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

Last year Orange had capacity problems in parts of London on their 3G network whereby it was impossible to make or receive calls. The only way around it was to switch manually to 2G on which the network had plenty of capacity. With this deficiency in the iPhone 4S, customers would be left with no ability to make or receive calls.

That certainly happened when I was near the centre of Dublin for a week.

Full 3G, yet unable to send texts and would sometimes say No mobile data/internet.

That switch would have been great then.

I was not looking for an overblown technical explanation - just want to know WHY this so-called "Hybrid" iPhone cannot deal with busy 3G network and switch to 2G in those circumstances. We are TOLD that this process on this device is automatic - clearly it is NOT working. The 3GS also cannot deal with busy 3G network either as I previously stated. We are wasting our time focussing on the 4S exclusively - this seems to be an issue for all 3G "capable" iPhones.

Pls do fix this issue, because 3G networks are very weak in a lot of places... constant switching on and off from 3G and back is eating up my battery. I didn't spend so much money on a phone which has to be recharged every single day!

A manual option for turning of 3G is a must!

Pls do fix this issue, because 3G networks are very weak in a lot of places... constant switching on and off from 3G and back is eating up my battery. I didn't spend so much money on a phone which has to be recharged every single day!

A manual option for turning of 3G is a must!

Redblk, Posting here does little good. Read the terms of service. You may want to submit your request via the official feedback form:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

transmogrification Thank you!

I never had any issues with Apple products till now... I am new at it

feedback submited...

That is very true.  Their sales might continue to go through the roof, (for now) but as more and more customers identify limitations with the phone, (or even the areas that they are in which have patchy 3G coverage) they will be searching for other phone options as I am at the moment.  Short term, it might be ok, but long term, people may say "well if they cant fix this issue, and so many people have complained about it, and we ourselves have had these issues, then I am going to get something else.

And yes, whiners will still exist no matter what, but for those that have a "no return policy" on their phones are really sh*t out of luck.  This to me doesn't seem fair.  In this case, I think if it was happening to the people that get great 3G coverage, and talk about all the whiners, then you too yourself would be one of the whiners.  Just saying, that is all.

The only problem with this theory is that while searching for other options will people make sure they avoid getting a Qualcomm chip in their next phone? It would be a bummer to sell your iPhone get a new smartphone, turn it on and find out you can't manually switch that one either.

Also, for those looking down the road, next year will probably bring a 4G LTE iPhone and who knows what will happen to networks, antennae, and iPhone capabilities then. Or which radio chip they will use.

Habitual whiners have been singing the same tune about one thing or another with every iPhone model, and sales have increased dramatically with each new model released.

Not a chance I would whine about something like this or anything else - certainly not at a user to help forum only if I were so inclined. I was raised and brought up differently for starters.

Lots of us who have a legitimate purpose for wanting to have back the ability to disable 3G - I think all any of us wants is to have that functionality in the iPhone 4S.  I didn't see any whining (but am honestly not making any effort to look for it either), and hardly think that people voicing their issues and asking questions on a forum like this should be considered whining - but that's just me. 

In my house we don't want different phones.  We want our iPhones to work properly and reliably, which they do most of the time (better than many others we've had over the years).  We'd also like for the carrier to have better coverage, but that's another issue.  Until the carrier can get their act together, disabling 3G is sometimes the only way to communicate using these devices.  Since the iPhone 4S doesn't have this option, we either have to wait for the functionality to be restored (if possible, if ever), wait for the iPhone 5 and see if it has the same limitation, or go back to an earlier version iPhone.  Nobody here is going to be able to authoritatively answer any any of these questions, so it's something we're just going to have to deal with for now.

That's all. 

Please read the terms of service for the Apple Support Forums.  This isn't a place to rant.  Ranting doesn't help anyone and doesn't solve anyone's problem, nor is it constructive. Apple probably doesn't even read these forums. Here is a link to Apple's official statement:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4203

Here is a link to Apple's feedback form, where you can make a feature request.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

The fact is that I have to recharge my 4s every single day, even if I don't use it much.

A question to all of you who are saying that everything is ok and we shouldn't be "whining" Is this normal ?

This is a forum on the 3G/2G toggle. Stay on topic. There are forums for battery issues, are there not? Quit hey jacking the thread. The topic of the 3G/2G toggle has been discussed here. One remedy has been to submit feedback to Apple.

I get the impression there are people on this forum for the sole purpose of gaming. Read the terms of service, please.

Let's have some respect for the forums and keep them clean of the garbage.

When you live in a highly populated area the 3G towers get overloaded which inhibits calls/text/data. On my iphone 4 I could turn off 3G allowing me to connect to a 2g tower and actually use my phone, so when given the choice of a typewriter or a nonfunctional MacBook, I choose typewriter. 

Also whether using cellular data or not a 2G connection consumes less power than 3G.  I am completely okay with apple eliminating old technology, but 4s still can and does use 2G bands. I am not okay with Apple taking away software switches such as this.

Ps @wiredzen make all analogizes you want, your post sounds the most ignorant and the most like a "temper tantrum".  If it 2G availability doesn't concern you don't respond.  But I just was late for an appointment bc I couldn't access 3G data or switch to 2G to use Maps. So yeah it is important.