcpetrs said:
Dial 3845#*970#, scroll down to iot hidden menu, system selection, network mode, lte only. However you have any CDMA service at all so you won't be able to call or text.
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Click to collapse
Awesome! Thanks!!!

jcpetrs said:
Dial 3845#*970#, scroll down to iot hidden menu, system selection, network mode, lte only. However you have any CDMA service at all so you won't be able to call or text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
The software version on my phone was updated and now I can't see the iot hidden menu. Is there a workaround?
Thanks

My data is messed up.

I flashed leedroid sprint version and restored my stock backup. Now I barely get any data when I'm supposed to have lte. My carrier is ntelos.

nethoinkz said:
I flashed leedroid sprint version and restored my stock backup. Now I barely get any data when I'm supposed to have lte. My carrier is ntelos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*#4636#* into the dialer, scroll down and then select the correct network option for you service provider, hit home twice - should be done for you

johnerz said:
*#4636#* into the dialer, scroll down and then select the correct network option for you service provider, hit home twice - should be done for you
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Click to collapse
What do you mean by correct network option? Set preffered network option? Select radio band?

nethoinkz said:
What do you mean by correct network option? Set preffered network option? Select radio band?
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Click to collapse
ok again *#*#4636#*#
* choose phone info, scroll down choose the dropdown option its the little arrow on the right hand side only one to choose, you get a menu choose the option that is correct for your sim provider
for example choose:
CDMA/EvDo/GSM/WCDMA/LTE auto
that should choose the best option for your phone
You can try any of the options as they change "live"

johnerz said:
ok again *#*#4636#*#
* choose phone info, scroll down choose the dropdown option its the little arrow on the right hand side only one to choose, you get a menu choose the option that is correct for your sim provider
for example choose:
CDMA/EvDo/GSM/WCDMA/LTE auto
that should choose the best option for your phone
You can try any of the options as they change "live"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. Tried different stuff and still get 3g or 1x on the same area I get 4g before.

Have you had data on that phone before? The nTelos network is not that impressive, especially for LTE. (Fortunately, that will be changing over the next year or two, as Shentel has bought nTelos, and the network will DEFINITELY improve!)

davidtm0 said:
Have you had data on that phone before? The nTelos network is not that impressive, especially for LTE. (Fortunately, that will be changing over the next year or two, as Shentel has bought nTelos, and the network will DEFINITELY improve!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had lte on my home and workplace before. Any other far place would just suck big time. I'm pretty much going crazy as there are no resources for nTelos htc one m9. And I'm slowly losing my patience waiting for the latest software update.

Force 4G only.

Is there any way we can force cellular network to be 4G LTE only? I want to stop it from automatically switching to H+.
I'm on stock nougat, rooted.

I think you can change it in the hidden service menu. BUT be VERY CAREFUL not to change other things in there.
First make sure your preferred network type is LTE auto, not 3g or 2g only.
Next, go to phone / dialer app.
Enter: *#*#4636#*#*
It should automatically direct to Testing menu, with Phone information, Usage statistics, and Wi-Fi information choice.
Select "Phone information".
Warning: There's many things to see here, but you can easily ruin your radio band in here. Just follow this guide and do not even touch other things.
Go to "set preferred network type"
I'm not sure what it would show for your phone, but for mine it shows "LTE/UMTS auto (PRL)".
Select "LTE only". It should immediately reset your network to 4G.
If it still switches to 3G, then test other options in the "set preferred network type" option.
After finish, exit the hidden menu and clear it from recent apps menu.
Warning: DO NOT CHANGE OTHER VALUES IN THERE IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. IT COULD RUIN YOUR RADIO BAND IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL.

Thanks. It worked.