Back to Basics: 4G, 4G extended, & 3G -Where am I wrong?

[Neander]

It's an adventure testing the coverage while moving around full-time in an RV.

The 4G has been great around Jacksonville & St Augustine.  Further inland it's becoming more of a challenge.  By the Map I'm 4G with a troublesome little Extended patch across the road.

I'm getting only 1-2 bars on the signal gauge people tell me is useless.   But I was getting 4 solid bars elsewhere.  The signal drops entirely and I'm disconnected.   So far I'm learning to cope.

Here's my question: What happened to 3G?   My understanding was:  4G Here,  3G Everywhere.  -Extended if you're lucky.

What I'm now getting is 4G or nothing.   Shouldn't Access Manager slip down to a slow, but steady 3G, where I could continue plodding along in email maintenance that doesn't need any more speed than I can type?

Where am I wrong?  Is there no 3G in 4G territory?

[Ann154]

If 3G was there before, it should still be available.

There are locations where 4G LTE is that only had extended 1x network. An area near the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro is an example.

I am not familiar with the settings for usb modems, but are there settings to force or turn off the 4G LTE signal if it is being difficult?

[Neander]

Thanks Ann;    Update.  There is 3G here, but I had to go to the Network Selection tab and manually choose the CDMA - something -  and it re-initializes the modem,     something I thought was supposed to be automatic.

3G Speedtest?   < 1 mbps   , an irritating speed.   You have to disable Flash before you go to sites with animated advertising.

[Neander · Accepted solution]

OK; to answer my own question: "Where am I wrong?",   There's a geographical signal shift (location) and a stationary signal shift (intermittent tower transmission & modem reception).

Apparently the location shift is automatic & working.   If you drive from 4G to 3G  Access Manager automatically adjusts (most of the time).

But tower signal shifts? -you lose.  Dead in the water.     (BTW, I've noticed that switching to 3G doesn't help.  It fluctuates exactly like the 4G, just slower.)

[Ann154]

Tower signal shifts?

Well that actually makes sense. I experience a lot of fluctuations in a downtown area where the phone is not moving, but the signal sure does change a lot.