iPhone 4S unable to turn off 3G?!

Very interesting. That's why I'm not holding my breath it will ever be an option again.

What I was told by ATT earlier this year is that when 4G or LTE is finally up and running that data will run through these two and voice will automatically default to 3G. This would mean 3G is left open to voice only and swamping wouldn't be an issue. That doesn't solve the spotty 3G coverage a lot of us experience though. Only time will tell how/if/when things improve. In my area, Verizon is a better choice as far as not having dropped calls and perhaps the toggle switch isn't of importance on their network where I live. This is a moot point for me personally since I have ATT.

In the meantime, I've gone back to my iPhone 4 where I have the toggle and can successfully make and receive calls without dropping or garbling by turning 3G off.

Siri was great for dictating text messages while I was driving or telling it to call someone without having to look at my phone and find a person in my address book. Dictating text messages and calling people were the main things I used Siri for. However, Siri is having network connection problems which Apple is remaining mum about, leaving consumers frustrated and downright mad. Acknowledgement goes a long way in customer service. My opnion is Apple does not want it's reputation dragged through the mud but they're doing so at the expense of it's consumers, thus alienating people. Open and honest communication would be great for PR. Many people on this forum have already stated they've returned their 4s, myself included.

The camera was marketley nicer and I'll miss that. It is most definitely NOT point and shoot quality but is a good alternative to not carrying two cameras or for some that don't wish to always lug their DSLRs.

I honestly didn't notice the 4s being faster. In fact, one of my favorite games to play is smoother on my 4 than it was on the 4s, interestingly enough. Objects actually froze on the 4s and do not on the 4. I suppose Safari loaded a little faster but only sometimes. I found it getting stuck a lot and not loading at all.

In conclusion, I will miss my being able to dictate text messages and calls to Siri and a little better image quality on pictures.

Thanks Paul. Not to mention the fact that somehow this toggle didn't "confuse" the Verizon users of the iPhone 4 under iOS 4.x...during the last year or so.

Give us our toggle back.

They were different phones with different iOS under iPhone 4. :)

I think this is why the fix won't be quick. There is a whole new of radio working in the 4s. The toggle needs some intelligence (or more intelligence than before).

Paul

This may be another unpopular post, but we may be assigning too much blame on Apple for this.

Personally I'd like the option back to disable 3G, but fundamentally all of the issues with exception to battery life are down to your network operator.

3G and 2G are supposed to interwork perfectly together, but it seems that network operators have taken the cheap option and spread their 3G coverage too thinly.

Sorry for the technical details but hopefully it will help understanding the problem:

There are a raft of thresholds configured in the network that determine when you will be handed over to a neighbour, or when your phone will re-select to a neighbour (in idle mode). This is also the case for 2G <-> 3G transitions.

Basically your network operator can set sensible thresholds so that the phone isn't hanging about on a sketchy 3G cell, and gets back to 2G.

It seems that instead they are doing the opposite and are biassing the thresholds to keep you on 3G longer to make it seem like they have a bigger area covered by 3G.

We should really be venting our fury on the greedy network operators for taking our money and delivering a half broken network.

Yes Apple have taken away a very important option for a lot of people, but this option is almost always used as a workaround for a crap network.

For the experts out there...

Since I am in one of AT&T's 3G problem areas what will happen when thhey roll out the so called 4G network (whatever that is)? Is the new phone (iPhone 5) next year going to only support 4G? Then what?

I have the AT&T MicroCell which has bridged thegap for me at home but I wonder what will happen when AT&T introduces yet another network when the ones they have don't work all that well. Am I going to have to switch to Verizon?

Haven't you read the stats on battery life for each useage? Wifi gives double battery life compared to 3G, and 2g talktime is double that of 3g. Plus the phone gets significantly hotter when taling on 3G - it is hard to not have fears about frying ones brains!

I use 2g almost all the time on my 3GS running iOS5. Only in large towns is 3G available, and in those places I usually have wifi. I travel a lot on pubic transport and there is no 3G in rural areas in most countries. So this means that I will have no data coverage at all? Is there no 2g radio present in the 4GS? Hey, my home is out of 3G coverage - will the thing be completely off line? If so I just cannot use a 4GS so can only upgrade to a iphone 4.

Sad... LJ

Thats not true! I have IOS 5 on my 3Gs and I can choose between 2G and 3G

High speed is no use when your battery dies in late afternoon. We don't all live in big cities!I travel a lot where there is only 2G available and can quite enjoy using Opera Mini. And I can see no difference between the speed of EDGE and GPRS. I have tried both...

Surely the JB community will give this power to choose permanent 2G? Shoule be simple for them.

Here is a quote I found:

"As far as the 'smart' signal is concerned, the phone's radio is programed to use the lowest transmission power possible. To do this it uses the highest frequency at the lowest power setting possible to maintain contact with the towers. If signal to nose ratio is undesirable, power is increased to maximum permissible for that frequency. If at maximum power for a given frequency the noise level is still too high, it will drop to the next lower frequency and repeat the power ramping until a usable signal is achieved. The reverse happens when you get into a cleared area. The reason for lower frequencies is the physics of radio communications, longer wavelengths(lower frequencies) are less hindered by solid objects(this is why you can hear the bass line from an obnoxious driver from your house but not the treble).

As far as network protocols; 3G, 2G/EDGE, 1G/GPRS, are how the radio communicates with the towers, all three are digital signals weather you are communicating data or voice. This is why you cannot transmit or receive data while you are in a call. (Technically you can, but the packet switching would make the call sound choppy because of the difference in which the voice and data are handled within a given protocol). Again, by default the radio is programed to use the most efficient (ie. newest) protocol possible before going to the next inferior protocol. If you happen to be in a call when you transition between towers that no longer support the upper protocol you are using you may hear popping or clicking in the call as your phone attempts to switch operating modes in mid transmission. Worst case scenario is your call is dropped due to lag between two different tower groups. This phenomenon is rarely, but not never, seen when transiting between two towers on the same network.

In the end it's the tower that dictates how high transmitting power your phone uses and as a result your phone will drain your battery more quickly in low/no signal areas as it futily attempts to maintain contact by transmitting/scanning at full power at its lowest frequency."

No on iPhone 4S in sleepmode phone will continue on WiFi.

So did anybody actually TRY it on their phone instead of speculating or reading quotes/forum posts online?

On my brand new 4S, I just turned off Wi-Fi and Cellular Data and can still make phone calls and send/receive text messages.

I agree. I'd like the option back.

Return the 3G/2G toggle please Apple.

I hope everybody who is complaining about this is sending feedback to Apple.

It's the only way anything will every get resolved. It may not get resolved but without sending feedback nothing will happen!

I hope everyone is also complaining to the real villains in all of this - your network operator for providing a broken network that requires this workaround to force the phone onto 2G...