Switch from 2G to 3G

[Whipon]

Recently bought a Samsung I897 Captivate. Its a unlocked phone and I'm using it in Argentina with Movistar. My previous phone was a Motorola Milestone, and it sometimes changed the connection from 3G / HSDPA to 2G (EDGE), in 3G areas. The solution was to go to APN settings, enable "2G only", then disabling it, and the phone instantly switched to 3G again.
However, the Captivate doesn't have such option. Setting the phone to Flight Mode its useless, it will keep connecting in 2G.
Only solution I found at the moment was to go to Network Mode (*#0011#) then navigate to Network Control => Band Selection, selecting WCDMA only, and then enabling Automatic again.
That seems to reset the connection.
I searched in the market for free and paid apps to help me fix this issue, but I found nothing, only the Toggle 2G app, but it only works with Cyanogen Mod.
I have some questions:
If I set the connection to WCDMA only, then I'll have no signal at all in 2G areas, right?.
Does anyone know a quicker way to do this?. I tried to make a shortcut to ServiceMode with dg Quickcut but when I try to open it it crashed the phone.
Thanks in advance.
Whipon.

 

[Kaik541]

Recently bought a Samsung I897 Captivate. Its a unlocked phone and I'm using it in Argentina with Movistar. My previous phone was a Motorola Milestone, and it sometimes changed the connection from 3G / HSDPA to 2G (EDGE), in 3G areas. The solution was to go to APN settings, enable "2G only", then disabling it, and the phone instantly switched to 3G again.
However, the Captivate doesn't have such option. Setting the phone to Flight Mode its useless, it will keep connecting in 2G.
Only solution I found at the moment was to go to Network Mode (*#0011#) then navigate to Network Control => Band Selection, selecting WCDMA only, and then enabling Automatic again.
That seems to reset the connection.
I searched in the market for free and paid apps to help me fix this issue, but I found nothing, only the Toggle 2G app, but it only works with Cyanogen Mod.
I have some questions:
If I set the connection to WCDMA only, then I'll have no signal at all in 2G areas, right?.
Does anyone know a quicker way to do this?. I tried to make a shortcut to ServiceMode with dg Quickcut but when I try to open it it crashed the phone.
Thanks in advance.
Whipon.

as of right now, there is no "fix" for this. the best you COULD do is to flash Eugene's VibrantHybrid ROM where the "use 2g networks only" option does exist, but you'll lose GPS (for now)

 

[Whipon]

as of right now, there is no "fix" for this. the best you COULD do is to flash Eugene's VibrantHybrid ROM where the "use 2g networks only" option does exist, but you'll lose GPS (for now)

Thanks for the quick reply Kaik541.
Does the signal strength improve with that rom?.
Currently I'm using I897UCJH7 from samfirmware.

 

[Kaik541]

Thanks for the quick reply Kaik541.
Does the signal strength improve with that rom?.
Currently I'm using I897UCJH7 from samfirmware.

you should revert back to JH3 if you're going to use Hybrid (I don't believe JH7 is compatible yet, there are some issues that cropped up with SRE, so it would be safer to do JH3, or even better JF6). I've seen slightly better reception and MUCH better battery life running Hybrid

 

[Whipon]

you should revert back to JH3 if you're going to use Hybrid (I don't believe JH7 is compatible yet, there are some issues that cropped up with SRE, so it would be safer to do JH3, or even better JF6). I've seen slightly better reception and MUCH better battery life running Hybrid

It seems it will be updated soon.
Maybe I'll give it a try.
Do you know if it removes the 850 band?.
I need it, because my carrier uses it for WCDMA.

 

[DarkVasyaK]

Try this:
1. In the Market, download Any Cut. (This is a free app) 2. open Any Cut and choose New Shortcut 3. select Activity 4. Scroll down the list until you get to Phone Info 5. Select OK. (this will place the short cut on your homescreen) 6. Open the shortcut and scroll down until you see "Set Preferred Network Type" 7. Choose GSM only and you are set. This forces the phone to EGDE

I used this to force edge. Use google to download AnyCut, it doesn't exist on the market for the unknown reason

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

 

[cincy1020]

I just discovered Juice Defender. One of its features is to set phone to 2G automatically (seems very configurable). I haven't really had a chance to test it, but thought I'd mention it to you anyway

 

[Whipon]

Try this:
1. In the Market, download Any Cut. (This is a free app) 2. open Any Cut and choose New Shortcut 3. select Activity 4. Scroll down the list until you get to Phone Info 5. Select OK. (this will place the short cut on your homescreen) 6. Open the shortcut and scroll down until you see "Set Preferred Network Type" 7. Choose GSM only and you are set. This forces the phone to EGDE

I used this to force edge. Use google to download AnyCut, it doesn't exist on the market for the unknown reason

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Thanks a lot. I use dg Quickcut for that.
But, I don't need to force EDGE, I need a way to force 3G .
The phone usually switchs to EDGE in 3G areas, and I need to change it back to 3G.
I've used your suggestion to make such shortcut, changed it to WCDMA only, clicked the Disable Radio button twice (because it didn't changed to 3G), and when it switched back to 3G, I changed back the network to GSM / CDMA auto.

What about WCDMA preferred?. Will it try to allways connect to 3G?.

 

[xatrekak]

can yall not just dial * # * # 4636 #*#* scroll to the bottom and chnage it there, just so happens i posted a how to earlier in the general section, works on stock ROMS afaik.
also GPS still works

 

[xatrekak]

Thanks a lot. I use dg Quickcut for that.
But, I don't need to force EDGE, I need a way to force 3G .
The phone usually switchs to EDGE in 3G areas, and I need to change it back to 3G.
I've used your suggestion to make such shortcut, changed it to WCDMA only, clicked the Disable Radio button twice (because it didn't changed to 3G), and when it switched back to 3G, I changed back the network to GSM / CDMA auto.

What about WCDMA preferred?. Will it try to allways connect to 3G?.

read my previous post.

it has a WCDMA preferred WDMA only (only uses 3g) and a bunch of others. read my post in general for a more detailed explanation.

 

[Whipon]

Thanks a lot

can yall not just dial * # * # 4636 #*#* scroll to the bottom and chnage it there, just so happens i posted a how to earlier in the general section, works on stock ROMS afaik.
also GPS still works

Thanks, but Mesasone pointed me to a great app in the market.
Its called Samservmode. It opens service mode without entering any codes.
Anyways, thanks for your help .