Droid Bionic 4g Problems

[ShawnDoe]

For about three weeks i've been having problems with my 4g service on my Droid Bionic. It was working perfectly fine for the past six months. Its becoming very irritating cause it knocks me off of everything. The 4g bar will go white on and off. Even when it turns back blue I still have problems. My phone currently updated to a 905 system but still same problems. I live in the Detroit/Southfield MI area. The problem is anywhere I go. Everytime I google this problem I see its going on everywhere but no solutions. It works great when i'm hooked up to wifi. I'm tired of going through this! HELP PLEASE!!!

[LBtrw]

Power off your phone, remove your battery, & pull your SIM card out and re-insert it. Give that a shot. I have been experiencing the same issues and so far this method has been a solution. (Please remember I said "so far".)

[matmonk]

I have tried this method and it worked for about 2 days, now the data connectivity problems are back again. I've also tried the factory reset, .905 update, you name it, data just is not staying consistent on this phone. I came over here to see if VZW had any advice or even showed any concern about these problems, but, alas, it appears not.

[ducati1045R]

THIS DOES NOT WORK           verizon has replaced the phone twice I have been to the store 11 times called customer care and tech support more time than i can remember and still haveing the same problem with my wifes phone no 4G and no 3G ...This stated about 4 months ago also they have replaced the sim card (forgot about that) Thank GOD I have the Iphone 4s   NEXT

[Buzz720]

I have had the same problem for a few weeks now. I have tried cycling with airplane mode, I've tried taking out the battery, new sim card, wiped phone, replacement phone and nothing fixed the problem. I heard a rumor that there is suppose to be an update coming out tomorrow to fix the problem. I called verizon and the problem got submitted to the network guys. I am suppose to hear back from them by the end of the week

[rickkdaustin]

After the update I'm seeing my battery die in 3 - 4 hours where I was getting 8 - 10 before. After reading this post it occurred to me that maybe the battery drain is caused by signal issues and now I see that might be the case. I'm not getting 4G at all anymore. Granted, where I live our 4G has never been strong but the Bionic has been routinely worse than my Verizon MiFi device. So, it could be I'm having signal issues which has the side effect of killing my battery.

Not happy with this situation...

[rckt82]

Same issue in NC... called tech support. They said it's not a known issue!?! Apparently they don't look at their own discussion boards for the multiple reports. Bottom line is they're sending a new phone and sim card. But it's a bug in the phone, so I'm sure the new one will have the same issue! But I figured ill go with it and say I gave it a shot. If not I'll call them back and see what they can do to resolve it. I've been with Verizon for 14 years, surely they'll be willing to do something more than send a third buggy bionic

[GAstorino]

Having same problem in Portland, Oregon.  Did all the supplied techniques and still nothing.  Verizon where are you?    

[nation920]

Also having the same problem here in the LA area. I tried powering off the phone, removing the battery and sim card and powering back on. No difference. I called tech support went through their standard troubleshooting measures but no effect. This has been happening the past several weeks and I have to manually switch to 3G to have a reliable internet connection. Not sure if the Moto Bionic has a problem connecting to 4G, but I had this phone since March and this problem happen gradually.

I asked other people who have other phones and they seems to be okay having a stable 4G connection. There was an update that pushed out a week ago and it seemed it had no impact. Not sure if only the Bionic is culprit or the network. 

[thur]

Tried all the methods mentioned above but to no avail.  For my bionic the issue really began after the last OTA update (.905).  If I switch to 3G (CDMA), the data connection is stable so it seems to be a 4G radio/connection issue with this phone.  Data is dropped regularly (every 10 minutes or so) on 4G and it's FRUSTRATING!  I live in Mid Wilshire area of Los Angeles two blocks from a cell tower.

[skeptonomicon]

Same issue in Atlanta GA. This is not specific to Droid Bionic, it is literally any phone that uses a sim card. I am using a Galaxy Nexus with same behavior. I am literally looking out my office window at the cell antennas across the street as the signal goes from full bars 4G to white to zippo. A minute later it will come back. Some times it can happen every few minutes, other times it will go for hours without a problem.

[alassen23]

I've been having this problem with my Bionic since day 1.  Verizon has been no help what so ever. 

The first day I got the phone, I didn't have any connection for 3 hours.  We took it back to the store and the gave me a new sim card.  But I couldn't use it in 4G LTE, it just wouldn't work.  So finally, after a few months I went back to Verizon.  They switched the sim card again and saw that it still dropped data, they decide to send me a replacement phone.

The replacement phone I got in March had the same problems, but it wasn't as bad.  To avoid the hassle of dealing with Verizon I kept the phone.  Well last week, I'm on the replacement phone and the volume just stops working.  So back to the store I go for them to send me ANOTHER replacement phone.

This is my 3rd Bionic since November.  Now I'm having the same issues with the data, and it's 10x worse then what it was with the other 2 Bionics.  I'm so sick of this replacement phone business... it's obviously something in the manufacturing of this phone, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people with the same problems. 

I'm going back to the store tonight, and I'm going to demand an upgrade.  If Verizon doesn't make right by this, I'll take my business elsewhere.

[muhman]

Actually, I do not think it is the phone.

I think it has to do with connection to the LTE network, What is really interesting is run speedtest. it shows uploads are working normally. All downloads are horrific now. It has been since the June/July update.

I had removed some apps that had the Android ad engine and that helped but it is in holding that connection to the 4G network.

Every time they bring a new tower on it causes an update to the routes which I think is part of the problem. I used to have perfect connection on 4G up until June. My Bionic ruled and I use a lapdock often. now it is damn near worthless.

I am also on a grandfathered all you can eat data plan. Now I hover around 2GB in usage per billing period but I am starting to think they want people to upgrade so that they get on the new data plans. If that is the case, I want to find out. I would get a class action case going, if that is the case. I am getting ticked off and I like Verizon. I have been with them forever.

[skeptonomicon]

So it has been over a month since this problem started for me. It has been in level 2 tech support for over 2 weeks. Clearly this problem does not effect everyone, but it does effect enough people that they at least acknowledged they have a system wide issue. At one point they told me that it was a problem with the authentication using the SIM cards. This is a Verizon specific authentication scheme. They told me it didn't matter if it was 4g or 3g, as long as it had a SIM it would experience this problem. Older 3G phones without SIM cards should be OK since the authenticate differently. That is what they told me, but I have my doubts. For the last two weeks, I have been using my backup OG Droid instead of my new Galaxy Nexus. I still am seeing drop outs, but the older phone is able to recover almost instantaneously. I also have noticed that is tends to drop cell connectivity when it discovers a new WIFI network, although this could just be this poor old slow phone not being able to keep up, and dropping service since the CPU is bogged down.

I called again yesterday, and they promised to get back to me with an update within the hour. Of course I have not heard back from them two days later. I will probably bug them again tomorrow. I may push them to void my contract so I can switch carriers cause it does not look like they have any clue as to how to fix this problem.

[rjoet]

TO ALL : go to manage apps and turn off or stop data manager all the items under data manager DONT restart just use your phone

[FarmerJohn1776]

Same issues with my Bionic here in San Diego. It all began with the OTA .905 forced update a couple months ago. I've tried everything mentioned above along with a few other suggestions from other forums, all moot. I'd call Verizon to register complaints, ultimatums, and desperate tirades, but now they won't even let you reach tech support from your cell # (which is a devious, yet brilliant maneuver on their part to save labor costs now that so many people have abandoned their land lines). My head is sore from beating it against the wall and furniture. Please, for the love of $120/month cell phone bills, issue a bloody fix to this snafu before I sick my bloodthirsty attorney on you with a class action suit for our collective pain and suffering, not to mention contractual non-performance (i pay you gobs of money-you provide wireless service). It won't matter what your fine print says; this is California, big brutha, and you'll settle like everyone else...

[skeptonomicon]

I found this explanation of the problem from a post on another related thread:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/12/19/this-is-why-your-verizon-galaxy-nexus-or-other-4g-lte-vzw-ph...

To sum it up, it is a problem in the Verizon network related to authentication of SIM cards. The problem does not exist on phones without SIM cards.

Clearly not everyone with a SIM card phone is having this problem, but I was having so many prelims that I went back to using my OG droid (no sim card) which is dog slow.