[Closed] Does anyone know about GSM vs WCDMA?

When I am in a poor reception area I pop my phone into GSM only mode, not sure what it does the reception is a lot more stable able and I can load web pages, eventually. Orange advised me to do this once when the 3G in the area was playing up.

I had similar issues a year or so ago. Both my o/h and I downloaded a babyname app which changed our settings to wcdma only for some reason. Both our phones would loose reception and have no connectivity. Anyway, after eventually finding out what the problem was and uninstalling that app, I tend to run gsm mode so I have reception (posting this via gsm and out in the sticks).

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'm going to be constantly swapping settings then as it only works wcdma in the house. Allowing it to select between the two is a problem for some reason.

WCDMA is the technical name for 3G. So if you limit your phone to that you won't have a signal when you go to a 2G area. Depending where you travel this may or may not be an issue!

That's how I understood things. However, I'm not constantly checking signal strength so I don't know when I might have passed from 2g to 3g or back again. Is there much 2g left in the UK or did it all upgrade to 3g?

and people wonder why iPhones are so popular 💡

IPhone doesn't work where I live either but thanks for trying.

If you need a decent data connection, you're going to need WCDMA/3G. Problem is phones often pick GSM/2G if the 3G signal is poor, so that is why some operators advise picking the WCDMA only option to force it to stick to a poor 3G signal.

However if you just want voice... stick it in GSM or Auto. Far better coverage with GSM especially outside of towns and cities. And yes, there's loads of 2G left. It actually runs beside 3G, but out in the country 3G is still very poor and there are many 2G only transmitters.

I could be wrong, but my understanding was that wherever there was 3G, there was 2G. Forcing it to 3G only will force it to try and use a weaker 3G data signal over a stronger 2G one, but I'm not convinced that's a great idea. Only way to find out is to try it I suppose, see how you go with it.

The more common step I've come across is forcing it to 2G only; this stops it from trying to lock to a weak 3G signal and, amongst other things, can save a considerable amount of battery life.

Ultimately, the real solution is probably going to be 'switch from Vodaphone' but I guess that's not an option if you've just got a shiny new handset on contract with them.

Anecdotally, I've carried an O2 and a Voda phone around at the same time for a while (personal and work, before work switched to O2) and it was very common for one to show full strength and the other to be out of service. Critically for me, I could never get a Voda signal at home at all.

people wonder why iPhones are so popularI may be wrong, but my understanding was

An iPhone isn't going to fix provider signal issues, dufus.

It's all down to the sure signal if anyone is familiar with them. It used to work fine with my desire on gsm/wcdma auto but the one s won't play nicely with it. Vodafone say to set it to wcdma (3g) only so it works with the sure signal. However, that means missing about with settings every time I come or go from the house, or accept that service is limited out in the sticks.

Onzadog - Member
IPhone doesn't work where I live either but thanks for trying.
POSTED 32 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

The point is that the tech should be doing this for you. Why is your situation different from anyone else who travels?

An iPhone isn't going to fix provider signal issues, dufus.