Does switching off "Cellular data" also turns off 3G automatically?

It will turn off 3G 2G or anything that uses cellular data. You will only be able to use wifi and make phone calls

Yes it when you turn off cellular in settings it turns off 3G. When I'm not using my iphone I turn off wifi as well.

For the iPhone 5, yes, because it only has the "Enable LTE" option and the "Cellular data" option. Here, 3G constitutes under cellular data.

For the 4S and older, you can turn off 3G, but still have cellular data, because there's a "Enable 3G" toggle that's lacking in the iPhone 5.

Paito said:

Yes it when you turn off cellular in settings it turns off 3G. When I'm not using my iphone I turn off wifi as well.

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That's the opposite of what I have heard. I've heard that even though it doesn't show 3G it is still actually using the 3G network to make calls. It just doesn't have any data. Is there any definite way to test? I guess on an AT&T phone you could make a call next to a speaker with cellular data off and see if there is static. (2G will make speakers around the phone make noises)

Some areas AT&T has been removing the 2G network, or at least reducing it. it wouldn't make sense for the phone to use the older network that the carrier is trying to phase out.

dave420 said:

That's the opposite of what I have heard. I've heard that even though it doesn't show 3G it is still actually using the 3G network to make calls. It just doesn't have any data. Is there any definite way to test? I guess on an AT&T phone you could make a call next to a speaker with cellular data off and see if there is static. (2G will make speakers around the phone make noises)

Some areas AT&T has been removing the 2G network, or at least reducing it. it wouldn't make sense for the phone to use the older network that the carrier is trying to phase out.

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I did not add "data" to cellular in my comment because thats what it says in settings.

Yes turning off cellular data turns off 3G aswell

dave420 said:

That's the opposite of what I have heard. I've heard that even though it doesn't show 3G it is still actually using the 3G network to make calls. It just doesn't have any data. Is there any definite way to test? I guess on an AT&T phone you could make a call next to a speaker with cellular data off and see if there is static. (2G will make speakers around the phone make noises)

Some areas AT&T has been removing the 2G network, or at least reducing it. it wouldn't make sense for the phone to use the older network that the carrier is trying to phase out.

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Couldn't you just turn off "cellular" and/or "LTE" and then just try to make and receive a phone call?

Also, doesn't putting the phone into "Airplane Mode" basically do the same thing? That is, turn off all cellular data??

dave420 said:

That's the opposite of what I have heard. I've heard that even though it doesn't show 3G it is still actually using the 3G network to make calls. It just doesn't have any data. Is there any definite way to test? I guess on an AT&T phone you could make a call next to a speaker with cellular data off and see if there is static. (2G will make speakers around the phone make noises)

Some areas AT&T has been removing the 2G network, or at least reducing it. it wouldn't make sense for the phone to use the older network that the carrier is trying to phase out.

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Exactly.
Turning off cellular data does not turn off 3G. It just disables all carrier data usage. You can still use 3G to connect to the network for calls and texts.
Two different things.
You can turn off cellular data and you will still see 3G/4G up on the top left corner.

Paito said:

I did not add "data" to cellular in my comment because thats what it says in settings.

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The menu says "cellular" but the option to turn it off or on says "cellular data"
You can still make a call with the option off, so obviously it isn't turning everything off. (Oddly after turning that option off it does say "cellular off" when you are in the general settings menu)

I believe you are still on 3G with that option off, just 3G without data. I can try the speaker trick I mentioned above when I am at home, but I don't think it drops down to 2G.

Browns2212 said:

Couldn't you just turn off "cellular" and/or "LTE" and then just try to make and receive a phone call?

Also, doesn't putting the phone into "Airplane Mode" basically do the same thing? That is, turn off all cellular data??

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You can make calls, but there is no indication of whether it is 2G or 3G. Honestly I don't see the difference between the 2 anyway.

Please don't think that 3G has anything to do with data - it doesn't.

Applejuiced said:

Exactly.
Turning off cellular data does not turn off 3G. It just disables all carrier data usage. You can still use 3G to connect to the network for calls and texts.
Two different things.
You can turn off cellular data and you will still see 3G/4G up on the top left corner.

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Huh? I have an iPhone 5 and it does not show 3G nor 4G when I switch Cellular Data to OFF. Care to explain further?

dkh587 said:

Huh? I have an iPhone 5 and it does not show 3G nor 4G when I switch Cellular Data to OFF. Care to explain further?

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They must have changed it with iOS 6.0 and higher.
On previous firmware versions when you turned off carrier data the 3G or 4G indicator stayed there.
Now it goes away like you said but your phone is still connected to the 3G network for calls and texts. It just doesn't display the logo up there.

It is still there for me as you can see it

zenluiz said:

Hi...

Due to battery consumption reasons, I like to turn off whatever functionality I am not using at the moment.

One thing that annoys me is that everytime I want to turn off cellular data and 3G (which is known to be battery hungry) I need to go to these two separate switches.

Then I wonder... Does switching off "Cellular data" also turns off 3G automatically?

Thanks!

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Does turn off my phone also turn off my Instagram???

90miles said:

It is still there for me as you can see it

Image

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Yep.
It varies by carrier.
AT&T doesn't want us turning 3G off cause they're getting rid of their 2G service little by little. So that option is not there at all.

I'm not certain on the answer, but OP never established their carrier. I know on CDMA carrier Verizon, all voice is over their 2G 1x network, data over 3G and LTE. When you make a call, the phone instantly disables the LTE bit of the radio and removes the 3G symbol. It's possible he's asking, and I'm also curious now, as to whether disabling cellular data on this CDMA model disables the 3G connection.

Applejuiced said:

Yep.
It varies by carrier.
AT&T doesn't want us turning 3G off cause they're getting rid of their 2G service little by little. So that option is not there at all.

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Even if you are roaming?

90miles said:

Even if you are roaming?

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Good question.
Not sure what happens when you roam to another network outside the US.

Mengels7 said:

I know on CDMA carrier Verizon, all voice is over their 2G 1x network,

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Actually, 1xRTT is part of the CDMA2000 spec, and therefore considered "3G."

(This is also how Verizon has been able to claim a much large 3G map than AT&T. They basically have been doing with "3G" what AT&T is doing with "4G," only Verizon's played that game for much, much longer.)

The older and way less capable cdmaOne network is considered "2G" and was capable of about 14.4Kbps data speeds, using something very similar to circuit switched data.


With 1x being predominant across Sprint and Verizon, that makes it technically impossible to turn off 3G on a Verizon/Sprint iPhone without completely shutting off the cellular radio.