Question about 'Prefered network type'. Disabling 5g

dairymilkbatman

I am a physicist by profession. Much of my current work involves the electromagnetic spectrum.

Based upon my current understanding of the fifth generation cellular tech; I do not want fifth gen beam-forming being sent and received by my phone.
I have 4G as preferred -mostly because selecting 3G breaks my connection completely. (I don't care about speed, it does not outweigh health).

My question is; what is the phone doing with the 4G parameter exactly?
I don't understand android but I know Linux; is this akin to a kernel module being removed? is this at the userspace level only?
It says 'preferred', does this mean that it'll still use 5G if it can?
Lastly, if it does indeed prevent the use of 5G, can this be proven?

I thought about testing myself, however, the equipment to verify that this phone isn't using the range upto 90ghz is 1000s and I am unable to procure the equipment from work.

Many thanks for any incites, whatsoever.

regards

Berlino

dairymilkbatman

The built-in radio/modem of a device handles several mobile bands from 2G up to 5G with their respective frequencies depending by country and mobile carrier. Each band has a different bandwidth and range of coverage. 3G was shut down a few years ago, so you mostly can't use this band anymore.

If you set the network type for 'LTE' (and 2G also is allowed separately), then the modem will switch to the best available band (2G or 4G) depending on you current location and mobile towers. Selecting 'LTE only' will only use 4G band, but in some areas without 4G coverage there'd be no network at all. If you set '5G (recommended)', the modem will switch between 2G (if allowed), 4G and 5G.
To see, which network-combination setting is active, dial ##4636## -> phone information and check/select the setting in 'Set preferred network type'. An entry with 'NR' means 5G.

DeletedUser43

Both 4G and 5G can work on the same frequencies, with 2 exceptions:

5G can also work on ₃.5GHz, which is in between WiFi
5G can also work on 30GHz+

So if you are fine with WiFi frequencies, then what you probably want, is to use Pixel 6-7 or Pixel 8 (not pro), as they don't have 30GHz+ radios - AFAIK it was introduced in Pixel 8 Pro, and is available in all Pixel 9.

I'm not sure about the "LTE only" option, mainly because carriers proven time and time again, that what they call 3/4/5G is for them very "open" for interpretation. The other thing, the modem code is an isolated, closed and proprietary blob, so I don't think anyone can guarantee anything here.

de0u

Berlino "2G", "3G", etc., are not bands, in the sense of frequency ranges. They are marketing terms for generations of protocols. When U.S. carriers stopped running 3G protocols (e.g., 1XRTT) in 1900 MHz, they didn't stop using the 1900 MHz band; they started running LTE in 1900 MHz.

Berlino

de0u
Thanks for correcting me, I used the wrong term. English is not my native language.