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3G and Edge is connected?

M

moonknight

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 17, 2009
34
0
Are 3G and Edge connected?? How come when I turn off 3G the little icon turns into the Edge icon? And the weird thing is that I can still connect to the internet, but I'm not even subscribed to Edge..

And when I turn off Edge.. my 3G doesn't work. Does anybody else have this problem or know why this is happening? I'm using an iPhone 3GS 3.0 btw.

Thanks
 
moonknight said:
Are 3G and Edge connected?? How come when I turn off 3G the little icon turns into the Edge icon? And the weird thing is that I can still connect to the internet, but I'm not even subscribed to Edge..

And when I turn off Edge.. my 3G doesn't work. Does anybody else have this problem or know why this is happening? I'm using an iPhone 3GS 3.0 btw.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You can't turn off edge, so what are you talking about? When you turn off 3G, the phone picks up EDGE if available.
 
Edge is your voice and text (and Internet if no 3G) and 3G is your Internet. Basic way of looking at it.
 
Almy said:
Edge is your voice and text (and Internet if no 3G) and 3G is your Internet. Basic way of looking at it.
Click to expand...
no thats completely wrong, if 3G is available, everything will use it. calls are higher quality, and internet is faster

the iPhone has 2 radios in it, a GPRS/EDGE and a 3G radio. you can disable to 3G one to increase battery, but can't disable the other one, hence having EDGE when 3G is disabled
 
moonknight said:
Are 3G and Edge connected?? How come when I turn off 3G the little icon turns into the Edge icon? And the weird thing is that I can still connect to the internet, but I'm not even subscribed to Edge..
Click to expand...

Actually, you are "subscribed" to both EDGE and 3G. None of AT&T's data rate plans, including iPhone data, differentiates between the two. The rate plan covers whatever is available: 3G or EDGE. If 3G is enabled on your phone and the phone sees a 3G carrier, it'll connect. If not, it will look for EDGE and connect to that.
 
Edge and 3g have the same functionality it's just that 3g is newer and faster than edge. You don't have to be subscribed to one or the other, it's for the same paid service.
 
Ok.. so basically all I want to know is: I'm subscribed to 3G, so does that also mean I'm subscribed to EDGE?

Also, you can turn off Edge.. there's a toggle for sbsettings. And when I turn off EDGE... 3G doesn't work.. why is that?

Most importantly.. since I subscribed to 3G... if I use EDGE will it cost me extra?
 
Ok.. so basically all I want to know is: I'm subscribed to 3G, so does that also mean I'm subscribed to EDGE?
yes, you must be. they are both data connections

Also, you can turn off Edge.. there's a toggle for sbsettings. And when I turn off EDGE... 3G doesn't work.. why is that?
turning off EDGE is not possible, what sbsettings does is change the APN in your internet settings, kind of like enabling the wrong proxy server - it won't work, and therefore 3G data also disconnects. However, there is no point in disabling EDGE, as the radio is still on as the phone can accept phone calls. the only real reason to disable EDGE is to disable the phone from connecting to the internet, for example, if not on an iphone contract and therefore with high data costs

Most importantly.. since I subscribed to 3G... if I use EDGE will it cost me extra?
nope
 
thanks for the reply, the reason I wanted to turn off Edge was because I thought it would cost me extra when I turned off my 3G.

But wait... what if I want to turn off my 3G so that I can save on my internet usage. I'm only allowed 1GB a month right? So the reason why I wanted to turn off 3G was to stop the phone from uploading or downloading data. So how do I do that? If 3G is off... EDGE is still on...

So let me get this straight: I can turn off 3G but I can't turn off EDGE?
 
moonknight said:
thanks for the reply, the reason I wanted to turn off Edge was because I thought it would cost me extra when I turned off my 3G.

But wait... what if I want to turn off my 3G so that I can save on my internet usage. I'm only allowed 1GB a month right? So the reason why I wanted to turn off 3G was to stop the phone from uploading or downloading data. So how do I do that? If 3G is off... EDGE is still on...

So let me get this straight: I can turn off 3G but I can't turn off EDGE?
Click to expand...

There's no way to make your phone stop downloading data, besides turning push off and your email accounts to fetch. Turning of 3G simply tells the phone not to use the 3G radios in the phone and to instead use the older, slower EDGE radios. EDGE is a data portion of the GSM standard, which is what your phone uses to make phone calls.

Basically, if you turned off EDGE, your phone wouldn't be able to make phone calls. If you just turn off push email, you will have no problem with staying under your 1GB cap.

EDIT: I'm guessing that you're not from the US and have a capped data plan from your carrier. If you are in the US and use AT&T, the you have a 5GB cap, which you will have a VERY hard time going over, even with extremely heavy data use.
 
+1 except for the stuff about a soft cap. It's unlimited. Or find a link that supports the soft cap. And don't bother quoting the air card part of the TOS, because it doesn't apply.
 
iphone.aggie said:
+1 except for the stuff about a soft cap. It's unlimited. Or find a link that supports the soft cap. And don't bother quoting the air card part of the TOS, because it doesn't apply.
Click to expand...

There are lots of rumors about a 5gb soft cap, but even if you do go over it, you will only be asked to stop using data so heavily and not charged extra. Is it true? I don't know, but 99% of iPhone users will never have to worry about it.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/11/att.5gb.soft.cap.leak/
^one link I found.
 
Thanks, I think I understand it now. But it does make sense to turn off 3G if you want to save battery right? And if I turn off 3G I can still connect to internet and stuff because EDGE will always be on, correct?

Also, while we're on the subject of going over the data limit. How do I check how much data I've transferred or received? Can I check it on the Rogers website?
 
Luigi239 said:
There are lots of rumors about a 5gb soft cap, but even if you do go over it, you will only be asked to stop using data so heavily and not charged extra. Is it true? I don't know, but 99% of iPhone users will never have to worry about it.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/11/att.5gb.soft.cap.leak/
^one link I found.
Click to expand...

QFT about most never going above 5, but the link was just a rumor. I meant a link to something official from AT&T. I've looked. There's nothing.
 
moonknight said:
Thanks, I think I understand it now. But it does make sense to turn off 3G if you want to save battery right? And if I turn off 3G I can still connect to internet and stuff because EDGE will always be on, correct?

Also, while we're on the subject of going over the data limit. How do I check how much data I've transferred or received? Can I check it on the Rogers website?
Click to expand...
yes, turning off 3G does save battery. to prevent apps from using the internet, turn off all push and fetch as well. to permanently prevent access, use sbsettings. even a 1GB cap is a lot on a mobile

i would have thought you can check on the rogers website. if not, under settings > general > usage there is a data usage, which can be reset monthly
 
Luigi239 said:
There are lots of rumors about a 5gb soft cap, but even if you do go over it, you will only be asked to stop using data so heavily and not charged extra. Is it true? I don't know, but 99% of iPhone users will never have to worry about it.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/11/att.5gb.soft.cap.leak/
^one link I found.
Click to expand...

I used 8.3GB last month. They haven't said anything.

If they do say anything, they can go f*ck themselves, as the plan specifically says UNLIMITED and I hate them anyway.

I'm also watching Rachel Maddow via video podcast to the tune of 250MB an hour on 3G right now.
 
So if I go over my 1GB.. will they charge me more?? How do I know if it's soft-capped? Will Rogers tell me if I asked? Or will they try to avoid the answer because they don't want me to go over my limit..?
 
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