Poor calling and texting service---MANUAL resolution NOT acceptable

I was completely missing calls and texts over the last few weeks which is completely unacceptable as the phone is my main line (and I have two small kids!). The rep at the verizon store told me it was because I needed to update the tower information used by the phone MANUALLY every 30 days.

As a Verizon customer for over 7 years I was surprised as I was NEVER told to do this before with ANY phone and had never had such a problem before. I find it extremely frustrating that service could be completely compromised even in an emergency because Verizon does not automatically update such information to phones. I can get every other type of UNWANTED update to my Droid 2 but not one that would ensure my basic phone features work in an emergency.

Way to go Verizon. I'm glad I'll be able to shop on Amazon during say a house fire but not dial 911.

Accepted answers

silver6055

vereyezuhn wrote:

As far as updating the tower info, I'm assuming you were told to dial *228, option 2? That is correct, and it should in fact be done every couple weeks. It literally takes 60 seconds.

There seems to be information out there indicating that *228 is basically a placebo for most people. It should only impact roaming, nothing to do with native Verizon signals. It has nothing to do with individual towers, but rather with systems, so in area A, look for carrier X then carrier Y if there is no Verizon signal.

So it makes sense to update if you are really using a signal from other carriers (because Verizon is weak in yhe place you are).

Doing *228 is one of the steps, followed by battery pull, followed by factory reset, followed by phone exchange, in the troubleshooting process. Like any procedure, for some people any step might fix the issue for a while.

Unless you are mainly roaming, and/or travelling to an area with uncertain VZ signal, there is no need to update every two weeks, or every month. That said, it is quick, but don't, in general, expect improvements.

All comments

keezy

rdsuarez wrote:
I was completely missing calls and texts over the last few weeks which is completely unacceptable as the phone is my main line (and I have two small kids!). The rep at the verizon store told me it was because I needed to update the tower information used by the phone MANUALLY every 30 days.
As a Verizon customer for over 7 years I was surprised as I was NEVER told to do this before with ANY phone and had never had such a problem before. I find it extremely frustrating that service could be completely compromised even in an emergency because Verizon does not automatically update such information to phones. I can get every other type of UNWANTED update to my Droid 2 but not one that would ensure my basic phone features work in an emergency.
Way to go Verizon. I'm glad I'll be able to shop on Amazon during say a house fire but not dial 911.

You don't need service to dial 911. The phone doesn't even need to be activated on a network to do that.

As far as updating the tower info, I'm assuming you were told to dial *228, option 2? That is correct, and it should in fact be done every couple weeks. It literally takes 60 seconds.

rdsuarez

I don't care if it takes less than 2 seconds. I was never informed that I needed to do this with any phone on Verizon since becoming a customer over 5 years ago. And Verizon pushes random updates and overwrites settings on my phone all the time but can't do the same for the basic info that it needs? Seems that if they won't because they just can't make any money off advertising from it.

silver6055

vereyezuhn wrote:

As far as updating the tower info, I'm assuming you were told to dial *228, option 2? That is correct, and it should in fact be done every couple weeks. It literally takes 60 seconds.

So it makes sense to update if you are really using a signal from other carriers (because Verizon is weak in yhe place you are).

rdsuarez

I have the same feeling--calling #DATA is just going to delay the inevitable: them offering a discount on a new phone.

unknown

Rdsuarez, I understand your frustration over this issue. I agree with the statements from Silver6055 and this was not caused because of *228. *228 option 2 updates your preferred roaming list (PRL) in your phone. This means that if we make any changes with roaming agreements with other carriers in an area, this ensures your phone picks up the right carrier. We do recommend updating your preferred roaming list every 2-3 months, but not doing so does not cause your phone to stop working. Powering your device off often helps with issues receiving calls and SMS. More than likely when you went into the store, they updated the PRL, then power cycled the phone, and that is what resolved the issue. If this is something that continues, it could be an issue with the phone itself or a network issue in the area and we would need to further troubleshoot.