Bionic 4g/3g compatibility issues

I upgraded to the new Droid Bionic on Wednesday, and I am continually having issues with the 4g/3g compatibility. When I bought the phone at the store, everything seemed to be working great. However, when I returned home with my new phone, I noticed that I was able to receive phone calls and text messaging, but I could not connect to the web or access my email and social networking sites. I immediately took the phone back up to the verizon store, and everything seemed to be working great. After speaking to a verizon wireless associate, he informed me that a lot of the Bionic owners are having issues with their phone's being backwards compatible with 3g. When the phone is in a 4g network, everything works great and smoothe. However, when you leave the 4g network and enter into a 3g network the phone automatically loses data connection. I have tried several times shutting the phone off and rebooting when in the 3g network, but I still cannot get it to work. Does anyone have any solutions? Also, the customer service department mentioned something about an upgrade that is supposed to fix this problem.....does anyone know when this upgrade is supposed to happen? This issue is really ticking me off because I love my phone but with no data network it is useless to me (I live AND work outside of the 4g network).

Accepted answers

ChristinaB_VZW

Hello and thank you to the community for the helpful information.

I have some steps for Bionic users to assist with data connection. Please try the steps below for a fix.

Settings

Battery & Data Manager

Data Delivery

Please make sure that "Background Data" and "Data Delivery" are checked.

Thank you!

All comments

dankbionic

Not sure how long it will be until they fix this. I have had my Bionic for a week, and it has trouble with 4G as well. It will be in 4G at my house or work with a nice strong signal then will suddenly drop to 3G. If I toggle airplane mode, it will not go back to 4g, however if I reboot the phone it comes back up in 4G and will stay that way until I lock the screen. (Then it goes back to 3G) I have tried all the tricks in the discussion boards including turning on the Data Roaming and reseating the SIM card to no avail. By the looks of other internet discussion boards this is an issue that other Bionic iusers are having. Any suggestions Verizon? *228 doesn't work with sim cards.

mgoblue2003

I'm having the same issue. Once I go to 3g, I can't get back to 4g unless I reboot my phone. Is there a fix coming?

mgoblue2003

I should've started, I also have the Bionic

crweaks23

Just adding my experience to the mix... I live in a 4G area but sometimes lose the 4g... then I don't get ANY data connection for a period of time.

Does this happen on other LTE phones?

thagrrrl79

I've had the Bionic for just over a week & have had connectivity issues from day one. It's not so much switching from 4G to 3G or vice versa as it is just randomly loosing signal period. It frequently happens after I've been on the phone; I get off the phone & go to check Twitter or send a text message & I have no connection. Some days are better than others, but I'm having to restart it as much if not more than the Droid it replaced. It's frustrating because I'm really loving the phone, except for that. Oh, and the fact that if I move apps to the SD card the phone thinks it's not installed any more, but that's another forum post.

AntonioC_VZW

West24l wrote:
I upgraded to the new Droid Bionic on Wednesday, and I am continually having issues with the 4g/3g compatibility. When I bought the phone at the store, everything seemed to be working great. However, when I returned home with my new phone, I noticed that I was able to receive phone calls and text messaging, but I could not connect to the web or access my email and social networking sites. I immediately took the phone back up to the verizon store, and everything seemed to be working great. After speaking to a verizon wireless associate, he informed me that a lot of the Bionic owners are having issues with their phone's being backwards compatible with 3g. When the phone is in a 4g network, everything works great and smoothe. However, when you leave the 4g network and enter into a 3g network the phone automatically loses data connection. I have tried several times shutting the phone off and rebooting when in the 3g network, but I still cannot get it to work. Does anyone have any solutions? Also, the customer service department mentioned something about an upgrade that is supposed to fix this problem.....does anyone know when this upgrade is supposed to happen? This issue is really ticking me off because I love my phone but with no data network it is useless to me (I live AND work outside of the 4g network).

Hi West24l,

I am sorry to learn of the 4G/3G connectivity issues you are experiencing. Since you don't live in a 4G area (as per your post) I would recommend to change your phone settings to connect to 3G only and only change it to 4G when you visit a 4G area. Doing this should resolve your connectivity concerns. You can set data connection to 3G only by following the path below:

Menu>Settings>Wireless&Networks>MobileNetworks.NetworkMode then select CDMA only. For online instructions please click on this LINK

jason2302

That has NOTHING to do with it.

The REAL problem is that Motorola shipped many Bionic devices with faulty radios, as if they weren't already bad enough. My advice is to return the phone and wait for either the HTC Rezound or the Galaxy Nexus, both of which will have 720p screens and better CPUs, instead of the Bionic's cheap screen and old processor.

But if you MUST keep the Bionic, exchange it for a new one and hopefully it will be fine. But still, the radios on most of Verizon's phones are complete crap. You will constantly find yourself losing signal strength/signal alltogether.

unknown

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. Our product team and Motorola are aware of this issue and investigating a resolution. A fix is expected in the first maintenance release for the device. We don't have a date for the resolution at this time. If you are still within your 14 day worry free guarantee, I encourage you to try exchanging the device as this does not seem to affect every Bionic to the same magnitude. I appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

MobileMoghul

I am using a BIONIC which i got after returning my CHARGE as it was hanging, not responsive and restarting oftern after a months use. Now with the BIONIC i am having a lot of signal issue in all the places(My Home) that had a solid 4G network with my CHARGE. Now I am missing calls and the phone toggles between 4G and 3G all the time. This BIONIC is only 2 days old and I am not sure if i should return it or is there a fix to it. Is it even possible to fix this issue without a Hardware update?

Fatdog1028

Good luck to everyone. I have the HTC Thunderbolt and live in a 3g area at home but in 4g area at work. If you are within your 14 day return period, TAKE IT BACK. After your 14 days is up, they will want to constantly return your new full price phone for a refurbished hunk of junk.

undeadrat

I experienced this issue tonight; my Droid Bionic was going into the 3G mode (from 4G LTE) and then it lost connection to the network altogether. I restarted the phone, and this seemed have reset the conenct (at least for now). But this is very disapointing; why do they release these very expensive devices when they have such fundamental problems? At this point, I think I will return the phone and go back to my very reliable Krazor (which has worked flawlessly for the last five years or so). I am also very disapointed that no mention was made of this at the store -- Perhaps the salesperson didn't know about the issues with the Bionic, or he wanted to make a sale. It seems like a very nice phone, and would be quite useful to me. But if it has an issue of losing conenction then it is rather useless to me (a "dumb" phone works without internet quite nicely after all without the data charges). If I'm paying $30.00 / month for data then I expect it to work.

I will talk to the people at the Verizon store and probably return it later today.

archie21

im severely regretting buying the droid bionic. it worked very well for about 2 days and it has been downhill since then. my iphone (att) had great 3g and rarely had any type of connection issues. so far ive had 4g for about 1 hour total in the past month. and that was directly downtown in grand rapids, MI. 3g had worked sporadically and has completely vanished for the last 2 days. i just tried to open pandora on the bionic and instead of hearing music it called my boss 7 times in rapid succession at 11:58p.m. im really hoping verizon is going to fix this problem or at least do something to live up to the reputation they supposedly have, because so far im not impressed.

JohnB_VZW

I understand everyone's frustration and apologize for the inconvenience this is causing.

The loss of data connectivity when transitioning from 4G to 3G is a known issue and under investigation. A fix will be included in the first post launch maintenance release software for the Bionic.

As a temporary fix you can power cycle the device or enable/disable Airplane Mode when you experience any data connection loss.

Again I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

angela3763

this happened to me the first day I got it, but a simple fix was an unchecked box! i couldnt go back n forth from 3G to 4G. look and see if this helps ! Settings>Battery Data Manager> Data Delivery>Data Roaming - checked. My box was not checked. didnt allow me to go back n forth.

tommyguz

My wife and I just bought Droid Bionic's today. We bought them in an area where 4G service is available and all was good...except when we got home about a half hour south of there.....and where only 3G is available....now our phones won't connect to the network. We called tech support and had them take out the sim card, battery, all that nonsense and still nothing. They told me it should be working by the end of day today but I have not heard back from them. Anyone know what I should do before I return these useless things tomorrow...If they can't work in 3G then what good are they??

chirotor

I am sort of glad that many are having the same problem. I was thinking I would have to do a hard reset or get a replacement set, both of which are nightmares for me. The VZ guys have said that a fix is coming and I have no choice but to believe them as I'm past my 14 days. Tech support had me check the data roaming box in settings/battery & data manager/data delivery as also suggested by angela3763. At the same time I had taken out my battery and held down the on/off button for 30 seconds before rebooting. Whether it's luck or the reboot, or the checked box I have had 4G since. I have had the phone for over a month in both CA and FL without a problem before the problem kicked in on 10/16. On 10/16 and 10/17 I have had times with no data, 3G data, or brief 4G data. I sure hope its a network problem or a phone software problem, not a hardware issue, as the first two can be fixed.

mercdoc

This is great! We toss out 300 bucks on a product to have to shut it off and reboot it to get service. Why don't we get some sort of discount for not having a product that works as it should. I had a Thunderbolt and sometimes wish I had kept it. I'm on my 2nd Bionic for the Data connectivity issues as well as apps placed on home screen would uninstall but the icon would still be on the home screens. I took the 1st phone back within the 14 days but now if I take my current one back I will end up getting a refurbed one and I STILL DONT HAVE A SATISFACTORY PRODUCT. And lets face it, dealing with Verizon over the phone or in the corp office is NO FUN. You get to talk to people that treat you as a stupid, don't know anything joe that try to tell you that your phone is fine and just keep restarting it to make it work. What ever happen to buying a product that worked as advertised? I have been with Verizon Wireless longer than I can remember and after recent visits to corp offices for support really wish I could go somewhere else but then again I would probly get the same service. (Most likely cheeper too). Is Verizon starting to treat their customers like Microsoft and have us be the testing? If that be the case, show me the money or give us a discount.

Lonegreyhat

I was having horrendous data connectivity issues with my bionic... the problem seems to stem from the power management software. Set your bionic's battery mode to "performance mode" and enable data roaming. Reboot. This has solved all of my data connectivity issues as my bionic switches between 4G/3G/2G flawlessly now - it's performance is actually significantly better than my old fascinate. Hope this helps!

diddybuck1982

It is not your phone it is Verizon and their network. Read the post below. I am starting a revolution because the more that I read I am realizing that it isnt a problem with only one phone or manufacturer it is Verizon. Read the post below and I am sure it will seem like the article is talking about you. It made me feel that way.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/09/22/dear-verizon-your-4g-phones-all-have-data-connectivity-problems-and-its-really-**bleep**-everyone-off/

budone

Great Link! Lots of info...... It is also a broken link

Take two

iheartdroid

"Settings>Battery Data Manager> Data Delivery>Data Roaming - checked"

Did this and re-booted the phone and it completely solved the problem!

I'm hoping the software update will come soon!

pfeinber

This is not an isolated issue... many other Bionic owners like myself are experiencing 4G/3G/no data signal issues. Changing to CDMA-only data signal actually doesn't solve the problem for me - just means when data does work, it's slower than I paid for. Looking forward to a fix from the Bionic/VZW team soon.

tomicoy

I have called verizon and a rep walked me through these steps. After a week I am still having these same problems. I to love the phone but I really wish it would live up to its capabilities. I feel as if I am wasting my money on this phone. At this point, I would not recommend this phone to anyone until these issues are fixed. Its not worth the aggravation.

tomicoy

Also, I have a pretty good rep who is working with me this week. She says she will check with me on Saturday to see about any issues I may be experiecing as well as keeping me abreast of any new updates. I have worked with some pretty nice reps during this time, all have been sympathetic to my plight .....and then there is the one who downright exaggerated the truth about such things of memos sent out pertaining to updates to the bionic phone and when they will be completed. I hope this issue is fixed soon.

bone

Same here .. This is a huge problem and Verizon is burying their head in the sand.. Just go to any bionic forum..Its wide spread.. For me it has progressed the last two weeks were im only getting data 3/4 of the time..and I know all the little tricks , pulling the battery, factory reset,toggle the airplane mode.. This is a brand new phone that cost me 600 dollars. I shouldn't have to do this..If GM sold a car that only ran 3/4 of the time there would be a massive recall. 14 days to return a phone is a joke. Seems that this phone was pushed out the door because they had to make room for the razor...

ChristinaB_VZW

Hello and thank you to the community for the helpful information.

I have some steps for Bionic users to assist with data connection. Please try the steps below for a fix.

Settings

Battery & Data Manager

Data Delivery

Please make sure that "Background Data" and "Data Delivery" are checked.

Thank you!

Rizzo75

The fix didn't work for me (already had the 2 boxes checked) and phone switches to 3G on and off and sometimes drops data completely for up to an hour. 4G was just added in the Buffalo, NY area, and apparently my "backwards compatible" phone is having issues.

Verizon refunded me last month's data packag phone and has now sent me a 3G phone "to use until the 4G connection is more stable in this area." So long Droid Bionic...for a while. :smileysad:

bone

There is no "data Delivery " to check do you mean Data enabled?.. i have had both checked for 2 months and i still have no data 10 times or ore a day.

noboatfey42

I have the same problem and my roam box was always checked. If that worked for you, good for you,

Crvtte65

I had issues loosing Data all together when my phone was in a custom battery saver mode (set to something in the past 2 am to 6am) and when on the 4G/3G option. I was sick of having no connectivty and having to toggle on/off airplane mode just to restart a connection, which sometimes that did not work. This was also at all times of the day though mostly in the evening, when my batter saver plan should not have been in effect.

Before coming here and seeing a potential solution about the battery saver mode, I switched it to 3G only and I have yet to have a single issue with connectivty but I'll try the other solution so I can actually take advantage of the 4G

tmwes

I can't believe this thread is marked as 'solved'.

One rep suggested to me to put the phone in 3g only mode; my response to her was why did I buy a 4g phone, then?

I have 4g in some areas near me, and 3g where I live. I'm not going 3g only unless you give me my money back and give me a new 3g only phone.

As I mentioned in another thread regarding this issue; I've tried everything VZW has suggested, and the issue still persists...very, very dissapointing.

marinegundoctor

I haven't really had much data issues, but I only use data in bursts and haven't gone through one of those since having the Bionic. I do have an issue with roaming in the extended network. I can not get any service. The phone shows signal bars, but upon placing a call I get a popup stating there is no network available. I even tried to dial 911 and got the same message. No network connectivity at all.

kressgm

My Bionic worked great in the Verizon Store where they boost the 4G signal, however, when I returned home it was 3G only. Over the next few weeks I realized that the phone was very rarely in 4G mode, it more or less stayed in 3G and sometimes lost all connectivity. As a result of the phone switching signals, I also noticed that it totally drained the battery to the point that I needed to charge it twice a day. I have since switched my phone to 3G only and the battery life has been greatly improved (only need to charge once per 24 hours). I do think it is ridiculous for Verizon to market these expensive 4G phones without having a reliable network to connect to. Every other commercial on TV is for Verizon 4G and it makes me sick to think that I'm paying for this service that my phone can't stay connected to. It makes me even more angry that Verizon does not admit the issue and they just keep rolling out more 4G Droid models to lure additional customers in the door. Someone should call the Better Business Bureau on Verizon, and they should have to refund $$$ to the thousand of customers that aren't getting what they are paying for in their monthly service contracts. Shame on you Verizon!

elc2389

Verizon, this issue is far from resolved. In cdma mode, in strictly 3g areas, where ever it may be, this is a horribly defective phone, and its not Motorolas fault, for other devices from samsung are guilty as well. Why am I paying $30 a month for a data plan when over %50 of the time I have no data? There are a lot more productive things I could have done with the money I paid for for the phone (which I waited for for months, since Verizon was supposidly working out all the bugs, and the $120 I've paid the past four months for a service im rarely ever able to use with ease. Having to do a full batttlery pull four times in one hour is unacceptable to restore a data connection! If your 4g system wasn't completely perfected, it shouldn't have been launched. Plain and simple. Because now as customers, we are incurring numerous dollars each month into a service we are not receiving. If it weren't for most other services being flimsy in my area, I would be leaving.

jules65

I am about to start calling Verizon every time that my service drops (which will be about 10X a day). I am sick of calling in on this issue and being told to pull the battery and pull the SIM to "fix" the issue. I have to have my husband's phone on hand or have another phone around to have them "call me back on" - that defeats the purpose of having a PERSONAL cell phone. I wouldn't need this phone to work and I wouldn't pay to have it if I always had access to another phone.

ATTENION VERIZON: It is NOT acceptable to pay for service and pay for a "top of the line" phone and be expected to perform these actions everytime that I need or want to use my phone.

jules65

Does NOT fis the problem!

LOUcifer

jules65 wrote:
I am about to start calling Verizon every time that my service drops (which will be about 10X a day). I am sick of calling in on this issue and being told to pull the battery and pull the SIM to "fix" the issue. I have to have my husband's phone on hand or have another phone around to have them "call me back on" - that defeats the purpose of having a PERSONAL cell phone. I wouldn't need this phone to work and I wouldn't pay to have it if I always had access to another phone.

ATTENION VERIZON: It is NOT acceptable to pay for service and pay for a "top of the line" phone and be expected to perform these actions everytime that I need or want to use my phone.

Jules,

Good luck EVER getting Verizon to admit anything is unacceptable to their customers because to them it's all about the millions of $$$ we fork over every month. If they EVER admitted there was a legitimate issue with ALL 4G phones data connections then everyone would cancel or switch carriers.

It's all smoke and mirrors...a patch here a patch there...it's so obvious that ALL the 4G phones do NOT play well with the 4G & 3G networks...which OBVIOUSLY points a finger at Verizon and it's network NOT the manufacturers.

Funny how Sprint doesn't have widespread 4g outages with their Wimax...now AT&T launched LTE which my brother just bought and can't wait to hear his experience.

I totally agree with you...we shouldn't have to pull batteries/sim or perform master resets EVERYTIME we call tech support. You would think after months and months of the same data connectivity issues with all different phones they would realize these actions do not work and the problem is more serious then a battery pull.

Your idea of calling everytime your out of data is something I have been doing for the past week now. I have been demanding my $1 credit per day for data I cannot use until the issue is fixed. So basically in one months time I will accrue $30 in credits making the data free. Maybe then and only then will Verizon realize they need to step up their game and fix the data connectivity issues.

- Lou -

flexingrat

I bought a Droid Bionic on 12/6, and have had nothing but issues wit lack of data / internet connection. I ended up spending close to 7 hours on the phone doing the pull the battery, pull the SIM card, etc etc etc with no luck. It would access data for about one minute and then drop it until I restarted the phone or turned on/off airplane mode. Finally, Verizon agreed that the phone was bad and sent me a new Bionic. Guess what? Same issue. This one is better - it will access the internet for about 5 minutes before dropping (I guess that is a 500% increase, huh?). But it is still NOT acceptible! Whu should I pay for a service that doesn't work? I'm soo frustrated with the Bionic, and with Verizon. I've been a loyal customer for over 5 years, paying for three different phones and plans. The Bionic is the only 4G device we have, and it is the only one having all of the connectivity issues. I've tried all of the tricks listed on this forum, as well as tricks listed on other forums - none of them work. Iam now to the point that I HATE this phone. VERIZON: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THIS OR REMEDY IT?

rjlynch13

Ok Verizon, I've had my Bionic a few months and constantly had data issues where it shows 4g on the screen but I can't get data to save my life at times. Yes, restarting the phone seems to work sometimes, however, that is not resolving the issue. The excuses given about being aware of the issue and getting it fixed in the software update don't fly. I updated my software to the new version a few weeks ago and I'm still having the same issues. I never have a problem with calls or text messages, just my data. Why am I, and every other Verizon customer, paying so much for data plans that are useless unless we "restart:" the phone? When will this issue be resolved?

flexingrat

Still the same issues, with no response from Verizon. The new Bionic has the same non-connection issues as the old one did, and I'm paying a hefty fee for data I cannot access. WTH? Come on, Verizon - we are very frustrated and just want an answer that someone is working on it or looking in to it! My business and my entire family has Verizon service, but due to the lack of response on this issue, you can bet that we are switching to a different provider if something doesn't happen soon!

Doonser

I have been having the same issue with getting NO internet services when I switch to 3G. One reason I want to switch to 3G is that when in 4G the Bionic interferes with my phone and laptop speakers at work (creates static on both). Plus it uses more battery power in 4G.

I tried the "solution" offered on page 1 by the Verizon rep, to enable Background data and Data enabled checkboxes, but they were already enabled.

What worked for me was a user's suggestion to also check "Data roaming." However, when I do this I get a warning that enabling this may incur significant charges (costs), if I am using data while roaming...which is true! I really don't want to incur data charges for trying to make this phone work.

I got this phone in early March 2012 and just passed my 14 day return mark. At first the phone had problems (BSOD), but the OS version was from October. I ran 2 updates to the current version (Android 2.3.4) and everything else seems to work fine. Only this 3G problem persists.

HELP US VERIZON!

billyhughes2012

I just got my Bionic about 2 1/2 wks ago and have had similar issues with loosing Data connections and problems swapping from 4G to 3G.. After researching forums and the internet, and making sure all the correct boxes were checked, the only way I could get it to work continuously on 4G/3G is by putting my battery in "Performance Mode". Settings/Battery & Data Manager/Battery Mode/Performance.

This definitely worked for me and my Bionic now seamlessly shifts from 4G to 3G and back and I am not loosing Data connections at all.

cjvz

New update as of tonight! Hopefully this fixes the constant 4G LTE issues.

http://androidcommunity.com/motorola-droid-bionic-update-rolling-out-today-with-4g-lte-fixes-20120614/

Jumpie

I can assure you that the update hasn't helped at all; it's only made things worse! 4G keeps disconnecting and reconnecting. I got a new SIM and even tried my SIM in different devices but no matter what, it's still the same....drop after drop, reconnect after reconnect, all day long! I've done everything that Support said to do, reset data, background data, etc. Since it happens on different devices when I swap my SIM, I know it's the network plain and simple.

Jumpie

Hasn't worked for me. Been in Performance Mode. I'm over it.

Jumpie

Doesn't work, Christina! I've done everything that Support has asked and even got a new SIM card. It's simple, nothing works! I've swapped my SIM in different devices and it still happens. There's something going on with the network.

Dr_KennethNoisewater

This is pretty much a joke. I've called Verizon dozens of times since around October of last year when this started. They know about it. They avoid it. They gave me a new sim card, and recently a new (refurbished) phone. Every complaint I read on here is exactly what I'm encountering. The only solution is to reboot the phone, which I have to do constantly. I even had an operator tell me that's Verizon's recommendation for my problem. Time to give AT&T's 4G a try.