Forcing iPhone 5s to run Edge/2G

might be a carrier and country-specific thing, but iOS 8.3 betas have a switch for 2G/Edge under settings>cellular

marknemeth said:

might be a carrier and country-specific thing, but iOS 8.3 betas have a switch for 2G/Edge under settings>cellular

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Definitely still carrier-specific. I only have 4G toggle on 8.3.

TurnerMartin said:

Hope there's a solution for unjailbreak devices

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Have you actually tested the difference in battery life? These days, 3G should not use meaningfully more battery. The only time I've ever seen a difference is if I happen to be in a spot where one signal is very strong while the other is very weak, and it's attempting to stay connected to the weak one. Keep in mind that using a slow connection may actually decrease battery life in some cases. For instance, if it takes 4 times as long to load a page because the data connection is slow, that's 4 times as long the CPU is operating at high speed, 4 times as long your screen is active. This can often end up eating a lot more battery than if you just used a faster connection.

gordon1234 said:

Definitely still carrier-specific. I only have 4G toggle on 8.3.

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What carrier?

Forcing iPhone 5s to run Edge/2G

ckisgen said:

What carrier?

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Verizon.

gordon1234 said:

Verizon.

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Verizon doesn't even have a "2G" network in the way you're thinking. Their 3G and 2G are both Qualcomm CDMA in different modes (EVDO vs 1xRTT) and all voice is 1xRTT. There is no battery impact to disabling EVDO, and I doubt Verizon would allow it as 1xRTT is extremely inefficient for data.

AllieNeko said:

Verizon doesn't even have a "2G" network in the way you're thinking. Their 3G and 2G are both Qualcomm CDMA in different modes (EVDO vs 1xRTT) and all voice is 1xRTT. There is no battery impact to disabling EVDO, and I doubt Verizon would allow it as 1xRTT is extremely inefficient for data.

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I'm thinking data over 1xRTT. My phone does still switch to this from time to time, usually when I'm out hiking a long way from anything. Verizon's 1x signals do seem to reach further than any other. I haven't ever actually missed having a toggle for it though.

gordon1234 said:

I'm thinking data over 1xRTT. My phone does still switch to this from time to time, usually when I'm out hiking a long way from anything. Verizon's 1x signals do seem to reach further than any other. I haven't ever actually missed having a toggle for it though.

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Exactly, but battery life is no better than EVDO and 1xRTT data is horribly inefficient, so Verizon would never want you to be able to do this - it benefits neither you nor them.

On networks that have always been in the GSM family, a 2G (GSM) option can yield incredible battery life, but again - networks do not want people experiencing GSM as their main network. AT&T, for example, is running a bare minimum of GSM and even call performance can be abysmal on GSM. AT&T wants UMTS and LTE to be their networks, thus why they don't want you to be able to force yourself down to GSM.

Forcing iPhone 5s to run Edge/2G

AllieNeko said:

Exactly, but battery life is no better than EVDO and 1xRTT data is horribly inefficient, so Verizon would never want you to be able to do this - it benefits neither you nor them.



On networks that have always been in the GSM family, a 2G (GSM) option can yield incredible battery life, but again - networks do not want people experiencing GSM as their main network. AT&T, for example, is running a bare minimum of GSM and even call performance can be abysmal on GSM. AT&T wants UMTS and LTE to be their networks, thus why they don't want you to be able to force yourself down to GSM.

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To be fair, there are in fact scenarios where I have wished I could force all traffic to 1x. Usually when I'm in the middle of nowhere and the 3G signal is too weak to actually do anything with but the phone is intent on trying its best to hold onto it, what I end up doing is toggling airplane mode on and off in the hopes that it will eventually connect to the 1x signal so I can actually use the phone. It's a bit of a niche, but it definitely happens from time to time.

Actually, I run into a similar situation at home with LTE. You may notice that I have VoLTE switched off, even though the phone supports it. The issue I have is that the LTE signal I get at my house is extremely weak and not really useable, but Verizon will still attempt to use it for all my calls, which will usually drop within seconds. The only way around this is to disable VoLTE entirely, forcing all calls to go across the 1x network.

I'm not necessarily recommending that it be an option, since I think a lot of people would use it for perceived battery savings, whether it actually benefited them or not, but it does have its uses.

gordon1234 said:

To be fair, there are in fact scenarios where I have wished I could force all traffic to 1x. Usually when I'm in the middle of nowhere and the 3G signal is too weak to actually do anything with but the phone is intent on trying its best to hold onto it, what I end up doing is toggling airplane mode on and off in the hopes that it will eventually connect to the 1x signal so I can actually use the phone. It's a bit of a niche, but it definitely happens from time to time.

Actually, I run into a similar situation at home with LTE. You may notice that I have VoLTE switched off, even though the phone supports it. The issue I have is that the LTE signal I get at my house is extremely weak and not really useable, but Verizon will still attempt to use it for all my calls, which will usually drop within seconds. The only way around this is to disable VoLTE entirely, forcing all calls to go across the 1x network.

I'm not necessarily recommending that it be an option, since I think a lot of people would use it for perceived battery savings, whether it actually benefited them or not, but it does have its uses.

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I'm not sure you'd actually have a better experience on 1xRTT. EVDO can negotiate down to some pretty low density coding schemes, the lowest provides 38.4 kbps at an SNR of -12dB. Now, I doubt Verizon's network would ever allow that since it's an EXTREMELY inefficient mode... but I don't know what it's programmed to allow. Regardless, I highly doubt you're ever in a situation 1xRTT would give you better data performance, sorry...

AllieNeko said:

I'm not sure you'd actually have a better experience on 1xRTT. EVDO can negotiate down to some pretty low density coding schemes, the lowest provides 38.4 kbps at an SNR of -12dB. Now, I doubt Verizon's network would ever allow that since it's an EXTREMELY inefficient mode... but I don't know what it's programmed to allow. Regardless, I highly doubt you're ever in a situation 1xRTT would give you better data performance, sorry...

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In edge cases where connectivity is poor as described in the earlier post it can sure provide a better experience of just being able to do something on the phone and not have it try to waste battery holding onto a poor connection or constantly seeking it. Whether a carrier would want to allow something like that is a fairly separate and different question.

C DM said:

In edge cases where connectivity is poor as described in the earlier post it can sure provide a better experience of just being able to do something on the phone and not have it try to waste battery holding onto a poor connection or constantly seeking it. Whether a carrier would want to allow something like that is a fairly separate and different question.

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You've had an experience where EVDO didn't function and 1xRTT did for DATA (not voice, which works at lower SNR)? Both EVDO and 1xRTT are the same channel width and have similar minimum operating conditions.

AllieNeko said:

You've had an experience where EVDO didn't function and 1xRTT did for DATA (not voice, which works at lower SNR)? Both EVDO and 1xRTT are the same channel width and have similar minimum operating conditions.

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I have been in situations where 3G (EVDO) is quite spotty and battery gets wasted trying to hang on to it and/or losing it and looking for it and acquiring it consistently. In some of those cases data went through more consistently when on 1x vs spotty 3G that wouldn't go here or there because the signal would be lost and acquired again and again or a very weak and almost non-functional 3G signal would be held on to wasting battery and not really providing anything useful (if not less than that essentially).

AllieNeko said:

You've had an experience where EVDO didn't function and 1xRTT did for DATA (not voice, which works at lower SNR)? Both EVDO and 1xRTT are the same channel width and have similar minimum operating conditions.

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In my case, yes. In fact there are several places where I reliably find that 1x and only 1x provides any data connectivity. The most recent was the Big Basin Redwoods State Park. If my phone displayed 3G, it was useless- data was 100% non-functional. If it displayed 1x, I could always get (very slow) data service.

gordon1234 said:

In my case, yes. In fact there are several places where I reliably find that 1x and only 1x provides any data connectivity. The most recent was the Big Basin Redwoods State Park. If my phone displayed 3G, it was useless- data was 100% non-functional. If it displayed 1x, I could always get (very slow) data service.

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C DM said:

I have been in situations where 3G (EVDO) is quite spotty and battery gets wasted trying to hang on to it and/or losing it and looking for it and acquiring it consistently. In some of those cases data went through more consistently when on 1x vs spotty 3G that wouldn't go here or there because the signal would be lost and acquired again and again or a very weak and almost non-functional 3G signal would be held on to wasting battery and not really providing anything useful (if not less than that essentially).

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Interesting, I'm not a CDMA customer, but the tech nerd in me really wonders what is going on in this situation... I wonder if Verizon is still operating EVDO at 1900 MHz and 1x at 850 (they did for a long time, but I thought they moved to having EVDO in 850).

According to field test mode, EVDO is connecting at 850 MHz. Not sure if it's different by location.

Honestly, the relationship between signal strength and frequency is often very different from what logic suggests. For instance, I'm connected to Verizon's LTE network on band 13, which should be 700 MHz. In theory this should provide the best possible range and penetration. However, I can't even get a usable LTE signal at my house, whereas 1x/EVDO connecting at 850 MHz has a perfectly fine signal. Verizon supposedly has LTE across its entire coverage area at this point, so the signals should be broadcast from the same towers, so I don't know what's going on.

It's actually very consistent. If I'm driving somewhere where the signal is weak or nonexistent, first to go is LTE, followed by 3G/EVDO, and 1x always hangs on longer than anything.

TurnerMartin said:

My carrier updated this settings letting me use 4G or 3G. Its there any way to force the iPhone, with no jailbreak, to run Edge? Its perfect for iMessages and some apps, with little battery impact.

Any ideas?

Thanks!
Martin

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Apple added this feature to chose between 2g, 3g, 4g but any carrier can block this just with a simple carrier bundle update.

Time to switch?

Maybe it's time to see if a different carrier provides you better coverage.

Or maybe your phone is bad or the case is blocking the signal. I've been in bad coverage areas (NOLA, Vegas), but I live in the sticks and went to AT&T not because they were a great company, but because their signal reached my home at 3G consistently (LTE today). That and being able to talk and use data at the same time.

I'm not pimping them. Check out them, Sprint and T-Mo and see who covers the area you live and play the best. Some carriers even let you out of a contract for bad coverage.

gordon1234 said:

According to field test mode, EVDO is connecting at 850 MHz. Not sure if it's different by location.

Honestly, the relationship between signal strength and frequency is often very different from what logic suggests. For instance, I'm connected to Verizon's LTE network on band 13, which should be 700 MHz. In theory this should provide the best possible range and penetration. However, I can't even get a usable LTE signal at my house, whereas 1x/EVDO connecting at 850 MHz has a perfectly fine signal. Verizon supposedly has LTE across its entire coverage area at this point, so the signals should be broadcast from the same towers, so I don't know what's going on.

It's actually very consistent. If I'm driving somewhere where the signal is weak or nonexistent, first to go is LTE, followed by 3G/EVDO, and 1x always hangs on longer than anything.

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A few things can affect this. Channel width and actual amplitude of the signal come to mind.

Think AM versus FM.

TurnerMartin said:

Yeah, My week involves poor 3G reception (classrooms & basements), also when I'm done with my monthly data consumption (2gigs) my carriers turns my speed to 32kbps, so 3G is not 'needed' for that crappy speed.

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It's clunky, but the only thing I can think of would be to turn off cellular data when you're in an area of poor 3G reception and rely on wifi for data. Then turn cellular data back on when you have a decent signal. That way you can still receive calls if you need to but your phone isn't trying to connect to a slow data network.

TurnerMartin said:

Yeah, My week involves poor 3G reception (classrooms & basements).

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Me too. I wish my iPhone would choose 2G when I'm on wifi, because in the office or at home, I get 1 bar of 4G or 2 bars of 3G if I'm lucky. No problem with call reliability, but I suspect my battery is being wasted.