iPhone 5 turn off 3G only, NOT LTE?

[Gold3nrul3]

Hello I am trying to find out if it's possible to turn off the 3G radio and not the LTE radio because at my desk my phone automatically switches over to 3G even though I get an LTE signal of about one or two bars which are good enough to have a perfect connection. If I walk to one end of the room I get four bars of LTE but then when I go back to my desk it slowly drops until I have one or two bars at my desk which is still a good enough signal. I don't know if there's a way I can manually enter the network profile for the 3G to disable it or I might have to jailbreak the phone or it's just not possible.

[maflynn]

Nope, no option, you can disable LTE but not 3G.

If you're phone is unable to keep a lock on LTE, then its probably best to disable LTE so it doesn't try to keep locking into a tower.

[Gold3nrul3]

Why would it be best? It does get a lock just prioritizes a stronger 3G signal... I know there is no easy way to find this answer but historically does jailbreaking iOS give access to radio control?

[tymaster50]

Why would you want to turn off 3G anyway? 2G is slow and it probably means the 3G signal is faster than the LTE signal.

[Gold3nrul3]

So that the phone is forced to use the LTE radio not the 3G...

[tymaster50]

Originally Posted by Gold3nrul3

So that the phone is forced to use the LTE radio not the 3G...

It's not a good idea to use it on 1 or 2 bars of LTE. And the phone probably can't keep a lock on the signal, it also destroys the battery life.

[Gold3nrul3]

I'm sitting at my desk, it can't keep a lock because its prioritizing the 3G....AFAIK. Battery is np I have it plugged in

[Westyfield2]

I don't think it's needed really. Mine will stay locked on to LTE all the way down to a displayed zero bars... but still speedtested at 8/17meg while at zero bars!

[tymaster50]

Originally Posted by Gold3nrul3

I'm sitting at my desk, it can't keep a lock because its prioritizing the 3G....AFAIK. Battery is np I have it plugged in

Well you can't turn off 3G since it's on the same chip now. So you'll just have to live with things loading 3 seconds slower

[cngrevolution]

Originally Posted by tymaster50

Well you can't turn off 3G since it's on the same chip now. So you'll just have to live with things loading 3 seconds slower

Hmm. Why would it matter if they are on the same chip? You can turn off the LTE what's the difference of turning off the 3G? I would love to have that option. I'm hoping maybe a jailbreak will make that option possible.

[justyou]

When do u guys think we gonna have a jailbreak?


look at that: http://ecosimply.blogspot.com/2012/0...charts-to.html

[tymaster50]

Originally Posted by cngrevolution

Hmm. Why would it matter if they are on the same chip? You can turn off the LTE what's the difference of turning off the 3G? I would love to have that option. I'm hoping maybe a jailbreak will make that option possible.

there's no dedicated 3G chip. So basically you're stuck on LTE, unless your area/country doesn't have LTE yet, it's pretty much carrier setting based. and if you really hate the 3G that bad then it's up to you, the device automatically switches to 2G when connecting to LTE

[cngrevolution]

Originally Posted by tymaster50

there's no dedicated 3G chip. So basically you're stuck on LTE, unless your area/country doesn't have LTE
yet, it's pretty much carrier setting based. and if you really hate the 3G that bad then it's up to you, the device automatically switches to 2G when connecting to LTE

I guess what I am saying is since all the radios are on one chip then it should be nothing more than a software switch to turn off LTE or 3G. Either one should make no difference. I guess just a matter of the carriers allowing it or a developer writing a app for that.

[tymaster50]

Originally Posted by cngrevolution

I guess what I am saying is since all the radios are on one chip then it should be nothing more than a software switch to turn off LTE or 3G. Either one should make no difference. I guess just a matter of the carriers allowing it or a developer writing a app for that.

I don't really see the problem though. It couldn't get a consistent LTE signal so it switched to a stronger 3G signal. I wouldn't want to turn off 3G when carriers are shutting down 2G networks and when LTE turns off 3G anyway

[stonyboys]

I'm thinking if no phone ever in history allowed the option to turn 3G off but leave LTE on, then there is an impossibility in the way cell towers work, ie LTE relies on 3G somehow.

Also have you speedtested it? I was near downtown which is where the only 2 LTE towers in the city are, and the speed I got was as fast as the 3 bar 3G speed I get at my house.

[Applejuiced]

Originally Posted by Gold3nrul3

So that the phone is forced to use the LTE radio not the 3G...

If lte doesn't get good signal then it stays on 3G.
Lte doesn't do calls, just data btw.

[Redsew]

This may not be helpful but the iPhone 5 has a 3G capability??? I thought it only had 4g lte since the new iPad only allows 4g... This is surprising... I want the iPhone 5 now lol....

[Gold3nrul3]

I at least want the option... if the LTE ends up being spotty and worse than the 3g then I would swap back but I am pretty sure that a really low LTE signal is still better than a 100 times slower 3g signal...

[Myiphone7]

Originally Posted by Gold3nrul3

Hello I am trying to find out if it's possible to turn off the 3G radio and not the LTE radio because at my desk my phone automatically switches over to 3G even though I get an LTE signal of about one or two bars which are good enough to have a perfect connection. If I walk to one end of the room I get four bars of LTE but then when I go back to my desk it slowly drops until I have one or two bars at my desk which is still a good enough signal. I don't know if there's a way I can manually enter the network profile for the 3G to disable it or I might have to jailbreak the phone or it's just not possible.

I don't think this can be done. Maybe a jailbreak tweak will be available. In fact I am certain their will be because there was an app that let you turn off edge only on jailbroken 4's

[hNicolas]

Originally Posted by Redsew

This may not be helpful but the iPhone 5 has a 3G capability??? I thought it only had 4g lte since the new iPad only allows 4g... This is surprising... I want the iPhone 5 now lol....

All iPads fall back to 3G when 4G or LTE signals are weak.

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Originally Posted by Gold3nrul3

I at least want the option... if the LTE ends up being spotty and worse than the 3g then I would swap back but I am pretty sure that a really low LTE signal is still better than a 100 times slower 3g signal...

I would love to have that option too. I have 2 bars LTE at home and get 25-30 Mbs downloads. And it often switches to 3 bars 3G, at 8 Mbs downloads. I don't understand why it switches like that. I have never seen 0 bar LTE, but I'm sure it would still be faster than my 3G.