I have read that you can change your APN settings to turn off LTE. However, I found another way (with the help of carefreelife). Use at your own risk! I am not responsible for any harm you may do though it seems fairly safe to me!:
UPDATE: THERE IS NOW AN EASIER METHOD TO DO THIS WITHOUT PULLING THE SIM AND REBOOTING (check out post #34 below or use this link)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...-s3-you-can-disable-hspa-too.html#post2551614
1) With phone on, take off back cover and press your SIM card so it releases from the spring. It won't come all the way out as it's blocked by the battery. This seems fine - I didn't bother trying to force it out as I didn't want to break anything...
2) Once you see the message that the SIM card is removed, go to the dialer and dial *#2263#
3) You should see a menu with band selections. The current setting is "Automatic". If you switch to "GSM All", you will be EDGE (2G). If you switch to "WCDMA All", you will be on HSPA+ (3G, though AT&T and others call it 4G).
4) Press the SIM card back into place until it clicks. For whatever reason the phone will not recognize it until you reboot. Upon reboot you should see your new setting in effect.
I was attempting to follow this procedure for the S2:
{Trick} Get Around "RAT SELECTION RESTRICTED" on i897 modems! - xda-developers
...but I couldn't get the SIM out easily so I left it in...and followed the steps. It wouldn't recognize that the SIM had been reinserted so I gave up and rebooted...and it worked! No need to mess with airplane mode or anything just follow the steps above.
I was then able to follow the same procedure and turn back on the default setting which was "1) Automatic". After a reboot I am again connected to LTE.
Reason I'm using this: I'm testing a major battery drain issue that might be related to LTE/HSPA+ switching.
Reason you might want this: If you have poor LTE signal or even poor HSPA+ signal and want your phone to stop trying to connect to that network, this will stop it.
UPDATE:
UPDATE: THERE IS NOW AN EASIER METHOD TO DO THIS WITHOUT PULLING THE SIM AND REBOOTING (check out post #34 below or use this link)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...-s3-you-can-disable-hspa-too.html#post2551614
2) Once you see the message that the SIM card is removed, go to the dialer and dial *#2263#
3) You should see a menu with band selections. The current setting is "Automatic". If you switch to "GSM All", you will be EDGE (2G). If you switch to "WCDMA All", you will be on HSPA+ (3G, though AT&T and others call it 4G).
4) Press the SIM card back into place until it clicks. For whatever reason the phone will not recognize it until you reboot. Upon reboot you should see your new setting in effect.
I was attempting to follow this procedure for the S2:
{Trick} Get Around "RAT SELECTION RESTRICTED" on i897 modems! - xda-developers
...but I couldn't get the SIM out easily so I left it in...and followed the steps. It wouldn't recognize that the SIM had been reinserted so I gave up and rebooted...and it worked! No need to mess with airplane mode or anything just follow the steps above.
I was then able to follow the same procedure and turn back on the default setting which was "1) Automatic". After a reboot I am again connected to LTE.
Reason I'm using this: I'm testing a major battery drain issue that might be related to LTE/HSPA+ switching.
Reason you might want this: If you have poor LTE signal or even poor HSPA+ signal and want your phone to stop trying to connect to that network, this will stop it.
UPDATE:
A little bit of bad news here:
I have been on "WCDMA All" (HSPA+ aka 3G4/G, with LTE disabled) for 10 days now with ZERO problems whatsoever.
However, I am pretty sure that whichever you choose, if not "Automatic", you will be locked to ONLY that band:
i.e. if you choose "WCDMA All" you will not only be disabling LTE, but also 2G (EDGE) as well. You may not need it (and if so, it will not effect you) - but if your phone loses the HSPA+ signal, it will not fall back to 2G unless you change the setting.
I tested this theory by setting my phone to "LTE all" and trying to call myself from another phone. The call went straight to my voicemail. LTE is data only (for now) and when you receive a call, it switches to HSPA+. Unfortunately, since I had set my phone to "LTE All", it stayed on LTE and could not receive the call.
This may not be a deal-breaker but it's something to be aware of, for sure. I only tested "LTE All" because it was easy to do so, but I am assuming the same applies for the other settings...only "Automatic" would seem to pick the best available network.
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