3G off, 3G on? Huh?

[hakr100]

I'm using NCSettings, which works fine for me. There's a toggle for "cellular data," which I use to save on battery life, and one for 3G, which I don't use. I'm on Verizon with a 4S...what does the 3G toggle do?

Thanks!

 

[BumpyFlatline]

The 3G toggle turns off the 3G cellular connection type and turns on EDGE. Edge is the older generation cellular connection type. It has a slower data connection than 3G.

 

[mrsir2009]

The 3G toggle toggles 3G pretty much. So if your carrier has a backup 2G network, it will use that when 3G is turned off. And although 2G is much slower than 3G, it also uses less battery life. However if your carrier only has a 3G network, turning off 3G will mean you won't be able to use Internet (aside from wifi) texting or calling at all.

 

[Intell]

Turning off 3G on a Verizon phone will turn off the EVDO data connection and force the iPhone to use the much slower voice network whose acronym I forget at the moment. But it is about half as fast as AT&T's EDGE network.

 

[hakr100]

The 3G toggle toggles 3G pretty much. So if your carrier has a backup 2G network, it will use that when 3G is turned off. And although 2G is much slower than 3G, it also uses less battery life. However if your carrier only has a 3G network, turning off 3G will mean you won't be able to use Internet (aside from wifi) texting or calling at all.

The difference between "Cellular Data" and "3G" is not something I understand. If I turn off Cellular Data, the phone still works as a phone, but I can't get email or on the internet. I understand that.

I'll have to experiment when I am out of WiFi range.

 

[mrsir2009]

The difference between "Cellular Data" and "3G" is not something I understand. If I turn off Cellular Data, the phone still works as a phone, but I can't get email or on the internet. I understand that.

I'll have to experiment when I am out of WiFi range.

When dealing with cellphones 'data' pretty much means any data transfered except calling and SMS. 3G is the technology that connects the phone to the tower.

 

[alphaod]

Turning off 3G on a Verizon phone will turn off the EVDO data connection and force the iPhone to use the much slower voice network whose acronym I forget at the moment. But it is about half as fast as AT&T's EDGE network.

You mean 1xRTT? That's worse than dial-up!

 

[Intell]

You mean 1xRTT? That's worse than dial-up!

Yes that. One thing that most people don't know is that when Verizon makes its country wide data coverage maps, it counts that as 3G. Because it is Verizon's 3G voice network. If you were to not count that, Verizon's 3G EVDO data coverage would be about the same as AT&T's. Just like if you include EDGE for AT&T, it'd cover more area then Verizon's 1xRTT+EVDO network.

 

[TriJetHero]

The difference between "Cellular Data" and "3G" is not something I understand. If I turn off Cellular Data, the phone still works as a phone, but I can't get email or on the internet. I understand that.

I'll have to experiment when I am out of WiFi range.

You can also turn off wifi and experiment rightaway