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Droid Charge as Hotspots drops connection constantly

I finally got Verizon to swap out my Thunderbolt for a Droid Charge because of the constant bugs and dismal battery life that plagues the Thunderbolt...however...in hindsight...the one thing the Thunderbolt did do well was Keep a constant 4G data connection, on the phone, and when tethering.

With the Droid Charge, it' regular drops back to 3G, whereas the Thunderbolt never did...also, I pay to use the Charge as a mobile hotspot...but it is literally unusable, even when on 4G the connection drops intermittently every 10 seconds or so then resumes. While this wouldn't be too noticeable for surfing a few websites...it makes downloading video from any source completely undoable. If I am downloading from youtube, Netflix, legal torrents, etc...once it drops the connection, even when the connection goes back up, the video for all of these sites wont resume downloading.

My question is: Is this a known issue for the Droid Charge...or do I simply have a lemon? If it's a known issue...is there a way to fix it, and if not...what is Verizon and Samsung doing to fix the situation, and when will it be remedied?

Any feedback from anyone having similar problems, or a Verizon Rep on here that isn't going to giving some useless, generic answer like a lot seem to do, would be welcome and much appreciated.

Comments

WCMack

Iceshag wrote:

My question is: Is this a known issue for the Droid Charge...or do I simply have a lemon? If it's a known issue...is there a way to fix it, and if not...what is Verizon and Samsung doing to fix the situation, and when will it be remedied?

Several threads discuss connectivity problems. Search them using the box at the top right of this page, with search terms such as "3G", "4G" or "hotspot" or something better that you think up.

Good luck.

JerryF

Iceshag,

What is your signal sterngth? Take a look at my latest post (9/9/2011) in the thread: Charge Dropping 3G service: Network Not Available.

JerryF

camtan

I am the sad owner of a Samsung Charge for a bit over a month now. The phone was a disappointment from the moment it arrived home. It had severe data connectivity issues that have been widely reported in various forums. The 3G connection was very slow with pages taken an eternity to materialize. It disconnected frequently from 3G. These troubles escalated when it was used as a wireless hotspot. Multiple visits to Verizon with hard facts in the form of 3G connection/disconnection logs in hand were fruitless. They would not replace the phone with another model, had no idea when a fix would be available, and admitted that many others were experiencing similar problems with 3G/4G capable models. It makes one wonder why they are selling the units. Such questions will never be answered.

Without any real solutions from Verizon, owners of these gems are forced to sort it out for themselves. The same forums that have reported the issues describe a wide array of causes and possible work arounds and fixes. Some say the signal is too weak and that an antenna will improve the connection quality. For me, I can compare to a 3G usb stick and a family member's iphone in the same locations. Neither has any issue where the Charge is a complete dud. I accept that a defective antenna is a possibility, something that I will never overcome except by purchase of another phone. Others blame 3G/4G switching and buggy modem software. Not willing to flush the 300 bucks and without any other recourse, I began exploring software mods and other solutions in the hope that something would give this phone the heartbeat it should have had when it came out of its packaging.

Success came this weekend. The phone runs like a scared rabbit after reseating the sim card and upgrading the system to EP1W. Sadly, I cannot say which of these two actions made the fix or if what I did just coincided with some change implemented by Verizon on their side. What is certain is that it took way too long to reach this point. Verizon, based upon personal experience, your customer service representatives are implementing some really dodgy policies. Hopefully you will roll out an OTA or some other sanctioned or authorized fix to this issue soon.

JimBBerkeley

I was really disappointed in the performance of the Mobile Hotspot. It was one of the major reasons I got this phone since I bought it 1 day before Verizon dropped unlimited plans. I thought I could replace my DSL service with a much faster connection and have mobile connection for !Pad, laptop, etc. But as reported by others, the phone doesn't keep a connection for more than 5 minutes. Then I have to disconnect and reconnect and sometimes that doesn't even work. Huge disappointment. I called Verizon and they said they weren't aware of such a problem and that maybe it was my signal (although I have 4 to 5 bars and the phone consistently is getting 7-12 MBS). Verizon doesn't really seem concerned with addressing our problems, more concerned with denying responsibility. I'm thinking of breaking my contract and going to Sprint, at least I can pay less for bad service. Any response Verizon?

Peace.

chrispetersinc

Same problem here. I blew 400 dollars on this phone specifically for the 4g mobile hotspot and it drops connection ALL THE TIME. No it's not the connection strength, no it's not the sim card; it's the modem software. Yep guys, Verizon has had this failure of a device out for this long and still has not fixed a major software issue......Verizon doesn't deserve my money for a non-working product.

The fact that customer support is absolutely clueless about this while the modding community has known about it from the start is laughable. GJ GUYS!

[Edited to comply with Terms of Service]

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