4G Phones 3G sensitivity

[vidguy7]

I've got the Droid, and thankfully Verizon seems to have fixed the no connectivity 4G to 3G issue in the Long Island area.  But does anyone notice that in weaker 3G areas you don't get a connection whereas 3G only phones do?  I know the 4G signal doesn't seem to be as robust indoors as 3G signals, but I'm just talking about connectivity in weaker 3G areas indoors.

As an example, my wife's IPhone on Verizon will get a decent signal in say a movie theater in the Westbury area where I just can't get out at all on the internet.  I'm not sure if this is a characteristic of all 4G phones or just the Charge.

[Ray999]

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vidguy7 wrote:

I've got the Droid, and thankfully Verizon seems to have fixed the no connectivity 4G to 3G issue in the Long Island area.  But does anyone notice that in weaker 3G areas you don't get a connection whereas 3G only phones do?  I know the 4G signal doesn't seem to be as robust indoors as 3G signals, but I'm just talking about connectivity in weaker 3G areas indoors.

As an example, my wife's IPhone on Verizon will get a decent signal in say a movie theater in the Westbury area where I just can't get out at all on the internet.  I'm not sure if this is a characteristic of all 4G phones or just the Charge.

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I have found that going to  Settings->Wireless&network->Mobile networks->System selection and then selecting CDMA mode usually fixes me in that situation. Phone sometimes drops to 1xRTT but I still get my email

[vidguy7]

The only thing is, it can be a pain to be consistently switching back forth between 4G and CDMA only depending on the area you're in.  You can go 2 blocks and go from 3G to 4G or from outside a building to inside with the same drop down to 3G.  I'd be consistently in my settings if I did that every time I had a switch from 4G to 3G and back again.  Granted this is not nearly as bad as when I had no data connectivity whenever I was in 3G, but it's still a bit of a disppointment.  It just seems these phones are less sensitive in a 3G area compared to a 3G only phone.  I bet that even switching them to 3G only won't match the sensititivy of a 3G only phone.

I guess at this point on the technology curve, it's the price you pay for 4G. I'h hoping that the next OTA software update helps this issue a bit.

[ballanda]

VZW HAS TO FIX THIS.  Also, they should not be relying on us to be the testers.  VZW:

1) Get Charge phone

2) Look at 4G coverage map

3) Go where there is no 4G

4) Spend a day there and use the phone.

You'll see what we mean. 

[vidguy7]

Very true ballanda.  I'm hoping that the rumored Verizon OTA update will increase 3G sensitivity as well as smooth out the issues going from 3G to 4G or 4G to 3G areas.

I also hope that when Verizon tests these 4G phones in 3G areas, they go INDOORS for some of their testing.  Generally standing outdoors is not the issue, but just as with the fragile 4G signal deteriorating or disappearing indoors, the 3G signal on the 4G phones (at least the Charge), drop to virtually nothing indoors in many areas too. 

There's nothing better than having your wife sit right next to you with her Verizon 3G phone and seeing her get out on 3G while I have no signal.

[ballanda]

Not sure where you heard the rumor of an "ED3" update, but that would be welcome news.

[GreenRobot]

The Thunderbolt is the same way, when it doesn't have a strong 4g signal it will drop to 1X before it gets a 3g connection sometimes. I have had many situations were I am sitting next to someone with a 3g Android and I'm either with no connection or 1X and they're showing 3g... I definitely agree there is some work that needs done on the 4g phones and their ability to had off connections. 

[droidem]

Ditto to all of the above. I live in washington dc and it has frequently been dropping to no connection at all where I ised to grt connection on my old 3g phone. I hope this is fixed soon. It can't just be the samsung charge because I had the thunderbolt too and it does this on both. Almost wish I would have stuck with a 3g phone. Ah well!

[vidguy7]

I'm just hoping this can be solved with a software update.  If it's tied to a less sensitive receiver in the phone, we're out of luck.

[ballanda]

So far we can't even get VZW to acknowledge that there is a problem.  All they did was give us an impossibly long homework assignment to diagnose the issue when they are the ones who should be testing this themselves.  I'm keeping these 3G/4G threads going until sombody at VZW acknowledges that there is a problem and that they are working hard to diagnose and fix it themselves.  It's not hard to reproduce.

[jeff351s]

just because someone doesnt give you an immediate reply to a thread here doesnt mean its not being investigated.

[antb333]

I feel all of your pain.  I have been back and forth with Verizon Wireless technical support discussing this issue with my Thunderbolt for 3 months now.   When I am at work in Philadelphia I have great 4g coverage no problems whatsoever.  However, when I go home, which is a 3g area my 3g speeds are pitiful if I even have 3g at all.  My phone jumps networks, it seems like every 5 minutes from 4g to 3g to 1x to NO coverage at all.  For those who are not aware when their is no coverage text messaging, email, and internet(anything requiring data coverage) will not work.  I have had trouble tickets written for this issue and they have had no solutions for me.  I donwloaded the 4g app which allows you to turn off 4g while in a 3g area to try and get better 3g coverage.  This app does not work!  Verizon is aware that their are issues; they have credited me for a month and a half now.  I would also like to mention that when I call, all of the Verizon customer service and technical support reps try and tell me that nobody has ever called with this issue on the Thunderbolt before.  I tell them to google it just like I did and they will realize that their is a serious issue that needs to be addressed!  I am on my 2nd Thunderbolt and obviously as I mentioned both phones are having the same issues(Verizon tried to have me swap out my 2nd TB and get a 3rd and I refused to go through that process again for no reason since the 3rd phone would work just like the first two!).    I received great 3g coverage with my prior phone the HTC Droid Incredible in the area that I am having issues with the Thunderbolt.  When it comes down to it, it is completely unacceptable to have a newer phone(Thunderbolt) which has slower 3g speeds then an older model (HTC Incredible) in the same area!  I think since Verizon has no indication as to when the issues are going to be resolved and they want me to keep paying my bill they offered me any phone they currently have out.  That move by Verizon tells me that they are aware their 4g software in phones is less then desirable because of the 3g coverage(but for some reason they are advertising 4G all over the place).  The problem with getting a new phone from Verizon is that the Thunderbolt is the best phone out in my opinion so anything I switch to is going to be a downgrade.  If I do switch I am probably going to go to back to a 3g only phone because I know the Samsung Droid Charge 4G is also having the same issues as my Thunderbolt.  I also know that numerous people are experiencing the same issues with the 4g phones across the entire country(if you dont believe me Google 4g to 3g issues for verizon wireless).  I would hope Verizon is working on this night and day 24/7 because AT&T has 4G and their seem to be no issues with their phones moving between the 3g and 4g networks.

In all I have been a customer with Verizon Wireless for 7 years and up until now they were in my opinion the best wireless service provider in the business.  At this point I would have to seriously consider other options unless you want to wait for them to fix the issues in the 4G phones which they have no idea when that may be!!!!!!!!!!!????????

[vidguy7]

Antb, the more I experience and read about these issues, the more I'm convinced it's an issue with the chipsets in all of the 1st gen phones. I would hope this is not the case since if that's true, there is no fix for this until the 2nd gen phones are released with a hopefully fixed chipset. I wonder if that's not why Motorola has so delayed their 4G phone?

Some people never experience these issues (no data in 3G areas) because they're probably always in solid 4G areas.  When that's the case the phones work superbly. I was hoping the issue would be resolved with the latest OTA update, but although that update fixed some issues, it didn't really seem to impact the 4G to 3G issue.  Now this is not to say that every time I go from a 4G to 3G area I can't get data, I can in many areas.  But in some areas it's still problematic. My wife and I were in Pinera Bread on Route 110 in Huntington in close proximity to a Verizon store and adjacent to the Walt Whitman Mall (in case Verizon is reading this and would like to check that location for 4G to 3G handoff).  In that Pinera Bread store, I had no connectivity even though my wife did with her Verizon Iphone 4 and I showed 3-4 bars of 'something'...there was no designation of 4G, 3G or even 1X.  My wife is getting to the point where she's annoyed when I say "Honey can I have your phone for a minute?" as I do my comparisons.

Out of curiosity, I went over to the nearby Verizon store and saw that one of their 2 Charges had a consistently better, by 1-2 bars of signal strength, than mine (it had received the new OTA update).  The 2nd demo Charge had not received its update, so I couldn't make any comparisons there.  In fact, even when I was in the store, my Charge STILL showed no 4G coverage despite the demo Charge showing 4 bars on 4G!  It wasn't until I put my phone in Airplane mode and then back to regular service, did I get 4G coverage.

There's definitely something that's still whacky with all of this...and very frustrating.

[paperclips]

Same here. Still no reply to the ticket I filed maybe two weeks ago?...just a phone from Verizon trying to sell me a $250 signal booster...which is bull b/c the phone should work on its own. I've been robbed enough by them so far.

Ha I thought Verizon was supposed to be "America's Most Reliable Network"...

[Ann154]

This community is considered a peer to peer forum. Sometimes you can get a VZW Employee to post to the thread, but for the most part it is other users answering the questions.

[vidguy7]

You just hope Verizon reads these forums as well as others where people are complaining about 3G sensitivity.  If there's something they can do about it on the software side, great, but if it's inherent in these 4G phone's receivers, there's not much that can be done.  But I'm convinced this is not an issue from 'sample to sample', but rather all Charges and probably, from what I've read, all 4G phones to date.

It does make you wonder how Verizon tests these things prior to release.

[DionM_VZW · Accepted solution]

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vidguy7 wrote:

You just hope Verizon reads these forums as well as others where people are complaining about 3G sensitivity.  If there's something they can do about it on the software side, great, but if it's inherent in these 4G phone's receivers, there's not much that can be done.  But I'm convinced this is not an issue from 'sample to sample', but rather all Charges and probably, from what I've read, all 4G phones to date.

It does make you wonder how Verizon tests these things prior to release.

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Hi vidguy7,

I'm glad to say that we do read these forums as well as others. We both want and need to be aware of all that our customers experience while using their phones on our network. So thank you for taking the time to share. 

I see that you're anticipating today's software update with the hope that it will resolve the acquisition transition issue you discribed. We hope it does as well. However, if you do require additional assistance, please don't hesitate to send me a personal message with your mobile number, a phone number that I can call you on and a time that I can reach you. Thanks again!

[vidguy7]

Thanks Dion, appreciate the thoughts and assistance! 

[paperclips]

Why oh why is this forum labeled as "solved"?! Wow I don't get it. That update didn't help at all! : \

Anybody still have this issue after the update?

[vidguy7]

Of course, just read some of the posts on this forum and others.  The problem is still there.

[#21]

Thank for the continued contributions and feedback!

This is an issue that we are currently investigating. Please PM me your name, mobile number and contact number so I may assist with this concern.

Thank you!