Htc desire 2g/3g

[sammyvine]

Okay i just got a 18 month contract with Orange for the HTC Desire yesterday.

Most things are fine but i noticed that when i turn the 3G off all together (to save battery) i can't connect to the internet at all (2G or Edge). I have never seen my phone on 2/2.5 G and i went to the guy who works on carphone warehouse today and he can connect his phone to the internet on 2G/HSDPA (when the 3G is off), but i can't.

Should i return it or am i doing something wrong because i dont always to be connected to 3G to be able to use the internet.

 

[Anthony1]

Okay i just got a 18 month contract with Orange for the HTC Desire yesterday.

Most things are fine but i noticed that when i turn the 3G off all together (to save battery) i can't connect to the internet at all (2G or Edge). I have never seen my phone on 2/2.5 G and i went to the guy who works on carphone warehouse today and he can connect his phone to the internet on 2G/HSDPA (when the 3G is off), but i can't.

Should i return it or am i doing something wrong because i dont always to be connected to 3G to be able to use the internet.

What exactly do you mean when you say 'turn the 3G off all together'? Are you referring to setting your phone to 'GSM only'? Why on Earth would anyone want to do that? There's no point that I can see. You should just leave it on auto.

I'd also seriously doubt that the guy at CPW can get HSDPA on GSM. As far as I'm aware HSDPA is based on WCDMA and would only be available on that.

 

[Wardogz]

What exactly do you mean when you say 'turn the 3G off all together'? Are you referring to setting your phone to 'GSM only'? Why on Earth would anyone want to do that? There's no point that I can see. You should just leave it on auto.

Using GSM only saves a MASSIVE amount of battery life, for me atleast 24 hours.

I only use 3g when I need it, no point in leaving it on when it's not needed

 

[sammyvine]

What exactly do you mean when you say 'turn the 3G off all together'? Are you referring to setting your phone to 'GSM only'? Why on Earth would anyone want to do that? There's no point that I can see. You should just leave it on auto.

I'd also seriously doubt that the guy at CPW can get HSDPA on GSM. As far as I'm aware HSDPA is based on WCDMA and would only be available on that.

You know when you go to setting and untick mobile network off to save battery.

Most people with the HTC Desire can turn mobile network off but still have Edge/2G on and browse but obviously very slow.

I can't get on the internet at all, only when i tick the mobile network in settings and that allows me to connect to the net on 3G + only.

 

[Anthony1]

Using GSM only saves a MASSIVE amount of battery life, for me atleast 24 hours.

I only use 3g when I need it, no point in leaving it on when it's not needed

You'd be better off putting a widget on your desktop to turn off/on mobile data altogether. You'd save more power than just running permanently on GSM

 

[Anthony1]

You know when you go to setting and untick mobile network off to save battery.

Most people with the HTC Desire can turn mobile network off but still have Edge/2G on and browse but obviously very slow.

I can't get on the internet at all, only when i tick the mobile network in settings and that allows me to connect to the net on 3G + only.

No they can't. If you turn mobile data off then it's off. The only thing you can do is get phone calls and text messages.

 

[sammyvine]

No they can't. If you turn mobile data off then it's off. The only thing you can do is get phone calls and text messages.

Hmmm, so howcomes the Carphone Warehouse guy and most i know can get 2G/Edge but i can't when it's off. Am i doing something wrong?

 

[Anthony1]

Hmmm, so howcomes the Carphone Warehouse guy and most i know can get 2G/Edge but i can't when it's off. Am i doing something wrong?

No. you are doing it right. They clearly aren't turning off mobile data. You can't turn mobile data off and then still get mobile data.

 

[sammyvine]

No. you are doing it right. They clearly aren't turning off mobile data. You can't turn mobile data off and then still get mobile data.

Can you ever go on Edge or 2G? I never can?

 

[Anthony1]

Can you ever go on Edge or 2G? I never can?

Why would you ever want to do that? I sometimes get EDGE or 2G if I'm in a weak signal area, and I can force it by setting GSM only, but it's not something I'd want. Why would you want 2g over 3g?

 

[sammyvine]

Why would you ever want to do that? I sometimes get EDGE or 2G if I'm in a weak signal area, and I can force it by setting GSM only, but it's not something I'd want. Why would you want 2g over 3g?

Lol, i thought people use 2G to save battery? That's what the man was saying anyway, maybe he confused me?

I thought 2g was used just to browse basic things instead of using 3G. When you turn the mobile network off, you can use Edge/2G.

I have never seen the edge sign on my phone so i thought i didnt have it and therefore maybe my internet settings were wrong?

 

[Anthony1]

Saving battery life is a hot topic, as you can see by looking around the threads. It's also a bit of a black art, with some people claiming to get 36 hours of battery life whilst constantly on youtube, with others saying their phone is dead after 5 hours on standby.

There are many different tips and 'tricks' but I've never seen anyone really advocate using only 2G. Although it's true, that 2G (GSM) will use less battery than 3g (WCDMA) when in use, the standby time when not in use is about the same. In fact I think that WCDMA is actually better. You'd be better off turning off mobile data altogether when not in use, but it depends upon your usage pattern of course, and your signal type and strength in your location.

I'd advise you to just leave your phone as it is for at least a few days and see how you get on. If you find your battery life is bad then start looking at things to save power. You'll find a lot more things will affect battery life more than simply switching to 2G

 

[rtb35]

If you want to use 2g only you could use a widget like 2g-3g onoff,but all it does is take you to the settings menu where you can turn it on/off.

2G-3G OnOff - Android app on AppBrain

Using the mobile network widget turns off all mobile internet,i use it all the time and it does save you alot of battery life.

The internet symbols on the taskbar go as follows,slowest first:
G,E,3G,H.

So G and E are basically 2G,
3G IS 3G
and H is sometimes referred to as 3.5G.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[rasobey]

What exactly do you mean when you say 'turn the 3G off all together'? Are you referring to setting your phone to 'GSM only'? Why on Earth would anyone want to do that? There's no point that I can see. You should just leave it on auto.

Because Orange's 3G network is sh*t but does work reliably - albeit uselessly slow - over 2G

Leaving it on auto doesn't work - the phone will connect to 3G with a strong signal but you just get no data across the connection.

 

[rasobey]

And to the OP:

1) Turning off "connect to the internet" on the Desire will turn off ALL mobile data, 2G, 3G, 10G, whatever.
2) You want to put the phone to GSM only, instead of "WCDMA/GMA auto" in mobile network options. I think that's what you want to achieve in post 4 in this thread?

 

[Anthony1]

Because Orange's 3G network is sh*t but does work reliably - albeit uselessly slow - over 2G

Leaving it on auto doesn't work - the phone will connect to 3G with a strong signal but you just get no data across the connection.

LOL Fair enough. I'm on Vodafone and they seem to be pretty good, at least where I am

 

[bigr1979]

I have to say that I do switch from 2g to 3g, I only switch back to 3g when i need a data intensive app.

I still get data on 2g all my facebook and email updates fine but my battery life seems ALOT better on 2g, i think it is because i am in a poor 3g reception area.

 

[sammyvine]

I have to say that I do switch from 2g to 3g, I only switch back to 3g when i need a data intensive app.

I still get data on 2g all my facebook and email updates fine but my battery life seems ALOT better on 2g, i think it is because i am in a poor 3g reception area.

Thats what i dont get, do i have 2g on my phone because i have never been on it before or Edge?

How do you switch to 2G?

 

[Anthony1]

How do you switch to 2G?

Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks > Network mode

Change it to GSM only.

 

[sammyvine]

Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks > Network mode

Change it to GSM only.

Lol ive done that but i wanna change back, what was i on before lol?
GSM/WCDMA auto or WCDMA only?

 

[Anthony1]

Lol ive done that but i wanna change back, what was i on before lol?
GSM/WCDMA auto or WCDMA only?

Auto.

 

[Wencaaa]

Hello,
you can also use Internet OnOff Free application from android market
https://market.android.com/details?id=internetOnOffFree.vv.android.development.com

you can easily disable your data on non CDMA phones with one click and you don't need to go to your phone menu