3G toggle on ios 8 GM

[zorinlynx]

Doesn't this neglect the fact that 3G signal is more often weaker than 2G, either due to less 3G enabled masts or the higher wave frequency of 3G, which is less able to penetrate walls and so on?

An iPhone may cling on to a poor 3G signal in favour of a stronger 2G signal. Not only is this inconvenient if it means more call drops and so on, it will use more battery maintaining a weak signal.

I have disabled 4G for similar reasons: in my area it isn't much faster than 3G and is always weaker. (Don't worry, I don't pay more to get 4G!)

That used to be the case years ago, but with refarming of the networks, these days 3G is typically more prevalent and 2G is being phased out.

Of course that depends on where you are, and I'm sure it doesn't apply to all carriers/locations/countries. So I'll eat my hat if I'm wrong.

 

[sandeeproy]

Doesn't this neglect the fact that 3G signal is more often weaker than 2G, either due to less 3G enabled masts or the higher wave frequency of 3G, which is less able to penetrate walls and so on?

An iPhone may cling on to a poor 3G signal in favour of a stronger 2G signal. Not only is this inconvenient if it means more call drops and so on, it will use more battery maintaining a weak signal.

I have disabled 4G for similar reasons: in my area it isn't much faster than 3G and is always weaker. (Don't worry, I don't pay more to get 4G!)

I would tend to agree. That's exactly what happens in India. We've had 3G for a long time but even in metro cities it's patchy. 3G works like 2G & 2G is terrible - so if left on Auto, the radios are constantly switching. Strangely, right up to 7.1.2 we had a 3G toggle on 5/5c/5s, my carrier still does not provide LTE. Currently, there is only one Carrier in India - Airtel, which provides 4G, in a couple of cities, which seems like a pilot/test project.