How to switch off LTE on the Nokia 920 (Att, US) (Updated)

[TD_man]

RANT:
I called ATT today, about lack of an LTE off switch. I also mentioned that the rest of the world has one why did you disable it? And will it ever be re-enabled? His basic answer was “buy a different phone that has that option.” It kind of pissed me off. Why would Nokia and Microsoft let ATT the “exclusive” career (in the US) mess with any of these settings or options? It’s only going to shine a bad light on the hardware company or the OS (poor battery life). So now I will end my rant, here is the work around for LTE (in the US on ATT, everyone else has the option enabled in settings).

Here are the instructions:
Step 1
• Dial ##3282#
• Select (…) and Settings
• Select 2G and slide ENF to off
• Reboot (hold down power)

Go to Step 2

Now the phone is set up so you can switch it (step 2) as many times as you want until you reboot it, then you need to do Step 1 again.


Step 2
•Go to dialer and enter ##3282#, it opens the “Data Field Test utility”
•Tap the "three dots" … at the bottom of your screen and tap "settings"
•Change the Network type to:
Automatic = It will chose the best connection. (default)
4g = LTE
3g = 4g (Hspa+)
2g = edge
•The antenna picture will show “no connection” and then reconnect to the chosen option (automatic, 4g, 3g, or 2g)
•NOTE: You can play with the other two settings “at your own risk”.
•Back arrow out to the home screen, and you’re done.

I just made a contact called “AttLTEoff”
Added the ##3282# as the phone number
Then pinned it to my home screen

The original web site where I found this info is here:
How to toggle LTE on/off on your Nokia Lumia 900 ~ Nokia For Us

I hope this helps some people out.

 

[ad2107]

RANT:
I called ATT today, about lack of an LTE off switch. I also mentioned that the rest of the world has one why did you disable it? And will it ever be re-enabled? His basic answer was “buy a different phone that has that option.” It kind of pissed me off. Why would Nokia and Microsoft let ATT the “exclusive” career (in the US) mess with any of these settings or options? It’s only going to shine a bad light on the hardware company or the OS (poor battery life). So now I will end my rant, here is the work around for LTE (in the US on ATT, everyone else has the option enabled in settings).

Here are the instructions:
•Go to dialer and enter ##3282#, it opens the “Data Field Test utility”
•Tap the "three dots" … at the bottom of your screen and tap "settings"
•Change the Network type to:
Automatic = It will chose the best connection. (default)
4g = LTE
3g = 4g (Hspa+)
2g = edge
•The antenna picture will show “no connection” and then reconnect to the chosen option (automatic, 4g, 3g, or 2g)
•NOTE: You can play with the other two settings “at your own risk”.
•Back arrow out to the home screen, and you’re done.

I just made a contact called “AttLTEoff”
Added the ##3282# as the phone number
Then pinned it to my home screen

The original web site where I found this info is here:
How to toggle LTE on/off on your Nokia Lumia 900 ~ Nokia For Us

I hope this helps some people out.

EDIT: After a restart I can’t duplicate the same effect again. I’ll have to see what I did wrong and add it to the instructions.

I made a similar post a couple days ago:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/lumia-920/202396.htm

Strangely, when I first changed the settings, the antenna never updated. After toggling the settings a few times, it finally stuck. I've restarted my phone too and the 3G data is still on. Not exactly sure what I did to make it stick.

 

[tibere86]

RANT:
I called ATT today, about lack of an LTE off switch. I also mentioned that the rest of the world has one why did you disable it? And will it ever be re-enabled? His basic answer was “buy a different phone that has that option.” It kind of pissed me off. Why would Nokia and Microsoft let ATT the “exclusive” career (in the US) mess with any of these settings or options? It’s only going to shine a bad light on the hardware company or the OS (poor battery life). So now I will end my rant, here is the work around for LTE (in the US on ATT, everyone else has the option enabled in settings).

Here are the instructions:
•Go to dialer and enter ##3282#, it opens the “Data Field Test utility”
•Tap the "three dots" … at the bottom of your screen and tap "settings"
•Change the Network type to:
Automatic = It will chose the best connection. (default)
4g = LTE
3g = 4g (Hspa+)
2g = edge
•The antenna picture will show “no connection” and then reconnect to the chosen option (automatic, 4g, 3g, or 2g)
•NOTE: You can play with the other two settings “at your own risk”.
•Back arrow out to the home screen, and you’re done.

I just made a contact called “AttLTEoff”
Added the ##3282# as the phone number
Then pinned it to my home screen

The original web site where I found this info is here:
How to toggle LTE on/off on your Nokia Lumia 900 ~ Nokia For Us

I hope this helps some people out.

EDIT: After a restart I can’t duplicate the same effect again. I’ll have to see what I did wrong and add it to the instructions.

Thanks for the instructions. I could not get the changes to stick after backing out of the "Settings" screen. I hope someone figured this out.

 

[TD_man]

Thanks for the instructions. I could not get the changes to stick after backing out of the "Settings" screen. I hope someone figured this out.

OK I figured it out and I can duplicate it!

 

[ad2107]

Did you figure out how to make it permanent? Even with a restart, etc.?

 

[lordofthereef]

Nice tutorial. Thanks! If I am ever in an area for an extended period of time I will utilize this.

Also, to be fair, AT&T seems to get their grips on all manufacturers in the no LTE toggle regard. Even the iPhone 5 isn't immune.

 

[lifesizepotato]

Is the goal of this trick improved battery life? How much improvement would it offer? Does it only make sense if you're in an area with spotty or no LTE?

 

[lordofthereef]

Is the goal of this trick improved battery life? How much improvement would it offer? Does it only make sense if you're in an area with spotty or no LTE?

It's tough to answer that question. LTE has been labeled as a battery drainer pretty much since it hit mainstream. Chips have gotten much more efficient, so I personally don't think it's as big of an issue as it was a few years back. I will say, however, that if you are in a place with spotty or no reception you may see a nice chunk of battery life restored since the phone isn't constantly searching for a signal that isn't there.

 

[TD_man]

Is the goal of this trick improved battery life? How much improvement would it offer? Does it only make sense if you're in an area with spotty or no LTE?

yes LTE is a battery hog. On my old phone I would only turn it on if I need to DL large files or was planning on doing alot of surfing. If I had it on 3g or edge I can still get all of my day to day stuff done (email calls text fb updates playing music) and my phone would last 2 to 2.5 days on one charge. I can only get about 10 hours with my 920. So I'm hoping this will help. It only has about 7 more days to impress. I really really like Nokia music (off line) that person needs a raise! And the person who came up with the idea of a drag and drop file management system, no more syncing!

as far as how much it helps I don't know yet, I just figured out how to make it stick. I'll get back to you in a few days.

 

[ChumsFuture]

thank you for posting this. i don't live in an LTE area.