Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
31,585
20,822
UK
Seeing as it has Been nothing but trouble for some...will you turn it off to help your battery life?
 
No, but I do have a few questions:

1. What trouble has 3G caused?
2. What does that trouble have to do with the release of iOS 5.1?

3G has to me been the issue with battery life..having 3G on all the time means it is always searching for a connection and which uses up battery. That has been clear when at work.

IOS 5.1 it has been stated you can switch 3G off where currently you can’t.

----------

Well, no. Why would I want to cripple my iPhone by effectively turning off the Internet?

Because currently when not in a 3G area it uses battery by searching for a connection.
 
You know I never thought about this until I see this post. I think another reason they brought back this switch is because of iPad's LTE so either 4G speeds or nothing. Also this might save battery life on it from trying to switch back and forth and looking for the strongest 3G signal when you already have a 4G signal, etc. etc.

and to answer your question yes I would disable 3G when needed.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

My battery "issues" come from frequent use. Nothing more.
 
A switch would only be justifiable when you have 4G speeds. 4G speeds are great but they kill the phones battery. The phone (CPU) is processing so much information so quickly there is not way around the battery getting torn to shreds. In that scenario having the ability to switch to 3G is a positive.

I know first hand having had the Nexus on 4G.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

No way, just use the damn phone
 
It would never even occur to me to turn off 3G.

In have never had problems like you describe. Excellent coverage every where I go.
 
only when very low on battery and still need data .... just like I used to do with my old iPhone 4
 
I will turn it off in a heartbeat if my Verizon 4s gets that option. Keeping my fingers crossed I get that option.
 
I haven't used it, but there's an App on Cydia for jailbroken phones called "Auto3G". It falls back to EDGE when the phone is in standby mode, and when you use the phone, it switches onto 3G.

It may be worth looking into.
 
Well, no. Why would I want to cripple my iPhone by effectively turning off the Internet?

It falls back to EDGE

3G is not the same as data
2G is not the same as "EDGE"

3G UMTS networks can provide the ability to handle calls, SMS and data.
2G GSM networks can provide the ability to handle calls, SMS and data.

Turning off 3G will not turn off data access on your phone.

If your carrier allows you to connect to a 2G GSM network that offers data services through GPRS or EDGE, then you'll still be able to connect to the internet when the "Enable 3G" switch is toggled to off

Some carriers don't support EDGE at all and most don't have EDGE coverage across their entire 2G network.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

I won't be able to. I'm on a 3G only network :/
 
The "Enable 3G" switch is only missing on the iPhone 4S running iOS 5.0 or 5.0.1

The iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS running iOS 5.0+ have retained the switch.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Turning off 3G will not turn off data access on your phone.

If your carrier allows you to connect to a 2G GSM network that offers data services through GPRS or EDGE, then you'll still be able to connect to the internet when the "Enable 3G" switch is toggled to off

Some carriers don't support EDGE at all and most don't have EDGE coverage across their entire 2G network.

I know this, which is why I used the word 'effectively' in my post. My carrier (the same as yours, I believe) has such an ineffective 2G network that I may as well turn off all data. I don't think I've ever been able to access anything on Three's GPRS network.
 
I know this, which is why I used the word 'effectively' in my post. My carrier (the same as yours, I believe) has such an ineffective 2G network that I may as well turn off all data. I don't think I've ever been able to access anything on Three's GPRS network.

The thing is, the phone still looks for the 3G connection for voice, regardless of whether or not you have turned data off/ Simply turning data off will not save you battery, except in the sense that mail and such will not be downloaded, thus saving the potential batter drain of sporadic data transfer. In theory, actually being able to turn 3G off in a case where there is no 3G signal but there is a 2G signal should theoretically help with battery drain issues.

FWIW, for those who are jailbroken, you can add a tweak to turn off 3G.
 
my 4s
 

Attachments

  • ImageUploadedByTapatalk1329675763.091701.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1329675763.091701.jpg
    104.6 KB · Views: 73
I know this, which is why I used the word 'effectively' in my post. My carrier (the same as yours, I believe) has such an ineffective 2G network that I may as well turn off all data. I don't think I've ever been able to access anything on Three's GPRS network.

The reason you've not been able to use Three's "GPRS Network" is that they don't have one.

They have a roaming agreement with Orange that allows Three customers to use the Orange 2G network in selected areas where there is no 3G signal.

They don't permit users to use data whilst roaming on the Orange 2G network due to the costs involved.

Given these costs, Three disables the "Enable 3G" toggle on all iPhones used on its network.

----------

The thing is, the phone still looks for the 3G connection for voice, regardless of whether or not you have turned data off/ Simply turning data off will not save you battery, except in the sense that mail and such will not be downloaded, thus saving the potential batter drain of sporadic data transfer. In theory, actually being able to turn 3G off in a case where there is no 3G signal but there is a 2G signal should theoretically help with battery drain issues.

FWIW, for those who are jailbroken, you can add a tweak to turn off 3G.

It should save a LOT of battery, because the phone won't initiate and maintain a PDP connection. That in itself will save a lot of power over time vs. not turning it off.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.