Constantly losing data connection

[denay-tbolt]

I have seen this many times all over the place but still can't find the answer.  We have 2 thunderbolts in our family and both phones do the same thing.  Says I have 4G but as soon as I open an app or try to use data it loses the data connection.  I have to retry several times before it will connect.  It gets to the point of rebooting the phone which doesn't even work all of the time.  This has happened so much that it almost makes this brick unusable.

PLEASE I'm begging anyone for an answer.  I have tried updates and phone settings....  I know I'm not the only one with this problem.

[Thunderboltshmunderbo]

I've been having this same problem for months now.  Got a new SIM card.  No change.  Did the factory reset.  No change.  Got a new Thunderbolt AND new SIM card.  No change.  I'm pretty sick of it.  And the same canned responses from Verizon when they know what the problem is.

Check this out.

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

[denay-tbolt]

Thank you for the link and the information. This sounds like my issue for

sure.

[fred4418]

When I was in Orlando, FL just a couple of weeks ago I had the exact same issue, I would lose my data connection and get it back. I would only keep the connection for a few minutes then lose it again. Not sure what was happening there. I ended up disabling the 4G on the phone and had no problems from that point. Once I got back home to Pittsburgh I turned the 4G back on and everything has been fine with it, so obviously there is a network problem in Orlando.

[JRAHNBO2]

For those of us that have this issue, and it seems to be many of us, I don't think Verizon has a clue how to fix it or care enough to even try.  It may not even be on their radar.  If you've seen all the threads here on their own site you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has had the issue resolved.  They can swap phones, sim cards, do factory resets over and over but it just doesn't work and they give up as I have given up on Verizon and can't wait to be a former customer. I voiced my concern in another thread a while back.  Someone from VZW actually acted interested and ask several  questions about my configuration to which I quickly replied.  Over a month passed and they didn't bother to reply to me after doing a bit of leg work to collect that information for them.  Then when I asked why nobody replied they just made a single suggestion to reset the APN which of course was an ineffective suggestion.  Given that poor support, the lack of support from actual phone support, I turned to Twitter.  Somebody from Verizon took notice and seemed to care.  For all I know it was the same person that was ignoring my question on this board. They read all the message threads here, asked a few questions, then came up with the amazingly useless response of telling me to do a battery pull as the solution.  As if after a year with this problem I never once pulled the battery. So either Verizon can not fix this or does not want to fix it.  Our only solution is to break our contract and turn around and sue for early termination fees or wait out our contract and never return to Verizon again which is what I will do and I'm sure Verizon prefers that since they rake in tons of money on substandard service.  I do take some satisfaction in the fact I've been able to sway several people away from Verizon and will continue to do so ad nauseam due to this problem they are incapable of fixing.  At least I don't have to worry about my antiquated data cap because my phone is incapable of maintaining a connection long enough to reach it.

[mtdewchick]

I really enjoyed your reply. It was filled with wonderful goodies. Now I am positive that Verizon wants to get rid of HTC Thunderbolt, aka "my phone." Or it's a propaganda scheme to get us to purchase the iPhone5. I'm a marketing major in college and this smells fishy. I have been a customer of Verizon for over 10 years and they pull this stunt. A Great Huge Thanks to your contribution!

[MIAndroidUser]

My Thunderbolt has been having the same issue for a few months; my g/fs bionic has also been having the same issues so either both phones are terrible or the network is or they both are. I've tried going to Verizon stores and they've tried all the reset and re-seating they could manage with no different. So when I'm eligible for an upgrade/off plan I've got the fantastic options of:

A) Using my current phone that loses connection up to 4/5 times a minute rendering it all but inoperable unless I constantly try connection on/off attempts and hope it loads what I want in the 10-15 second increments I do have connection.

B) Upgrade to a new phone through Verizon which may have the same issue (if this is not phone related), losing both my unlimited data plan and paying significantly more for significantly less.

C) Taking my chances on a used phone

D) Going to another provider. Their LTE coverage might not be the same but if I can't use the connection anyways whats the purpose.

[jbt816]

I went through this from the middle of September to October.  My tbolt was only 3 months old.  Basically lost data connection, but then discovered I had it when I went to other parts of my city or other cities (but not everywhere).

Long story short, I tried everything in the world that's on the internet, nothing worked.  VZW sent me a refurb under insurance (now my 4th tbolt) and have had it for 8 days.

Tonight it started doing it again.  I decided to call and just get them to send another one out....I'm too tired to keep playing games with this stupid thing.

Then I discovered that something is going on with the battery covers.  I posted it on another forum here:  https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/887882#887882

By chance have you changed battery covers?

[Nyobie_B]

First, let me just say that I love the HTC Thunderbolt.  It does have a few quirks, I'll admit, but so do Microsoft products, yet, millions of people buy them with a general understanding that there can be glitches here or there.  For some reason, the general population just deals with them - probably because they don't have much choice.

Ok, so for the issue at hand, here's what I've seen happen on my device.

4G LTE can be intermittent - at my house and at my office.

There are 'dead spots' in my house, but overall very strong coverage in my house as well.  There's an area in my house where I know not to bother using 4G.  I switch to wifi if I need to use data.

Facebook is one of the apps which has the most issues for me.  The 4G LTE indicator blinks off, Facebook app searches for data, and a 'Signal Lost' message pops up.

Last week, I went to use 4G for video stream using my HTC Incredible 4G (which is only about 6 weeks old) at lunch time in my office.  Guess what - with an entirely different phone, 4G blinked off!  I was using Netflix at that time in an area where it's known that we have a very strong 4G LTE signal.

So I mention this because the intermittency isn't an easy issue to solve because there are so many factors that can cause sporadic behavior.  It could be the network, your location, your phone's electronic circuit board or the battery cover which contains the antenna for the phone, or the app you're using or even a combination of each.

As for big blue...  I have a corporate iPhone which has 4G.  It's not nearly as fast as the VZ phones, including my personal iPhone on Verizon's network.  The data and the phone with big blue seem very reliable, but the speed is so stinkin' slow, there's absolutely no way whatsoever, I'd personally consider moving to big blue.  But even this issue could be area dependent, phone dependent and location dependent.  Perhaps if I went out of town and used another cell tower in a big city, I might see faster data.

So what's a person to do?  My recommendation is to not bad mouth a company for not being able to fix every reported problem in the universe.  Attempting to fix every reported problem would take such an enormous amount of resources, none of us would be able to afford any plan because the costs associated with this sort of troubleshooting are extremely high.  There comes a point where it simply doesn't make sense to invest time and money into problem.

But, living in America means you can start a petition and if you get enough people to sign it, you're very likely to get attention.  There are petitions out there for things users want cell phone manufacturers and network providers to consider.  You could consider starting one and seeing if the problems are affecting a large enough user community to have Verizon prioritize a fix.  It's free and one of our constitutional rights and it does no harm to Verizon's future business by turning potential customers away who may have had a perfectly good experience using Verizon's product offerings and their network.  Just because one person had a bad experience, doesn't mean the guy or gal sitting next to him or her will be guaranteed to have the same issues.

Two people who participate in forums online were sitting side by side in the same building location with the exact same phone model.  One person couldn't get a 4G LTE signal and the other had one.  The same happens between the two Thunderbolt phone models in my household but I'm not planning to leave VZ any time in the near future.  I've tried all providers and for me, the best choice is clearly Verizon.

With that said, I feel strongly that customers who pay for service, should be able to receive the service - no doubt.  Best of luck to you!  I hope you're able to find a suitable choice, here or elsewhere. 

[denay-tbolt]

I had changed battery covers when I got the extended battery. I did switch

back to my original battery and battery cover and the issue still exists.

I do have to say that I was in Orlando this past week and it seemed better

but I didn't use my phone as much as I would normally so who knows...

[JRAHNBO2]

I live in Orlando and have had poor/dropped 4G connections for over a year on the TB. I have 4 battery covers and 4 batteries. 2 sets are OEM standard and 2 sets are OEM extended. In any case the 4GLTE on the TB continues to prove an extreme disappointment no matter where I am in the country

[winningfaith81]

I just went looking for the Trident Electra Extended Battery Case for the TB and I had no luck finding one to buy. *pouts*

[jbt816]

It's not a "battery case" per se.  It just IS the battery cover while protecting your phone. 

http://www.amazon.com/Trident-ELECTRA-Extended-Battery-Protective/dp/B0058RNHK0/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

Though....as a case, I will say that when I drop it, the entire thing separates.  It's like it has a built in protection device for the case....like it knows it's falling and says, "save yourself!!!!!"

I'm going to a rezound battery for my newest TB and an otterbox

[winningfaith81]

I've had connection issues with my TB ever since I came back into the country last July (2011) from a mission trip to Central America. I figured the code i dialed into my phone via the advice of a Verizon Rep was the cause of the issue. I had to get a replacement after my phone took a swim and I'm still having the same issue. Dropping network. FB issues abound. GPS not seeing me where I actually am (even with all options on). I have not changed my battery cover yet. I just disabled the 4G to see if I have a better go at it. I know for a while I was running w/o 4G and I think connection was better, on the other TB.

I just think maybe HTC is another company to avoid, like LG. one of my first phones was an LG and I'll never buy one again.

I know Verizon had issues getting ICS to come to the TB, which makes me wonder if all our issues should be with HTC, rather than Verizon. Who knows.

[Abejero]

Turn off 4G.  My TB was always having a problem with lost data connections.  Especially when going from 3G to 4G to 3G etc.  I tried all of the "fixes".  A few weeks back, I set it to 3G only and now have a very expensive slow phone but no more data issues.

With all the greif we TB ownbers have had since day one, I find humor in the fact that the worst problem people see with the new Galaxy Note II is that it has "Verizon" printed on the home button.  They should have the privelige of owning a TB.

[virgo4life]

How do I set my TB to 3G only.  I have not seen 3G or 4G in over 6 month

[ffx2]

the best option is to get rid of that piece of junk phone and get a different one. I owned a Blunderbolt and know from experience that you will have issue after issue after issue, do yourself a favor and put it out of its misery now and get a real phone(one that's not made by HTC)

[Ann154]

virgo4life wrote:

How do I set my TB to 3G only.  I have not seen 3G or 4G in over 6 month

Menu > settings > Wireless & Networks > mobile network > network type > CDMA only

And don't listen to ffx2. My Tbolt is the same one I purchased in April 2011. I still use it daily or weekly as a wifi only device since I purchased a Galaxy Nexus. I have even reactivated the Tbolt for various trips or to get it online for a system update. In fact, I have been meaning to swap out the SIM card from the Nexus into the Tbolt to test some network oddities to verify it is the network and not the phone's radio.

[ffx2]

now that's funny. I've had greeters at VZW stores and sales reps at bestbuy  tell me they've never seen a phone with so many issues and returns and also have never fielded so many complaints about one phone either.

The radio is definitely the issue and they've been unable to figure out how to fix it since the middle of summer so it will never be fixed.

Put that phone out of its misery and get a real phone.

[vzw_customer_support]

I want you to love your Thunderbolt winningfaith81! Are you still having difficulties? Is this happening in a specific location? Indoors or outside? Have you tried removing the battery and toggling airplane mode when you lose a connection? Let's get to the bottom of this!

Sincerely,

JonathanK_VZW
VZW Support
Follow Us on Twitter@VZWSupport

[Staudie]

I too have had the data dropping issue for months. I’ve done a
complete hard reset of my phone, tried switching to “CDMA only” (no data in
this mode). I’ve spoken with both Verizon and HTC about the problem several
times and no one has an answer or fix. After my final call to HTC they suggested
I replace the battery cover but since my phone isn’t under warranty it would be
on my dime. So I called Verizon and was able to get a $1.50 credit to my
account for a battery cover off Amazon. I'm still waiting on the cover to
arrive but last night I completely lost my data connection. It went out at
10:30pm and was still out at 6am this morning. I tried airplane mode and
nothing worked until I did a reboot.

Lucky or unlucky for me my contract is up in a few days. I don’t
want to upgrade right now, nothing out there really appeals to me (other than
the hope of consistence data). Maybe its time to switch carriers I see way too
many people  with this issue and Verizon
has dropped the ball. I was told by Verizon that there is a software update
coming that will fix the issue but no one can give me an ETA on this supposed
update. In fact one rep even told me that even though Verizon own website lists
the pending update, that he felt that the website never got update from the
last update in May so there isn’t an update coming.

Unhappy Thunderbolt Owner

Unhappy Verizon Customer

~Staudie