Child Item

Site Totals

61363 Questions Answered 267 Categories

Phone won't stay in 3G, goes into "D" mode all the time, missed calls, failed texts

Okay I'm getting very frustrated with my new Fascinate. My phone is constantly going from 3G into what is supposedly digital mode, at least that's what the CSR told me that I just talked to. Why have a 3G phone if it's not in 3G? As I'm typing it went from "D" to 3G and back to "D" all while the phone is sitting on the desk. In addition, signal strength varies from 2 bars to none, to 1, back to 2, then none, etc.

The missed calls continue today, they started over the weekend. I left my good friend a voice mail, and she called back but I NEVER HEARD THE PHONE RING!!! So I had to listen to her voicemail instead. So then I sent her a text, at least I thought so. About 30 min. later I got a notification that the message send FAILED. So I sent another one, that supposedly went through.

On the advice of the CSR that I talked to yesterday, I'm still keeping track of the missed & dropped calls, and she's supposed to call me on Monday to see how things are going. We'll see if she's aware of the issues on here, and the "policy" that Samsung agreed to regarding switching to a different phone. My major question is: if I get the offer to switch, are they going to make me pay for the more expensive Droid X or whatever I choose?

Comments

nienie

There were three comparable phones to choose from. The Samsung Droid Charge, HTC Incredible 2, Droid X2 by Motorola. My thought is if you are having problems with your phone now- why wait until Monday. You are paying Verizon for cellular phone services. These services should work. If they sold you the phone then it really is their problem- PERIOD. Don't let them jerk you around. You deserve a phone that works as this is part of your contract. Don't give in to factory reset and getting a million other fascinate phones sent to you because this does not solve the problem. My phone works worse since allowing them to talk me into resetting it.

When calling into Verizon remember they have call centers all over the US. If you don't like what you are hearing. Hang up and call again. The biggest thing I have found is don't back down. Fight it out with them. I spent over two hours fighting then hung up and called again and was able to get a replacement phone.. Bottom line is they are providing a service with equipment that you have bought through them that they state works. I don't care if it is a Samsung phone- Verizon sold it so Verizon needs to fix it. There should be no more of we understand how inconvenient this is and we are waiting for a fix. Not acceptable. Most people need their cellular phones to work and the fascinate is not reliable and has MAJOR issues. Good luck...

Bubbles423

Same thing with mine. Going to go to a store after my interview (which I also did not receive a call, with service and sitting next to me; just got a vm) and getting this issue fixed. This is my second fascinate and these issues are not acceptable.

suzigirl

I just finished doing an online chat with Samsung, they had me do a factory reset. So, everything I've done, my contacts, my apps, everything is wiped out. Sh*t. The other issue is, I bought the phone from a non-Verizon store, so I'm not sure where I should take it to resolve the problem. I'm thinking the other store is the place to start. I'll be doing that shortly. I'm pi**ed.

Ann154

Your voice calls and text messages do not depend on the 3G network. They are on the CDMA/1x portion of Verizon's network.

Try this application. It places in your notification window the strength of both your CDMA (voice) and the EDVO (3G) signal in dbm numbers. -105 dbm is considered terrible strength, -90 dbm is decent and -70 dbm and higher is really good. Let's see where your levels are.

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.moddedlogic.android.SignalStatus

suzigirl

Signal strength is around -101, as "high" as -96, as low as -106. This shouldn't be happening with a 3G phone! My enV3 had about the same signal strength; this is stupid. The nearest tower is only about 2 miles away!

Ann154

That is pretty low. It is possible that the building is blocking the signal.

How much different is it outside?

Are you sure that nearest tower is a Verizon tower?

Ann154

Also is that signal strength the CDMA strength or the EDVO signal strength?

suzigirl

-96 in CDMA and EVDO outside, -106 inside. So apparently being in the house is a factor. Bummer that I can't use my phone only outside LOL.

Ann154

Even at -96 dbm, it does sound like you live in an area where the signal is weaker than well covered areas.

For example, my Tbolt has -82 or -78 dbm CDMA and -73 dbm EDVO signal strength in a steel and brick high rise in a downtown area of a city. A co-worker who has a Fascinate had a -87 dbm in the core of the building. I am guessing that was CDMA strength since he doesn't have an application installed to show both signal.

suzigirl

I talked with the folks at the non-Verizon store and one of the gals has the Fascinate. She told me that the "D" just means "dormant", IOW 3G isn't uploading, downloading, syncing, etc. So no big deal there. She also checked all my settings after the hard reboot and said they're fine. I don't plan on changing them. And now that I've done the hard reboot, going back to factory settings, let's hope that the dropped call issue is resolved. Even if it's not, now that I've thought about it they're likely happening when my signal is weakest, right here at this crazy computer. You'd think that a smartphone would be better than a non-smart phone at pulling signal, but I'll just have to deal with it I guess. Thanks for everyone's help and support; I'll continue to keep an eye on things to see if my theory is accurate.

Ann154

I was wondering about that. If that the D was just the dormant signal. I just wasn't sure because I couldn't tell if this was under the 3G symbol in place of the up down arrows or just a D instead of the 3G symbol.

If this is the case, it is normal to see that. My Eris used to do that all the time. I haven't noticed it too much on my Tbolt though. On the other hand, I am more actively using the Tbolt than I did with the Eris.

suzigirl

Yeah the "D" is in place of the arrows, under the 3G symbol, sorry for the confusion. I walked through my house & discovered the best signal short of going outside is by the front door; go figure. So, if I'm on an important call, I guess that's where I'll have to be. Bummer that I wouldn't have the computer in front of me, at least until I can figure out how to be online and talking to someone at the same time :smileyhappy:

Child Item