topic Re: Network band selection no longer available in Galaxy Note Series

Network band selection no longer available

Sabir1 — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 14:27:40 GMT

UPDATE 2: Alternative method for those who can't get the SideKey method to work. This new method doesn't require ADB and is known to work with One UI 8:

https://youtu.be/_ueJXtkPmBA

UPDATE (12/04/2025) NEW SOLUTION: A New Method for One UI 7 and Below (some people managed to make it work on One UI 8):

https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/1jtklje/2025_band_selection_access_method

Video Guide:https://youtu.be/2G4p4SShABE

UPDATE (04/07/2022): This is the response Samsung gave about band selection being disabled. It won't be coming back it seems.

Ever since I had the Note 10+ 5g, I had been able to use the band selection app to open the hidden menu which would allow me to select which bands to connect to and which bands to avoid. This was particularly important as Band 3 (1800Mhz) would give me the worst speed (~0.5 - 4 Mbps) and is at the same time the band/frequency the phone connects to constantly since it has the strongest signal strength. Band 3 also prevents my phone from connecting to 5g in my weakly coveraged area which enabled me to fix my several year long issue with terrible speeds giving me speeds up to ~200+Mbps.

I just received the May 2022 update for my phone and I decided to update due to the camera stability improvements. After completing the update I notice that my phone is no longer connected to 5g. I check the band the phone is connected to and notice it to be Band 3. Thinking I may have forgot to turn off the Band 3, I try opening the band selection app to which it gives and error that it can't find the hidden menu.

I've come to know that this issue is widespread on the latest updates for most if not all the galaxy phones.

I don't know why the menu has suddenly disappeared or been disabled, but it is a very important feature for me and many others. I see no reason as to why this feature would be made inaccessible on Samsung devices since it isn't destructive but rather a really useful feature for many users.

Could someone with a better understanding, or better yet Samsung themselves please explain what's going on?

PETITION:

https://www.change.org/p/make-network-band-selection-menu-available-again/sfs/copy/311609309?recruiter=311609309&recruited_by_id=70b55e80-0bc7-11e5-9238-cdf0e8c97571&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink

Re: Network band selection no longer available

AndrewL — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:41:12 GMT

@Sabir1: Are you able to clarify if the band selection app you're referring to is one that you've downloaded, or is part of the developer options? In the meantime, please head to Settings > Connections > Mobile Networks > Network Mode, and make sure that 5G/4G/3G/2G (auto connect) is enabled, as this will connect to the strongest available mobile data signal in your current location.

Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

Sabir1 — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:50:59 GMT

It is a third party app downloaded from the Google Play store. It is called 'Samsung Band Selection'. The app itself doesn't do anything other than have a button which opens up the hidden menu in the OS which I'm guessing would originally be accessed via the dialler.

I can confirm too that the 5G/4G/3G/2G (auto connect) option is selected and yes it connects to the strongest signal. The problem is the strongest signal is Band 3 (1800MHz) which is most likely congested and always gives terrible data speeds. I would normally use the network band selector to deselect this band which would work wonders in improving my internet experience.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Pugs1957 — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 17:44:52 GMT

You need to contact the developers for support. They need to update their app.

Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

Sabir1 — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 17:56:16 GMT

What's weird is another app called 'NetMonster' linked to the hidden menu too, but that option had disappeared after the update. Rather than the app itself, isn't it the firmware instead that has changed? I tried using the dialler code *#0011# and then 'Back' -> 'Input Key' -> 'Q0000'. This stopped working too when it used to work before.

Re: Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

Pugs1957 — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 20:41:08 GMT

Yes, you are correct that the OS has changed which is why developers update their apps to adapt to firmware changes.

I used the Band Selection app for a while and got good results. I only stopped using it when I got 5G.

Hopefully the app gets updated soon although there is no harm in contacting the developer. You can find this on Google Play. It may be worthwhile leaving a review mentioning it has stopped working.

As a wild shot you may as well try clearing your system cache and when in recovery hit repair apps.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Migo — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 20:29:00 GMT

I have the same problem! After the June update of my S21. Even the network mode in the settings doesn't work. There no way to use all the bands.

Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

Sabir1 — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 22:19:48 GMT

I recommend you sending an error report using the Samsung Members app with an explanation of the issue. I've already sent one but I doubt they will fix anything with just my report. Unsurprisingly, this inaccessibility to the hidden menu isn't a first for me. I noticed it on older models too. I just never understood why it became like that after an update. What would Samsung even gain by doing so?

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Charanjit Singh — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 06:25:21 GMT

Same issue on Samsung Note 20 after update

Re: Network band selection no longer available

ArchyBoy92 — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 19:02:54 GMT

Same issue on Samsung Galaxy 22 Ultra... I use this app for work and it would be really nice to restore this functionality.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Yumikember — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 09:29:18 GMT

We need this menu back. In rural areas, we often get connected to low Frequency LTE bands (such as 20 and 28) because there's a higher RSRP. However those bands really are saturated and this menu made possible to connect to higher bands with higher capacity and throughput even if the RSRQ is lower.

Removing such a feature is nonsense since it's not a benefit for samsung and another lost of a helpful feature for the users.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

NetworkTechGuy — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 22:59:27 GMT

I used the Samsung Band Selection app ever since I knew of its existence. First on my Galaxy S9+ and now on my Galaxy S21 5G.

I find this hidden GUI menu which was surfaced through the Samsung Band Selection App extremely useful.

If I need to upload a larger file very quickly, I set my phone to prefer 4G band 3 or only 4G band 3 because my primary carrier has 2x 4G band 3 (20 MHz & 15 MHz) and the phone can aggregate the upload of both 4G band 3. The result is an upload of about 90 Mbps under good conditions.

Another carrier here uses only 4G band 20 and 8 in rural areas. These two bands can't be aggregated (limitation of most phones' software). Therefore, you might want to manually select the band with more available bandwidth at your location.

Even, for 5G this feature makes sense to use when you want your phone to connect to 5G C-Band (band n78) but not the other 5G bands which decreases battery life without a noticeable speed benefit.

An additional use case of mine for this feature is in combination with the app Cellmapper (an effort to create a map of all the cell sites from all operators around the world). One operator in my home country practices a rip and replace tactic when it comes to their 5G rollout. To go along with this, they also change the base station identifier which might have been used for another base station previously. With the ability to select specific bands it typically takes only two laps around the cell site to redo a cell site entry. Without this feature it may take months until the entry is complete. Furthermore, while I'm driving somewhere I tend to select a specific band in order for my phone to collect data for this band. I know that these are very niche scenarios.

So, please Samsung don't dumb down your products. Settings like these are extremely useful and I'm sure that the people who used this feature all have a story to tell about why they used this feature.

It was an easy decision for me to upgrade from the S9+ to the S21 5G. Next time around it may not be this easy.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Vipin diwakar — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 10:02:02 GMT

Same problem with June update on s22

Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

JR7244 — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 01:39:19 GMT

U can dial *#2263# and still do the same thing, a lot better with band app. How can complain to Samsung about this issue

Re: Network band selection no longer available

JR7244 — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 01:43:14 GMT

They have all ready stated they can't get around June 2022 security update and probably will not be able to unless Samsung changes new security protocol. So we need to complain to Samsung

Re: Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

Sabir1 — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 11:23:22 GMT

The thing is, that code doesn't work. After the update it has be disabled. Maybe the Samsung Band Selection app made use of that code too and stopped working when it was disabled.

Re: Re: Network band selection no longer available

Pugs1957 — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 08:16:33 GMT

Hmm. If Samsung did this on purpose they will be reluctant to change things back. Ita shame because the app was very useful. I've also read that those whose apps were active are now stuck with the band they selected presumably until they reset their devices.

Shame, it was a good app.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Simransingh — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 12:27:15 GMT

Same issue persists on the Galaxy S22. However, you can uninstall the Samsung Band App if you want the device to automatically select best band available.

But, you won't be able to lock band again.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Migo — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 19:37:46 GMT

Before the update I activated only band 1. Now it is no more possibility to activate all bands. Uninstalling the app doesn't help because the settings were made in the modem.

Re: Network band selection no longer available

Members_LiAfchn — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 15:50:33 GMT

I call that regression... Samsung please roll back or reinstate