LTE "on-off" switch

[Bonzo62]

Nothing will change my mind about getting the latest and greatest , the GS3. I have a question about something that was brougt up about the Skyrocket, but havent seen addressed with the new incarnation. Does anyone know if you will be able to disable the LTE on the GS3 ? I work in an LTE city but live out in the sticks. Would like to be able to turn it on and off as needed. Or is the new chip so good and energy efficient that its a non issue , unlike the Skyrockets.

 

[Paul627g]

There should be a setting under Wireless & Networks to shut off LTE.

Probably something to the effect of CDMA only or CDMA/LTE setting. I haven't seen a good enough look in the video's on the international version but the expanded side scrollable toggles under notifications might even have a toggle option there...

 

[MattMJB0188]

Absolutely NOT. This has been my biggest beef with AT&T. They don't allow you to turn off 3G on any of their phones and all their current 4G LTE phones DO NOT have the option to switch LTE off unless you root and flash a custom rom.

They don't want you selecting your network PERIOD. Some also say that if they can keep you on LTE they can charge you more for data, as you'll use twice as much.

 

[planoman]

Agree. I have own the skyrocket and currently galaxy note and neither has this option. The Canadian models offer it but not att. When not in an LTE area, it will go to HSPA and not use as much battery. As Matt said, they are trying to keep you on LTE as the HSPA networks are more crowded.

 

[20blks]

I use juice defender and it seems to cut my signal off while the phone is idle. You can tweak it some if you like but yeah, Att doesn't give you the option. Lte eats up data all day. If I don't use my phone at all, my apps take up 20-30 mb a day

 

[MattMJB0188]

Personally, I don't think they'll ever offer the option. Spending some time over at XDA I've learned that all of AT&T's modems are RAT locked which disables this. It's all done through software, which is why all the phones on Rogers allow the option. They are not rat locked. It frustrates me to no end because if I'm in a very spotty LTE area my phone switches constantly between full HSPA+ and LTE, killing my battery.

Just one of the many ways AT&T is arrogant. Sprint on the other hand is just the opposite but you pay the price with their network.

 

[rlb]

So will one need to just root or root and flash a custom rom? Would it be worth it to save data and battery?

 

[MattMJB0188]

I don't think its as bad as we think. Verizon really gave LTE a bad name with battery life. Galaxy Note & Skyrocket users haven't really been complaining so far have they?

On the contrary we'll have tons and tons of development support and the custom roms will be endless for this device.

 

[Bonzo62]

Well , thanx everyone for the input. I had a feeling it would go the same way as their other LTE phones. Like I said though , wont change my mind about getting this bad boy though. Luckily I'm in the city 10-11 hrs a day and can enjoy LTE for that time. We'll just have to wait and see what the phone actually brings us , maybe they'll surprise us.

 

[digitalzen]

App called "Phone Info," available at Play, will allow you to access the info page and shut down LTE.

More here: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/10/how-to-turn-off-4g-on-verizons-galaxy-s3/

 

[b0btech]

just turn off mobile data from notification menu when not in use. done deal.

sent from my SIII in sunny FL.

 

[jeffreii]

App called "Phone Info," available at Play, will allow you to access the info page and shut down LTE.

More here: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/10/how-to-turn-off-4g-on-verizons-galaxy-s3/

That is for Verizon. Does not work for AT&T as far as I can tell. There are only two ways that I've seen to turn off LTE...

One is to change your APN settings.

The other is here:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...isable-lte-t-s3-you-can-disable-hspa-too.html

just turn off mobile data from notification menu when not in use. done deal.

The OP wants to turn off LTE - not turn off all data entirely.

 

[jimijames]

In my experience, having LTE on all the time doesn't seem to be a battery killer. I'm in an LTE area at work and home, but it drops to "4G" in my work building and bounces between LTE and 4G in the house (when not on wifi). I'm easily getting 12-14 hours with 2ish hours of screen on time. Granted, I have not tried disabling LTE, but I really don't feel the need to.

 

[brkaras]

Use different APN settings.

First APN is "wap.cingular"

Second APN is "phone"

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

 

[jdot104]

Turning off mobile data entirely is a terrible solution for turning off LTE. Anyway, I was looking for a similar solution and I found this in another forum. Just make sure all of the settings have what this post shows. It works on my GS3 and now I'm on HSPA+. Hope it helps.

I saw a post on XDA about this. You can't disable LTE, but what you can do, is add an APN specifically for HSPA+ and select it.

Let me see if I can find the post.

Go to Settings, More Settings, scroll down to Mobile Networks, click Access Point Names, press Menu and click New APN and then add this,

Name: AT&T WAP
APN: wap.cingular
Proxy: <not set>
Port: <not set>
Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password:<not set>
Server:<not set>
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS proxy: wireless.cingular.com
MMS port: 80
MCC:310
MNC:410
Authentication type: <not set>
APN type: default
APN protocol IPv4

then go back in and make sure this is the selected APN and it should drop you from LTE and only connect to HSPA+

 

[galaxys3i747]

you kNoe what, you

 

[winmod21]

Turning off mobile data entirely is a terrible solution for turning off LTE. Anyway, I was looking for a similar solution and I found this in another forum. Just make sure all of the settings have what this post shows. It works on my GS3 and now I'm on HSPA+. Hope it helps.

So, jdot, just wondering if this method is still working good, with latest updates? Thanks again for posting it.

 

[Kalebb2010]

App called "Phone Info," available at Play, will allow you to access the info page and shut down LTE.

More here: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/10/how-to-turn-off-4g-on-verizons-galaxy-s3/

Which setting do I use in that app to only turn off LTE for AT&T?

 

[SenseMonkey]

Which setting do I use in that app to only turn off LTE for AT&T?

It only works for Verizon phones,AT&T LTE phones are a no go.

Sent from my awesome HTC one x

 

[Madness87]

For me, I change it by going to settings, more settings, mobile networks, network mode. I can choose to have lte, gsm/hspa, hspa only or gsm only. I'm on Rogers but the phone is the exact same model as ATT though I wouldn't be surprised if they made it so you couldn't turn it off. LTE does impact battery life, don't know if it would be negligible compared to hspa though.