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Recently bought a Samsung I897 Captivate. Its a unlocked phone and I'm using it in Argentina with Movistar. My previous phone was a Motorola Milestone, and it sometimes changed the connection from 3G / HSDPA to 2G (EDGE), in 3G areas. The solution was to go to APN settings, enable "2G only", then disabling it, and the phone instantly switched to 3G again.
However, the Captivate doesn't have such option. Setting the phone to Flight Mode its useless, it will keep connecting in 2G.
Only solution I found at the moment was to go to Network Mode (*#0011#) then navigate to Network Control => Band Selection, selecting WCDMA only, and then enabling Automatic again.
That seems to reset the connection.
I searched in the market for free and paid apps to help me fix this issue, but I found nothing, only the Toggle 2G app, but it only works with Cyanogen Mod.
I have some questions:
If I set the connection to WCDMA only, then I'll have no signal at all in 2G areas, right?.
Does anyone know a quicker way to do this?. I tried to make a shortcut to ServiceMode with dg Quickcut but when I try to open it it crashed the phone.
Thanks in advance.
Whipon.
Whipon said:
Recently bought a Samsung I897 Captivate. Its a unlocked phone and I'm using it in Argentina with Movistar. My previous phone was a Motorola Milestone, and it sometimes changed the connection from 3G / HSDPA to 2G (EDGE), in 3G areas. The solution was to go to APN settings, enable "2G only", then disabling it, and the phone instantly switched to 3G again.
However, the Captivate doesn't have such option. Setting the phone to Flight Mode its useless, it will keep connecting in 2G.
Only solution I found at the moment was to go to Network Mode (*#0011#) then navigate to Network Control => Band Selection, selecting WCDMA only, and then enabling Automatic again.
That seems to reset the connection.
I searched in the market for free and paid apps to help me fix this issue, but I found nothing, only the Toggle 2G app, but it only works with Cyanogen Mod.
I have some questions:
If I set the connection to WCDMA only, then I'll have no signal at all in 2G areas, right?.
Does anyone know a quicker way to do this?. I tried to make a shortcut to ServiceMode with dg Quickcut but when I try to open it it crashed the phone.
Thanks in advance.
Whipon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as of right now, there is no "fix" for this. the best you COULD do is to flash Eugene's VibrantHybrid ROM where the "use 2g networks only" option does exist, but you'll lose GPS (for now)
Kaik541 said:
as of right now, there is no "fix" for this. the best you COULD do is to flash Eugene's VibrantHybrid ROM where the "use 2g networks only" option does exist, but you'll lose GPS (for now)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply Kaik541.
Does the signal strength improve with that rom?.
Currently I'm using I897UCJH7 from samfirmware.
Whipon said:
Thanks for the quick reply Kaik541.
Does the signal strength improve with that rom?.
Currently I'm using I897UCJH7 from samfirmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should revert back to JH3 if you're going to use Hybrid (I don't believe JH7 is compatible yet, there are some issues that cropped up with SRE, so it would be safer to do JH3, or even better JF6). I've seen slightly better reception and MUCH better battery life running Hybrid
Kaik541 said:
you should revert back to JH3 if you're going to use Hybrid (I don't believe JH7 is compatible yet, there are some issues that cropped up with SRE, so it would be safer to do JH3, or even better JF6). I've seen slightly better reception and MUCH better battery life running Hybrid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems it will be updated soon.
Maybe I'll give it a try.
Do you know if it removes the 850 band?.
I need it, because my carrier uses it for WCDMA.
Try this:
1. In the Market, download Any Cut. (This is a free app) 2. open Any Cut and choose New Shortcut 3. select Activity 4. Scroll down the list until you get to Phone Info 5. Select OK. (this will place the short cut on your homescreen) 6. Open the shortcut and scroll down until you see "Set Preferred Network Type" 7. Choose GSM only and you are set. This forces the phone to EGDE
I used this to force edge. Use google to download AnyCut, it doesn't exist on the market for the unknown reason
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I just discovered Juice Defender. One of its features is to set phone to 2G automatically (seems very configurable). I haven't really had a chance to test it, but thought I'd mention it to you anyway
DarkVasyaK said:
Try this:
1. In the Market, download Any Cut. (This is a free app) 2. open Any Cut and choose New Shortcut 3. select Activity 4. Scroll down the list until you get to Phone Info 5. Select OK. (this will place the short cut on your homescreen) 6. Open the shortcut and scroll down until you see "Set Preferred Network Type" 7. Choose GSM only and you are set. This forces the phone to EGDE
I used this to force edge. Use google to download AnyCut, it doesn't exist on the market for the unknown reason
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot. I use dg Quickcut for that.
But, I don't need to force EDGE, I need a way to force 3G .
The phone usually switchs to EDGE in 3G areas, and I need to change it back to 3G.
I've used your suggestion to make such shortcut, changed it to WCDMA only, clicked the Disable Radio button twice (because it didn't changed to 3G), and when it switched back to 3G, I changed back the network to GSM / CDMA auto.
What about WCDMA preferred?. Will it try to allways connect to 3G?.
can yall not just dial * # * # 4636 #*#* scroll to the bottom and chnage it there, just so happens i posted a how to earlier in the general section, works on stock ROMS afaik.
also GPS still works
Whipon said:
Thanks a lot. I use dg Quickcut for that.
But, I don't need to force EDGE, I need a way to force 3G .
The phone usually switchs to EDGE in 3G areas, and I need to change it back to 3G.
I've used your suggestion to make such shortcut, changed it to WCDMA only, clicked the Disable Radio button twice (because it didn't changed to 3G), and when it switched back to 3G, I changed back the network to GSM / CDMA auto.
What about WCDMA preferred?. Will it try to allways connect to 3G?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read my previous post.
it has a WCDMA preferred WDMA only (only uses 3g) and a bunch of others. read my post in general for a more detailed explanation.
Thanks a lot
xatrekak said:
can yall not just dial * # * # 4636 #*#* scroll to the bottom and chnage it there, just so happens i posted a how to earlier in the general section, works on stock ROMS afaik.
also GPS still works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but Mesasone pointed me to a great app in the market.
Its called Samservmode. It opens service mode without entering any codes.
Anyways, thanks for your help .
I'm currently using CM 6.1.2 on my Milestone.
If I switch to 2G mode in the mobile network settings, I have no connection.
If I use the Toggle 2G app, it doesn't seem to really do anything. If I set 2G to use one of the options that don't disconnect me (WCDMA, CDMA or GSM 2g/3g) it still shows 3G in the status bar so I'm not sure what the point is in using the Toggle 2G app.
Wondering the same thing myself...
Does anyone knows the answer?
zeppelinrox said:
I'm currently using CM 6.1.2 on my Milestone.
If I switch to 2G mode in the mobile network settings, I have no connection.
If I use the Toggle 2G app, it doesn't seem to really do anything. If I set 2G to use one of the options that don't disconnect me (WCDMA, CDMA or GSM 2g/3g) it still shows 3G in the status bar so I'm not sure what the point is in using the Toggle 2G app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not certain about this (i use rogers), but i believe that telus has no 2G (edge) network. They built a 3G only network just in time for the olympics to replace their cdma network:
So the toggler probably cant find a valid connection and retries 3G.
Manual mode cant find a network at all.
On rogers, i can fallback to 2g. This is normal according to what i think i know.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
thanks for the info.
That's what I thought so have given up on the idea of getting 2g to work
I guess when it comes to 3g and saving battery life, juice defender will have to do as it can turn off data when the screen is off but still have the phone working.
Well, I think I made some progress with this.
On my phone, I was also loosing the connection when switching from 3G to 2G but it's working now. I can get calls, it's only the data aver 2G that doesn't work now.
I have the Cronos rom on my phone, I can tell you what I did if you're interested.
Yes please do.
If it works on cm6 then at least I can also save juice by not using juice defender... oh the irony... lol
edit: hey look at all them Canadian flags, eh?!
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Took me a lot of time to find the right switches combination.
Anyway, I have Toggle 2G auto managing the 2G/3G and for the bottom 2 options:
2G network: WCDMA preferred (3G/2G)
3G network: GSM auto (PRL)(2G/3G)
If I check under Setting/About/Phone/Status, I see written mobile network type UMTS.
Hmm... I had those 2 settings reversed when using toggly2g
I will try that.
Right now, my mobile network type shows up as HSPA.
Your post prompted me to find the difference and came up with these 2 useful pages just before my head exploded.
Awesome thread: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1600012-HSPA-vs.-UMTS
Handy chart at the bottom of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
s0ulreaver said:
Well, I think I made some progress with this.
On my phone, I was also loosing the connection when switching from 3G to 2G but it's working now. I can get calls, it's only the data aver 2G that doesn't work now.
I have the Cronos rom on my phone, I can tell you what I did if you're interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this not the same then as just shutting off data?
Caz666 said:
Is this not the same then as just shutting off data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure but I don't think so. You can turn off the data but have the phone connected to the 3G network, right?
I think you could get data over 2G but it's just very slow, right?
With Telus I don't think they allow data over 2G.
zeppelinrox, I wonder why yours shows like this, what do you have active under those settings?
What ROMs are you guys using?
zeppelinrox said:
Hmm... I had those 2 settings reversed when using toggly2g
I will try that.
Right now, my mobile network type shows up as HSPA.
Your post prompted me to find the difference and came up with these 2 useful pages just before my head exploded.
Awesome thread: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1600012-HSPA-vs.-UMTS
Handy chart at the bottom of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I'm on 2G it shows as UMTS
With 3G (mobile data enabled) I see it alternating from 3G/UMTS to H/HSPA.
I'm on CM6.
My phone always shows HSPA except if I set it to use 2G then it shows GPRS - which is when I have no data and no phone signal.
I did use the Telus baseband file in AOR though... I wonder how it will behave if I use the Canada baseband....
Also, here's a neat trick....
dial *#*#4636#*#*
A Testing App will show up....
Select Phone Information and then goto the bottom.
You can set your preferred Network type.
Ok so that listbox shows all the different options.
The only options that will save are:
GSM only (2g - I get nothing - shows as GPRS)
WCDMA only (3g - shows as HSPA)
GSM auto (PRL) - (3g - shows as HSPA as well)
All the other options either are not selectable or just revert back to GSM auto (as is the case with WCDMA preferred)
I just did a few speed tests and I seem to get faster speeds with GSM auto than I do with WCDMA only
Gonna try that Canada baseband now....
Edit: Same thing. Except the speed test is slower for both WCDMA and GSM autio so best off using the Telus baseband.
The dial trick doesn't work. I dial the sequence as a phone number, right?
It disappears then nothing changes.
ah.. yeah sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries...
do you use adw launcher?
If so, you can actually create a shortcut for it... I figured it out today.
1 Press and hold on homescreen and select Custom shortcut
2 Press "Pick your activity"
3 Select the second item on the list ie. Activities (with the ADW icon)
4 Wait for all stuff to load, scroll down to Settings, and press the arrow next to it to see the long list of activites that Settings.apk can do.
5 Scroll down near the end of the list, you will see Testing(.TestingSettings)
6. Select that and press OK on the next window.
I also made one for Battery History, which is actually part of the Testing app but is usually only accessible through Spare Parts.
I still can't get the trick to work... doesn't do anything on my phone
Right now I'm on the 2501 rom (latest 2.2.1 from Motorola) and I can say it's the best I've tested so far!
Outstanding battery life!
I found another way to run Testing App.
With Google gesture search you can set it to launch Settings actions
Let it scan and then write "testing" on the screen
Edit: oh crap I mistyped the code.
Its *#*#4636#*#*
I had 4536 before so I fixed it
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
zeppelinrox said:
I'm currently using CM 6.1.2 on my Milestone.
If I switch to 2G mode in the mobile network settings, I have no connection.
If I use the Toggle 2G app, it doesn't seem to really do anything. If I set 2G to use one of the options that don't disconnect me (WCDMA, CDMA or GSM 2g/3g) it still shows 3G in the status bar so I'm not sure what the point is in using the Toggle 2G app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, after doing some more tests and trying different apps (2G/3G switchers) I can say those apps work only if your cell phone company has both 2G/3G network.
In Montreal, only Rogers has both.
Easy to test (btw: I'm using the FroyoMOD rom): go in "Settings" -> "Wireless & Networks" -> "Mobile Network Settings" and check "Use only 2G networks".
See if your cell phone company is listed when you do a search under "Network Operators". If it's not, don't bother using a 2G/3G switcher.
When doing this, in Montreal I see only Rogers listed. If I uncheck "Use only 2G networks" I see all 3 of them: Bell, Telus and Rogers.
Hope this helps!
I don't get the greatest battery life with HSDPA enabled, I also only get 1-3 bars which I know isn't helping my battery life at all.
I tried this below.
Enter the Phone app.
Dial *#*#197328640#*#*
Select [1] DEBUG SCREEN
Select [8] PHONE CONTROL
Select [4] UE STATE CONTROL
If you want 2G, select:
[3] CHANGE RAT TO GSM
If you want 3G, select:
[2] CHANGE RAT TO WCDMA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works, I get 4-5 bars w/ EDGE. But when I get a phone call and talk on the phone. Weird things happen. Suddenly my phone mutes and the backlight turns off and on. This doesn't happen when it's set to 3G.
I tried this one below.
Dial *#*#2263#*#* (mnemonic: *#*#BAND#*#* for band selection)
Select [3] GSM BAND
Select [1] GSM ALL
Select "Select GSM All Bands"
Menu key > END
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it doesn't allow me to change anything. I get some "RAT is blocked" or something message.
Not sure what to do, any suggestions? Details of my phone are in my sig.
Update.
It's still not sticking on GSM mode. It just switches itself back to 3G. That's without turning it off or turning on Airplane mode.
Are you running a ROM or kernel? If you are have you tried switching the ROM or using a different Modem to see if that helps you?
flashman2002 said:
Are you running a ROM or kernel? If you are have you tried switching the ROM or using a different Modem to see if that helps you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Running the stock 2.2 ROM w/ SpeedMOD kernel.
I would flash another modem, but two things.
1. can't seem how to do so.
2. it seems that there is only one ROM that will work. and it's the stock one installed. unless i go to a i9000 based ROM that has many different modems.
*#301279#
To disable hspa. Hspa adds some drain, but what can really kill battery is if the signal isn't good enough to reliably hold am hspa connection and it switches back and forth constantly. .
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Rrryan2 said:
*#301279#
To disable hspa. Hspa adds some drain, but what can really kill battery is if the signal isn't good enough to reliably hold am hspa connection and it switches back and forth constantly. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, when I switch it to GSM mode. I get 4-5 bars, but whenever I get a phone call. It wants to switch itself back to 3G.
I've used that code to turn off HSDPA, but it continues to say so in the Status menu. Not sure what's going on lol.
Ok here's the deal. Upgraded to ICS 232 and all went pretty much flawless other than motoprint no longer works. All was good and I was in happy land. However with ICS was stuck in 4g mode all the time and was sucking my battery like a hungry vampire. So I went into phone info and changed to CDMA auto PRL . Locked me in 3g only. Was back in happy land, battery life good again. Well I wanted to use my 4g so I went in to turn it on and it kills all data. No 4g, no 3g not even evdo. When I reboot it always resets back to CDMA auto PRL only.
Any ideas short of factory reset?
confuzzled1007 said:
Ok here's the deal. Upgraded to ICS 232 and all went pretty much flawless other than motoprint no longer works. All was good and I was in happy land. However with ICS was stuck in 4g mode all the time and was sucking my battery like a hungry vampire. So I went into phone info and changed to CDMA auto PRL . Locked me in 3g only. Was back in happy land, battery life good again. Well I wanted to use my 4g so I went in to turn it on and it kills all data. No 4g, no 3g not even evdo. When I reboot it always resets back to CDMA auto PRL only.
Any ideas short of factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off phone, remove SIM, reboot without SIM. After it's on, turn it off again, re-insert SIM and restart it. Try toggling 4G with *#*#4636#*#*
This sometimes works, as does toggling airplane mode
linuxgator said:
Turn off phone, remove SIM, reboot without SIM. After it's on, turn it off again, re-insert SIM and restart it. Try toggling 4G with *#*#4636#*#*
This sometimes works, as does toggling airplane mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem for me. I have tried toggling airplane mode, tried toggling wifi, rebooting, simply cannot get the phone out of cdma only (prl) mode.if anyone has experience in fixing this, it would be greatly appreciated! I even went though VZW's level 3 tech support and told then I have Ics on my bionic (which didn't void my warranty?) But they were at a loss...
SOLVED
djmatt8787 said:
Same problem for me. I have tried toggling airplane mode, tried toggling wifi, rebooting, simply cannot get the phone out of cdma only (prl) mode.if anyone has experience in fixing this, it would be greatly appreciated! I even went though VZW's level 3 tech support and told then I have Ics on my bionic (which didn't void my warranty?) But they were at a loss...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you cannot switch back to 4g (LTE/CDMA/EvDo) if you have "Data roaming" enabled. Uncheck the data roaming box and try it again. Worked for me. :good:
Had this happen to me when I tried to enable Juice Defender's AOSP helper on the official ICS (though I had to update manually using HouseofBionic's method). It dropped me to 3G only, and the "preferred network" setting is grayed out, but showing LTE/CDMA. Clearly, the setting was inaccessible.
I uninstalled AOSP Helper, then disabled JuiceDefender.
Then I went into the Hidden Menu (that 4636 thing) and it says CDMA Auto (PRL). I tried to change it to CDMA/LTE/EVDO , then reboot, but it's still 3G. Went back into Hidden menu, it's back to CDMA Auto (PRL).
Went back in, change it again to CDMA/LTE/EVDO, but this time there's a "refresh" button below that, to update the IMSC I think. I hit that.
Reboot phone, now I have no 3G
Went to settings / data usage to toggle data, nothing.
Went to airplane mode, out, and voila, 4G/LTE.
Not sure which one of those actually forced the update, but it worked, so if someone else had the same problem, try that.
I've had this problem across multiple roms. My phone will only transfer data on LTE, when I am in an area that does not have LTE coverage, my phone does not automatically downstep to 3g. It just loses data, and shows an exclamation over the signal meter. HOWEVER, if I go into cellular settings, and manually set 3g CDMA it will connect to 3g. All speeds seem normal LTE 15-30mbps, 3g 1-3mbps. I have no idea why it doesnt downstep to 3g on it's own. It's like it's stuck on LTE only. Any idea how to rectify this?
I posted this in the forum for my ROM just to see if anyone knew anything. Someone suggested I try a ##72786# reset while on Sense, and if that fails, try ##786# reset. I've done both of those with no success.
I just tried wiping my device again and starting over doing the hands free activation. Still not working. Anyone seen this?
*#*#4636#*#* choose phone info , then scroll down you will see a drop down list which you can choose from. I think the option you should be choosing is "LTE, CDMA" or the "CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto" , you can play around with other options as it's safe and reversible (avoid WCDMA options they will drop signal).
Also if you are using stock rom try updating prl from Settings > System Updates.
Vcek said:
*#*#4636#*#* choose phone info , then scroll down you will see a drop down list which you can choose from. I think the option you should be choosing is "LTE, CDMA" or the "CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto" , you can play around with other options as it's safe and reversible (avoid WCDMA options they will drop signal).
Also if you are using stock rom try updating prl from Settings > System Updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I wiped and reflashed everything with a sense based rom a couple days ago. I just verified this setting, and it is set to "CDMA+LET/EvDo Auto" I'm hoping that the issue is resolved. I wont know until i'm in an area where i lose LTE. Thanks for your help.