Mobile Networks

[John 306]

So far so good, I've had it on 3g all day and restarted the phone 4 times and it's stayed on Orange/T-Mobile.
I used to use GSM the most on my old Galaxy S as the battery lasted way better than 3G but the internet from Orange on GSM is dire so had to keep switching when I wanted to use it.

[greenman]

Great news and thanks for the feedback.

[John 306]

Oh well it had to happen....
Been on GSM all day, Orange/T-Mobile network, needed to go on internet so switched to 3G, signal dropped to 1 bar, when I looked it had gone onto Orange only network, I then manually set it to Orange/T-Mobile network and signal went up to maximum bars.
I give up.

[RichH]

It will do that as the 3g signal is coming from Orange and 2g from T Mobile

[John 306]

Thanks for reply but I thought I would get the strongest signal available as I had registered for Orange/T-Mobile networks when the merged, Pity there isn't a manual lock for mobile networks so I could just lock it to the one I want.

[greenman]

Thanks for reply but I thought I would get the strongest signal available as I had registered for Orange/T-Mobile networks when the merged, Pity there isn't a manual lock for mobile networks so I could just lock it to the one I want.

Unfortunately it's not that easy to establish which mobile signal is the strongest in your area, and you have to do a lot of work.
Here's a site that may help with this, also an app from the Play Store that may pinpoint your mobile mast and others around you.
http://www.gadgetstylist.com/blog/mo...bile-coverage/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ensignal&hl=en

[RichH]

Thanks for reply but I thought I would get the strongest signal available as I had registered for Orange/T-Mobile networks when the merged, Pity there isn't a manual lock for mobile networks so I could just lock it to the one I want.

Yes, it is the strongest signal. 3g will take priority over 2g when you have 3 g enabled. The manual lock is as you did previously - just select GSM Networks only, but then when you switch your phone mode it will search for the highest signal. Your only option is GSM only and connect to wifi for data/internet.

[Joey]

Tmobile/Orange have apparently just finished merging their networks, which in theory means your phone should now automatically pick the strongest signal available and not just default to Orange

[RichH]

Tmobile/Orange have apparently just finished merging their networks, which in theory means your phone should now automatically pick the strongest signal available and not just default to Orange

The "issue" here is that John 306 has selected 3g for data but wants 2g signal for talk. Not possible without using wifi for data....
On "Auto" the phone is seeing both Orange & T Mobile. The Orange signal is giving a weak 3g but T Mob a strong 2g. So, the phone will choose the 3g signal. It's just unlucky that John lives in an area where 3g is very weak (it would be better for no 3g signal at all).

[John 306]

RichH, yes my ideal would be 2g talk, 3g data, but thats not why I posted.
My "problem" is that when I'm on 3g (as I normally am now) in my home, my phone locks onto Orange only, giving no higher than 1 bar on my signal meter.
When I go into settings > more > network operators, I can set to Orange/T-Mobile and this immediately gives full 4 bars on my signal meter.
So my phone doesn't automatically lock onto the strongest signal or I wouldn't have to manually set it to Orange/T-Mobile to increase signal strength.
As of last night I set it to use 3g Orange/T-Mobile, this evening when I checked it had defaulted to just Orange again with 0 bars on the meter.