Accessing the 3G network from an iPhone SE 3rd Gen?

[SeanMac]

Hi,

upgraded from an iPhone 8 to an iPhone SE 3rd gen 5G phone. One thing I can't seem to do, unlike the iPhone 8, is manually access the 3G network in areas where 4G/5G coverage is poor. I can only switch between 5G auto/5G on/4G. See diagram below. Even when I manually select Three's 3G network, the phone will remain on 3G for only a short time before reverting to 4G. See diagram below. Just wondering has Three configured their sim cards to allow 4G/5G access only on their 4G/5G phones?

[SeanMac]

Thanks for the response Niall. I’m still a bit puzzled though as to why this is dependent on the phone and not the carrier. Its clear the voice & data menu is different when the Three simcard is compared to the O2 simcard. If it was phone dependent wouldn’t the voice and data menu be the same regardless of what simcard was being used?

The reason i’d be asking about this is that with my previous phone (iPhone Eight) you could manually select the 3G network. I found this useful, especially in rural areas where 3G coverage was better than 4G for voice calls.

 

 

[Three_Niall]

Morning @SeanMac , I can understand the confusion however as a network we wouldn't have the ability to change the display that you are viewing on your device. I have checked this here for you and I can see that on devices that are not 5G compatible, such as your old iPhone 8, the option is available to select 3G only however on 5G compatible devices the option to select 3G only is not available. 

However, this wouldn't affect you receiving 3G on your new device as your phone would be set up to connect to the best service where you are so if the 3G is stronger than the 4G connection you would see 3G at the top of the screen. 

[SeanMac]

Ok Niall. Thank you.