Q: iPhone 4S unable to turn off 3G?!

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...

No doubt BUT there was a reasonable work-a-round for the failed network with the 3G/2G toggle. Not sure why Apple had to remove it.

The first post was asking how to turn off 3G. Turning off Cellular Data DOES do that. The question wasn't asking "how do I switch from 3G to 2G to save my battery life" which is indeed a quandary.

ok, heres the thing

Original Post Oct 14, 2011 6:15 AM

21005 Views 139 Replies later

I find it hard to believe that someone from apple hasn't seen this discussion, after all it is linked directly to their web site.

So I'll throw down the gauntlet to apple to answer a few straight forward questions with straight answers

1) did apple intentionally remove this option to disable/enable 3G and if so what was the logic behind that decision?

2) is this ios5 related or iphone 4s hardware specific?

3) Can this option be returned via a software update?

4) will it ever be fixed?

and last but not least

5) does anyone at apple really give a rats arse about the views and gripes of the people who loyally purchase their products which keep the company in business and its employees in jobs?

They likley have seen this discussion but they will never repsond and they certainly won't answer any of your questions.

Send them feedback here... http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

BTW, the switch is only missing from the 4S, not the 4 or 3GS.

"The first post was asking how to turn off 3G. Turning off Cellular Data DOES do that. The question wasn't asking "how do I switch from 3G to 2G to save my battery life" which is indeed a quandary."

I have to inform you that this is not at all correct...

When you turn off "Cellular Data", the 3G icon does indeed disappear, however this DOES NOT mean that the phone has gone back to GSM. It just means that there is no data context active (APN).

You can prove this for yourselves this in 3 ways:

1) You can look at the phone's field test info by going into the dial pad and entering *3001#12345#* press "call" and you will get field test mode. Go to "GSM Cell Environment" and then "GSM Cell Info" then "GSM Serving Cell". If you are on a 3G cell then you won't see any numbers on this page - particularly ARFCN which is the channel number of the GSM cell that you may or may not be camped on.

Next, you can go into the "UMTS Cell Environment", "UMTS RR Info", and you may see that this screen is populated with stuff like your UMTS cell frequency and scrambling code etc. If this screen has numbers on then you are indeed still on a 3G cell - even though there is no 3G on the info bar.

2) You are probably all familiar with the GSM noise that you get when you put your phone next to a radio etc when in a call. This does not happen for 3G as the data is being transmitted continuously (rather than in the bursts that cause the noise you hear for GSM). You can prove that when in a 3G area, disabling Cellular Data does not cause the GSM noise to happen when making a call next to a radio (note you can only prove this when your phone said 3G befor disabling Cellular Data obviously).

3) One last thing to try is when you go somewhere that the phone gets a 3G signal but is quite weak, try disabling Cellular Data and do you see the signal spring back up to full strength like it would have done when you actually could disable 3G? It certainly doesn't on my 4S...

The feature that turns off the 3G service no longer exists! This option hasbeen on all the previous models allowing you to still utilize your data packagewhile using less of the battery’s power. There is only the option to turn offthe data, which turns it off all together! Meaning unless you’re in a wifi areayou cannot utilize data at all… It is also falsely advertised because on theApple web site they advertise that you can talk up to 14 hrs using 2G'Edge"(GSM) which is not possible due to the feature no longer being availableunder the network settings.....

I tried explaining this to them yet they still do not understand! I believeSteve's passing is going to be the downfall of Apple, because things are reallymessed up on the new OS.... Either way they have sold over 6 million iPhone 4'sunder false pretense. So in actuality if it's not brought back they are openingthe door for a lawsuit because, it's impossible to utilize the phone with theadvertised feature, meaning unless you’re willing to turn off the data alltogether you will not get up to 14 hrs talk time due to their being no optionto turn off 3g which should auto default to 2G “Edge”.

Omg. Thank you for this post. I could kiss you!  This is EXACTLY what I've been saying!  It's fraud.  I stated in this thread about the advertisement about talktime and data on 2G but you can't CHOOSE to use it.  Turning off cellular data negates having a smartphone and the fee we pay for it. 

My 4s was returned. I'm back on my iPhone 4 where I can happily CHOOSE to switch between 3G and 2G.

FStClair wrote:

 

The feature that turns off the 3G service no longer exists! This option hasbeen on all the previous models allowing you to still utilize your data packagewhile using less of the battery’s power. There is only the option to turn offthe data, which turns it off all together! Meaning unless you’re in a wifi areayou cannot utilize data at all… It is also falsely advertised because on theApple web site they advertise that you can talk up to 14 hrs using 2G'Edge"(GSM) which is not possible due to the feature no longer being availableunder the network settings.....

 

I tried explaining this to them yet they still do not understand! I believeSteve's passing is going to be the downfall of Apple, because things are reallymessed up on the new OS.... Either way they have sold over 6 million iPhone 4'sunder false pretense. So in actuality if it's not brought back they are openingthe door for a lawsuit because, it's impossible to utilize the phone with theadvertised feature, meaning unless you’re willing to turn off the data alltogether you will not get up to 14 hrs talk time due to their being no optionto turn off 3g which should auto default to 2G “Edge”.

It's not false advertising because if you are in a area where there is no 3G only edge you phone will use edge.

you sure about this? on 2G... that precious gadget will continously scan for 3G network..... using more battery as a result..... that's entirely my opinion.. I may be wrong...

Your phone will only ever "continuously scan for 3G" if it has no signal at all and is hunting around for your network (or a network that it is allowed to roam to).

If you do have some form of signal (your phone does not show "no signal") then it will only be trying to find and make measurements on a set of neighbours that are defined by the info provided by the cell that it is currently sat on. This is how proper cellular networks work. The phone doesn't blindly scan, but only flips around looking for the few known neighbours that are actually likely to be visible.

If you are on a GSM network far away from any 3G overlay then there are not likely to be any defined 3G neighbour cells and therefore your phone won't try to look for them.

Post from Belgium:

I just purchased the 4s upgrading from my 3gs, excellent phone... only drawback is battery life, just like the 3Gs.

As many other Belgians, we're subscribed on the BASE cellular network.  Has excellent, FULL coverage of EDGE in the whole country and only 3G in main cities.

On my older 3G phone I frequently disabled this to extend the battery time and still obtaining internet-connectivity (facebook, twitter, etc.).  As I learned (since we used only EDGE in the past when 3G was not here yet), that it saves almost 2 times (!!) the amount of battery power on my iPhone 3Gs!

This should be also extremely useful for the 4s you know, why has it been disabled?

EDGE works quite well in Belgium, when moving around, taking the train, etc. EDGE is indeed much more robust than 3G with less disconnects and the network-coverage here is excellent.

I have noticed and learned in this support thread that this option is indeed not there anymore, which is very sad..  Having the option to disable 3G so using EDGE instead, *drastically* improved the battery life of my older iPhone.

It's (for Belgian users on the BASE and MOBISTAR network) very desirable that this option enabled again in order to extend the battery-life to the maxx...

Well I've given up on Apple fixing this and switched network providers from Orange to Vodafone.  I still can't turn 3G off but at least I get a signal at home!