I do not have the "Turn 3G off" option anymore... is this my carrier (o2) or my iPhone?
It's yet to be confirmed. I have not found anyone with this option available to them on the 4s, although 1 person did report having this option before inserting their sim, which would actually suggest it is a carrier setting. Very annoying though!
Paul
Cool, happy it's not just me. Would expect its carrier but I don't know why they would do this, hopefully it's an error. Have logged with apple and will check with O2 today...
I went into the apple store again today, I checked a load of 4S's on display. All the same, no option to turn 3G off.
The Apple staff didnt even know! They reckon it will be back in iOS 5.1 if enough people say they need it...
I upgraded from an iPhone 3g to an iPhone 4s. I like the device but like the rest of you I'm unable to turn 3g off. This presents a problem for me because I have incredibly poor/no 3g coverage at home or work. With my iPhone 3g I was able to maintain coverage by turning 3g (1 to zero bars) off and reverting to the Edge network (full bars). If this problem cannot be resolved by Apple I will need to return the phone as I bought it to make and receive phone calls which I can no longer do. 😢
Turn off your Cellular Data! your phone just uses wi-fi if you're at home or wi-fi zone 🙂 Come on guys they just renamed the thing, read the description below the Cellular Data
Cellular Data = 3G >.< Turn it off!
In any mobile service.. they call 3G network..1 GB Data, 2 GB Data and so on
Some desire to turn off 3G and only use Edge to conserve battery--particularly if you are in an area with weak 3G.
The ability to turn off 3G without turning off all cell data is the function that is missing. I never used it myself, but it is there on my old 3GS which I updated to iOS5. I only use the 3GS as a iTouch so it does not have a carrier.
My iPhone 4, which I also updated to iOS5 but started out as a new phone, i.e. I did NOT restore from a 4.3.5 backup, also has the menu item to enable/disable 3G.
My iPhone 4S does not. As others have reported it only has a menu item to enable/disable all cellular data.
You're not understanding the finer detail of the issue.
Please read the thread again. Think of it this way - what if you're in a LOW but not NO 3G area, you don't have nearby Wi Fi and you're device is not auto switching to EDGE or GPRS, even though they are known to be stronger in that area (unfortunately, this is a reality) - switching to 2G at this point saves battery and stops polling for a 3G connection.
Wow MJ328 - You really don't understand the difference between 3G and mobile data! And yet you preech to the rest of us that you know best.
So answer this then - How would I use EDGE or GPRS (2G) and not WiFi Nor 3G?
What? oh really? You can't do that on the iPhone 4s - Well done MJ328 with catching up with the rest of us!
To make this VERY clear and easy for you to understand on the iPhone4 there are 2 options - 1 to disable/enable 3G and one to disable/enable Cellular Data. Disabling 3G forces the iPhone4 to make use of 2G technologies such as EDGE and GPRS (signified by a E and a o in you status bar).
On the 4S the option to disable 3G whilst leaving mobile data enabled has been removed.
Now MJ328 - Would you like me to explain any of this in more detail to make it easier for you to understand?
I'm on Three UK and the option to Enable/Disable 3G is not available on my iPhone 4. I think its a carrier specific option. I can understand why Three do it, as they are a 3G network and are turning off 2G in areas where 3G is strong, but suprised O2 are doing it.
I upgraded my iphone 4 to iOS 5, now turn off 3G option is gone. I am a Lawyer and I cannot have cell reception in the courtroom but want access to my calendar, so this option is vital, can't turn off phone and still have access to calendar, and can't have cell reception( silent not an option incoming calls mess up electronics in court room), apple needs to fix this.
Just wanted to add that this constant searching for 3G appears to be draining my battery very quickly which was one of the other main reasons for switching it off on the 3GS
A point well made, clearly mj328 has no idea !. It is a problem apple needs to address, here in the uk 3G is patchy at best and I have clearly seen the battery take a hammering from the phone always trying to find 3G !. It's odd how it has been loft off, the 4 still has it on ios 5 and iMessage email etc still works over edge/GPRS do no reason at all for it not to be a option here !. It's just another nail in the 4s battery coffin saga !. It def seems like the modem side of the 4s is either not optimised or the two antenna design not efficient ! Really hope they sort this, never had a phone with battery life this bad just in idle !!!
Having thought about this a bit more, I am guessing that the new modem chipset in the 4s does not use a separate radio for 3G hence from a hardware perspective there is. Of advantage to disable it. The problem would then be in the software which should make the decision between 2 and 3G, it seems to prioritise 3G at the expanse of battery. The 4 had a separate radio for 3G which could be turned off. Def looks like the 4s radio drivers are not good for anything other than a perfect, permanent 3G network :(. Hope things improve with a update, I am getting worried this is how the phone will function !!, the 4 worked better from a network perspective, even with its antenna problem !. Fingers crossed its fixed in software soon before our return periods run out
Agreed. Otherwise, phone gets returned Nov. 13th. 😟
iPhone 4S - how do I turn off 3G? Option has gone....
