Professor
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1.5K Messages
Finally a way to turn off LTE for the Galaxy S3! (Saves a lot of Battery)
Got this from another forum and it seems to work!
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.
Idk why they don't just make a toggle for this like the iPhoen 5 has, but this is an alternative method which seems to work! I have tried
contactparag
Teacher
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23 Messages
11 years ago
After making above change, when I dial *#*#INFO#*#*, it (under device config) still shows LTE/GSM/WCDMA selected .
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Tailgunner747
Scholar
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397 Messages
11 years ago
Why would you want to disable it????
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redpoint73
Professor
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3K Messages
11 years ago
It says right in the title, to save battery. Particularly since a lot of people aren't even in LTE areas, it makes no sense to have it on all the time searching for a network that doesn't exist.
Also the dialer "secret code" to switch the network modes is normally locked by AT&T and changes will not stick without root. So if it doesn't work in Settings, it won't work with the dialer codes, either.
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aberken
Contributor
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4 Messages
11 years ago
I believe the following also gets you into the settings on the Samsung Galaxy S3 (non-rooted/running Jelly Bean) without having to open the back of the phone.
Go to your dialer and type in *#*#4636#*#* - Then go to Device information - scroll down and you should see a drop down box that allows you to make the change to what network your phone is using.
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aybarrap1
Mentor
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40 Messages
11 years ago
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aybarrap1
Mentor
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40 Messages
11 years ago
This option, *#*#4636#*#*, does not work on the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3. AT&T made sure this was done up nice and tight. Thus far even custom ROMS such as CM10 that usually get around this have not been able too. This is the preferred option because you can solely turn off LTE and keep both 2G/3G available for switching. Until a way is found to make it work, the only option is *#2263# after getting around the RAT restriction. The negative of *#2263# is that it locks in the one band. Meaning that if you select UMTS you can ONLY use the 3G band and neither 2G or LTE will be available. If chosen GSM, only 2G is available which is EDGE.
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garretttv
Scholar
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131 Messages
11 years ago
For what it's worth, though I live in an are with excellent LT coverage, I have traveled to places without LTE and observed a marked increase in my already good battery life with this phone. Again, I have no problems with battery when being on LTE all day, but I have seen that battery life (understandably) extended when in only HSPA+ coverage. It's not locked into one network type and switches fairly easily, so the battery life of the HSPA+ network seem, for me, to far and away compensate for whichever method of network recognition and switching is built into this phone. Of course, YMMV.
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Leanguru27
Contributor
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1 Message
11 years ago
Excellent. Thanks man. It is working for me. Philly area got so called 4G 3 months back and at the same time I upgraded my Galaxy3 to Icecream. My battery was draining very fast. It used to last just 3-4 hrs. I took it to ATT service centers, those technicians are no good. Just gave me another battery!! I just followed your instructions, boooom back to normal, now it lasts more than 18 hrs. I regularly talk, check my office e-mail, surf web.
THANKS A LOT MAN.
Cheers...
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SmoothTrickle
Contributor
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1 Message
11 years ago
I used this method in order to save my battery life until I realized I couldn't live with the excruciatingly slow speeds. I changed it back and now a couple of times per day I can't make phone calls. I have to go back in and repeat this process before I can call out or receive calls. Texting and emails work fine, but callers are sent straight to vm and I cannot call out. Please help me undo this. Thanks.
[corrected formatting]
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Slover314
Tutor
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14 Messages
11 years ago
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