Does 5G Plan Allow You to Set iPhone Xs to 3G Network for Low Data Consumption?

[Mondocanuck]

I want to watch playoff Hockey remotely. I don't mind watching low quality video (which 3G network seems to provide) as long as I limit the amount of cellular data consumed. Even though my iPhone Xs doesn't support 5G, I want to upgrade to a 5G plan for it's larger data amount, but somewhere I read if you upgrade to a 5G plan, you can no longer set your iPhone to 3G network (the 3G option no longer appears in iPhone settings). Is that true? If so, is it true for only newer iPhones that support 5G and my older iPhone Xs may still allow me to set to 3G?

[on2wheels]

I also use the low data mode toggle on iphone and found out there is still a lot of background data use on iphones. See my screenshot: icloud disabled, no itunes, background refresh off, automatic updates off, location off, Siri off.

(edit: this is probably 3 months worth of background usage since I've had the phone)

[Mondocanuck]

Yes, some apps allow you to set video quality for cellular streaming (and thus data consumption). Too bad Sportsnet doesn't, however it's good to know that iPhones that support 5G allow you to set video to "Standard" to save on cellular data consumption. It would be great if iOS and/or all streaming video providers allowed you to tune streaming video to your needs. Thanks for your feedback 😀 

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Mondocanuck   Probably because, as you say, the iPhone XS doesn't support 5G so the settings would be different.  In mine the standard mode says "Standard allows automatic updates and background tasks on cellular but limits video and Facetime quality".

On mine in Settings under TV you can set video definition to HD or Standard.

[Mondocanuck]

My iPhone Xs is running iOS 17.4.1. When I go to "Settings - Cellular - Cellular Data Options" the only data setting I see is a single toggle for "Low Data Mode" (which I have on). It states "When Low Data Mode is turned on, automatic updates and background tasks, such as Photos syncing, are paused". I don't believe it does anything to restrict amount of data used in streamed video. Maybe when I upgrade my PM subscription to 5G I'll see something different. Also, I read somewhere that much older iOS versions allowed you to set "low quality video" in "Settings - Videos" (which is no longer available). Not sure why Apple removed it.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Mondocanuck  My iPhone 13 is on a 5G plan and still has the 3G option.  However you might also want to check out the data mode levels.  In Settings - Cellular - Cellular Data Options - Data Mode there are options for Allow more data on 5G, Standard mode and low data mode.  

[DennyCrane · Accepted solution]

@Mondocanuck The available networks on your device have nothing to do with the plan you're on. If you have a 3G option on your current Public Mobile plan, you'll still have it if you upgrade to a 5G plan.

Soon enough I'm sure the unlimited data plans will be back (but they likely won't include US roaming like the current plans do); but after your data allotment is used it's throttled to 512Kbps. Doesn't help your today, but keep an eye on the plans (which are constantly changing) and change again later if needed.

[Mondocanuck]

Forgive my ignorance. I didn't know HSPA means 3G. Sportsnet consumes 3GB per hour on my current 4G plan using LTE on my iPhone Xs. So watching a single hockey game takes approx. 9GB. When I set my iPhone to 3G, Sportsnet consumes only approx. 1GB per hour (albeit has issues with caching and provides poor quality video, which I can live with). Since I can no longer get an "unlimited data" plan, I'd be good for only 10 hockey games using LTE with a 5G 100GB plan. There's still lots of playoff hockey games remaining so getting the 5G plan with 100GB will not be enough unless I can throttle data consumption down by setting my iPhone to 3G. I heard some people with newer 5G capable iPhones are not provided the 3G setting after upgrading to 5G plan. Just hope my older iPhone Xs will offer 3G setting after I upgrade to 5G 100GB. I'd hate to run out of data when the final playoff round arrives. 

[DennyCrane]

Yes you can. As @computergeek541 stated, all plans, including 5G plans, can connect to the 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. You choose in your device settings. Note that the 3G network is capable of higher speeds than the 3Mbps that the old 3G plans offered. It's more like 10Mbps on average, which might mean you're not saving much data anyway. With the new data buckets being so large, are you still concerned about that? One can do a lot of streaming with even a 50GB plan.

[Mondocanuck]

The Sportsnet app does not have settings to lower the video quality in their streams. It apparently "auto-detects" what is best quality and performance for your device and network. That's my problem. What they provide consumes way more data per hour than I need. I don't need high quality video. What I want is low data consumption and the only way I can find to achieve that is to set my iPhone to 3G. Not the best service (long caching and interruptions) but at least it uses much less data for streaming video. I want to know if I upgrade to a 5G plan, can I still set my iPhone to 3G network.

[computergeek541]

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@Mondocanuck wrote:

I want to watch playoff Hockey remotely. I don't mind watching low quality video (which 3G network seems to provide) as long as I limit the amount of cellular data consumed. Even though my iPhone Xs doesn't support 5G, I want to upgrade to a 5G plan for it's larger data amount, but somewhere I read if you upgrade to a 5G plan, you can no longer set your iPhone to 3G network (the 3G option no longer appears in iPhone settings). Is that true? If so, is it true for only newer iPhones that support 5G and my older iPhone Xs may still allow me to set to 3G?

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All Public Mobile plans give access to all of HSPA, LTE, and 5G networks. No network in itself uses any more (or any less) data than another.  For example, a 100MB file download is still 100MB no matter which network is used.  I do understand that certain internet applications will increase the amount of bitrate for things such as audio or video streaming, but that's on the programming of the actual apps, and there are settings within these apps that can usually be adjusted.  Well known data bandwidth consumers such as the Speedtest.net app use more data when a faster speed is detected, but once again, that's on the programming of that app. I do not recommend restricting the types of networks that can be used as this may decrease reliability of your service.  Instead, I would check for video stream quality settings in your hockey video app.