Droid RAZR (not MAXX) 4G, service drops on GB and ICS

[amadeuss]

Okay, the forums are full of threads concerning this issue. The phone loses data connectivity as well as voice. Every person seems to have a different opinion as to when or where their service drops, and I have tried to find a fix (official or not) since I first got my RAZR.

I got my phone sometime in March 2012 from a Verizon store during a promotion. I was happy I can get a phone with better hardware than my DROID X (awesome phone-best I ever had). I didn't care much about the 4G, but I considered it a perk for upgrading.

1. A day later I started having problems with my service. The 4G connection would drop, the 4G icon would turn white and then disappear for good. The phone would have no data connection at all but a few seconds later the white 4G icon would reappear and turn blue later. I thought it is because the 4G coverage is spotty as I was constantly moving from one place to another. But I got home (where I never had problems and Verizon service was always excellent) and it would do the same thing.

2. I have data connectivity and voice service but I turn off the screen. When I turn the screen back on, data connection is lost and I have no service available. I had one error that said "SIM card invalid" or something like that a few times. On Gingerbread I just switched to 3G only and I had no problems. But every time I switched back to use the LTE, I had the same problem over and over.

3. Upgraded to ICS as I figured Motorola and Verizon worked together to find a "cure" for these sudden service losses. I was wrong. With ICS it is even worse. I lose data and voice service very often. In store, Verizon employees are telling me they have never seen problems like mine (liars?). On the phone with CS I am told they do not know of any issues similar to mine. But forums are full of threads of people having the same issue. Answers from VZ employees are not very clear and directs people to a simple Factory Reset, cleaning the SIM card, reinserting the SIM card... basic stuff a monkey could think of too.

4. Some times after a phone conversation, I hang up and immediately after, my service drops. I have to turn the screen off and then back on after about 5 seconds, the service is still nowhere to be seen, but if I leave the screen on for about 10 seconds, the phone will regain its connectivity to the network. THIS HAPPENS IN 3G COVERAGE AS WELL AS 4G NOW.

Steps taken: Downloaded the Motorola app to Restore Connectivity - did not work, I still have the problem.

                    Carefully cleaned the SIM card surface making sure there is no static electricity  discharge - did not work, I still have the problem.

                    Factory reset numerous times  - did not work, I still have the problem.

                    Removed and reinserted the SIM card - did not work, I still have the problem.

                    Updated to ICS hoping that would solve the problem - did not work, I still have the problem.

                    Anything I do I still have the problem.

So please tell me, Does VZ publicly acknowledges there is a problem with DROID RAZR? If yes why do some people inside VZ deny any issues with it while others don't. Aren't they trained or aren't they reading the same training material the others do? Besides that I am not aware of Motorola or VZ taking any responsibility in trying to fix this.Is there a fix in the works? Please if there is any help for people like me, with the same problem, I think VZ should email owners with solutions. REAL SOLUTIONS because it is possible. I receive newsletters for new phones and plans but none to suggest a fix to issues.

And factory reset after factory reset is not working out for me as I use my phone not to txt my friends or send funny pictures of my dog to my neighbor but for business. This is really affecting and annoying me. And yes, I could switch to an iPhone but Android provides me with a great deal of options in my line of work that iPhone does not have. And yes, I could switch to another Android based phone, but I paid for this one and I want to use what I paid money for.

Again... final question is: Is there a fix, a software fix (I think this has to do with software) for this?

Thank you!

[commonsense101]

Just like any large company when you call you could get a 5 year vet trying to move up, a 15 year old vet trying to hang in, a 5day rookie who has no clue what they are looking at yet...

Sim card invalid means you aren't connected to a data network, sounds like where you are trying to use your phone is a weak signal area, might be time to find another carrier. Are you in NC,OK,or OR?

ICS is a software, will not improve signal..

The basic steps on a droid phone are all you can do, if you are having problems after that chances are it isnt the phone but the service.. After a factory reset do you put the same apps back on? Do you have a task killer, or battery managers? I think something like 5 million razors have been sold, i highly doubt you should take the 0.02% of internet users at face value.

[amadeuss]

Nope. I just moved from Sprint like two years ago. They were good until 2010 when I had a dropped call every 5 minutes and a huge bill. The thing is I use my phone in large cities like Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pheonix, and so on. I can understand bad service in rural areas but this thing happens constantly. ICS brought some improvements to the RAZR and even though it is software, I believe it had some firmware improvements integrated as well. I believe it has something to do with the towers meaning my phone (and others) is not recognized, or has a lag in authorization. I read something about that a while ago on different forums. Searching the internet I can see I am not the only person having issues with VZ and we have to consider some people stay at home or office using Wi-Fi at least I'd say half the time and not noticing glitches in connection.3G used to work great before the ICS upgrade but I can not set my phone to use 3G only in the new OS version, so it has nothing to do with coverage.

[Tonelious]

My wifes brandnew droid loses connectivity in 3g 4g and wifi my stratosphere stays connected sitting right beside hers we have tested this in numeous locations its not the service its the phone!!!

[B33]

If you know were to Look see the What the ( PRL= Preferred Roaming List ) is Once you have it Noted Shut down the Phone and Turn it Back on to see what the Prl is As it May Update for Ya.!  I just got mine and it Made big Difference in connecting and Signal. If it's the Same you can Check to see if there is a New one out By Calling Customer Service 1-800-922-0204 go to Option 3 Tech Services When the Prompt Comes up Say you want to Talk to a Rep. Once you get in Ask them if the PRL's in your Area Have Been Updated Lately. If so ask the Rep to Push it To your Phone. You will need to Be on another Phone so They can Trouble Shoot your Wife's Phone.b33

[MrsLake]

I have the EXACT same issues as you amadeuss... I have had my Droid Razr for about 3 months now and am not pleased with the service.  All day long, every day I experience the loss of connectivity....I'm assuming that Verizon is just ignoring the issue, they've gotten their $$ for the phone and are getting their $$ for the service every month.... Sad Sad Sad...

[mo45]

I, too, have been having increased connectivity problems since the "upgrade".  Admittedly, I live in a rural area at the edge of the service area. But with the RAZR MAXX running Gingerbread I had data connectivity, and sometimes phone too.  Now I have no phone service at home, data is very spotty and my battery life is suffering. There is no other carrier with as good a service area. I am hoping that the upcoming bug fix will help, at least get me back to where I was before ICS. Sigh.

Factory reset 2X, remove/replace SIM, cleaned cache 3X.

[B33]

I have been seeing this Difference in my Two Maxx's one has I.C.S. the other i have not updated yet and when i was on a Rule Highway were i live here in Ks My one Maxx that had ics had only 2 Bars and actually dropped the Call between me and my Mom while my other Maxx with Gingerbread had Full bars and the 3G indicator..

[mo45]

Yes, exactly! I know that this is not a MAXX thread, but the connectivity issue seems the same. It has gotten better since the cache clean and factory reset, but connectivity and battery life not near what they were before ICS. Thanks for the input!

[B33]

Well the Razr and the Razr Maxx is the Same Device Under the Hood.!  But as you know the difference in the two is the Battery. But that's why the site Has them together as one.. (What's going to be confusing as heck!   is if an when the Razr HD that is coming in the Near future to Verizon if it's Put with this Post as well and i have a Feeling it Will)..but only time will tell..b33

[cpip2009]

I had EXACTLY ALL of the same issues (plus some Bluetooth issues):

• Got my phone in January or February
• First instance of this happened about the middle of June (or maybe the third week) for several days before I finally called, believing it was a "hiccup" in the network (still on GB)
• Customer Service did some troubleshooting, placed it in "safe mode" to see if it might be an app causing it, factory reset, etc., etc., etc.......
• VZ put in a network trouble ticket which seemed to solve the issue (although I don't really know what may have been done) for about a week (now I know that this was a mere coincidence)
• About a week or two later (still on GB) it started again; this was maybe a Wednesday
• CS troubleshooting, another trouble ticket, etc., etc., and then I finally did a factory reset myself
• Friday night (maybe Saturday) ICS is out, and downloaded believing it would fix it.
• The problem was resolved briefly (several hours, maybe a full day) and then began again with a vengance
• Called, went through all the same humbug, did a couple (or a few) factory resets, and I too, had the "invalid SIM" error show up on the screen out of nowhere ........
• Customer Service had me to go to my local Verizon store and get a new SIM (they thought that might possibly be the problem). Got the replacement, and it worked, again, only briefly; just a few short hours later, it was right back to the same old thing........more phone calls
• trouble ticket is still out.......
• Was even told by the advance tech support person that on several phones with this very same problem, that he actually saw this resolved by simply creating a different, brand new Google account (instead of the Verizon customer's original Google account) during setup, after a factory reset (don't ask me how......). Gladly, this is one step that I didn't take (that's all I need is one more email account!)

Finally, it was determined that it MUST be the device. I really didn't want another phone as I always keep my phones in pristine condition cosmetically, and there was no reason (as far as I was concerned) to swap it.

Reluctantly, I allowed them to send me a replacement. I say, "reluctantly" because my original was a new device but they would be sending me out a "certified reconditioned, like-new" replacement.

After some trepidation, I decided to go ahead; Motorola would probably take a year to get mine back to me after finding "nothing wrong", or the same year getting me a replacement, should I be lucky enough that my original device would act up for them to see that there actually is a real problem. Verizon, on the other hand could have a replacement to me in two days.

Needless to say, it has been a week (5 days) with the replacement and I have to admit that it absolutely WAS the device that I bought originally. This replacement hasn't repeated the problem, (with the exception of ONE VERY MINOR instance of about a 5 - 15 minute window on one day only), and I'm happy to say that it works like my original device did when I first got it.

I got a call after the 3rd or 4th day (I believe it was the 4th day) with the replacement device, from the trouble ticket people (technician who actually works out in the field maybe?) and was told that they have thoroughly checked the network/antenna/tower here and found that there was absolutely nothing wrong, and that everything is functioning as it should.

This problem was continuously happening at my house, so it was natural that I believed something was wrong with the tower here near my house. I live in a good 3G/LTE coverage area near New Orleans and had no problems whatsoever from January/February through the first part of June, so it was only natural that I thought it must be a problem with the tower.

I thanked him, and told him about the replacement, and he told me that's what he was going to suggest next, and it was the only suggestion that he had left.

Just know that in the course of all of these calls, I was told by at least a few reps (2 for sure) at Verizon that they were aware that this IS a problem on some of the Razr's and Razr Maxx's.

If this is as bad for you as it was for me (and I'm confident that it is), then I would call Customer Service - don't go to a store. Tell them EVERYTHING that has happened, everything that you've done to attempt to resolve it (including the painful process of factory resets), and what I've described here.

If you're okay with a "new" (read: replacement) device, then I'm sure that they can get you a replacement out in short order. As far as it looking new, you would NEVER be able to tell cosmetically that this isn't a brand new device.

I hope that this was able to help you, as well as all the others, with this issue.

Good luck everyone, and God bless you.

Message was edited by: Colin Pipkins

Okay, so regrettably, I must report to everyone that the replacement followed suit after only 6-7 days. It lost 4G connectivity and jumped to 3G and that's where it stayed. 

So I call Verizon and after a brief conversation, they asked if it was okay for them to transfer me over to Motorola for them to troubleshoot and I said that I'd be more than glad to speak with them.

Here's the breakdown:

After a lengthy call (an hour and twenty minutes), allowing them to remotely connect to my phone, and the Level 2 Tech seeing for himself that it's on 3G in a full 4G area, he tells me that there's nothing more that can be done.

WHAAAT?!!!

He said that if I want to send it in to Motorola they'll look at it, and if they did find anything wrong with the phone they'll send me a replacement, but if they DON'T find anything wrong with it (which I'm sure would be the case), they will simply send me my phone back, and that it will be Verizon's network that is the problem.

In this scenario I would need to find a replacement phone to use while my Razr goes to Motorola (for them to find nothing wrong with of course, and blame everything on Verizon's LTE network) only to get it back weeks later and be totally inconvenienced (this has been going on since June).

The last thing he said to me before getting off the phone was that they have similar devices with other carriers and they don't have any of these problems with those devices.

I've started searching the other devices forums here in the Verizon Wireless Community and I'm beginning to see a pattern.  The same issue is happening with quite a few of the other 4G devices so I'm not really sure that another device (different manufacturer) is even the answer.

They have sent me yet another Droid Razr and I can honestly say that this will be the last one. If I can't find a device that will actually keep/hold LTE connectivity then I may have to go back to Sprint.  Their native coverage is nowhere near Verizon's but they also don't have much 4G coverage right now.

If I'm going to have to be on 3G anyway, I may as well pay less than I'm paying now - or at least pay the same and not have to worry about going over on data.I guess we'll see how this replacement works out and go from there.

Anyhow, just know that it may not be a Razr/Razr Maxx problem after all.

Hopefully, they can get this sorted out and we can all get back to life......  

[smashogre]

I was having the same bizarre data dropouts - an FDR and cache wipe with no app/data/settings restore fixed it for me, yes it IS a pain in the rear - YES it will take a couple hours if you have a ton of apps and accounts - YES it IS worth it, phone is working as it should now!

Cache Wipe:

1. Press and hold the Power button and turn the phone off.
2. When the screen turns off, press and hold Volume Down and Power.
3. When the white HBOOT screen appears, use the volume button to move down to “RECOVERY.”
4. Press the Power button to select “RECOVERY.”
5. When the triangle and exclamation appears, hold the Volume Up and Power button at the same time.
6. Using the volume button, scroll down to “Wipe cache partition” and select it.
7. Select “Reboot system now.”

Before doing the FDR do this:

Menu-->System Settings-->Privacy-->under the Backup & Restore items clear the Automatic Restore checkbox.

***NOTE*** By doing this you will lose everything on the phone and internal storage(NOT on the microSD) - you will have to manually reinstall all apps, setup all accounts etc...it take awhile to do but it has solved 99% of the issues I was having: dragginess, dropped 4G, poor battery life etc... Factory Data Reset

1. From the screen of your phone, press the Menu button
2. Tap System Settings.
3. Scroll down and tap Privacy       
4. Tap Factory Data Reset
5. Check Erase internal storage if you would like to erase all the data on the phone internal storage such as applications, music, movies or photos.
6. Tap Reset Phone

[Indian]

@Smash Orge.........are you saying do the Cache Wipe and then do the FDR?  Doesn't doing a FDR clear the Cache.  I apologize for being confused but want to make sure I do it right and in the right order.  Thanks

[smashogre]

@Indian - I've asked that question too and not gotten a good response - I'd do the FDR then the cache wipe just in case reloading after the FDR puts junk back in cache...although I think you'd be ok either way.

[NuDroidUsrr]

Can you send me a private message, I have a question on the cache wipe.

[B33]

Smash Ogre wrote:

I was having the same bizarre data dropouts - an FDR and cache wipe with no app/data/settings restore fixed it for me, yes it IS a pain in the rear - YES it will take a couple hours if you have a ton of apps and accounts - YES it IS worth it, phone is working as it should now!

Cache Wipe:

1. Press and hold the Power button and turn the phone off.
2. When the screen turns off, press and hold Volume Down and Power.
3. When the white HBOOT screen appears, use the volume button to move down to “RECOVERY.”
4. Press the Power button to select “RECOVERY.”
5. When the triangle and exclamation appears, hold the Volume Up and Power button at the same time.
6. Using the volume button, scroll down to “Wipe cache partition” and select it.
7. Select “Reboot system now.”

Before doing the FDR do this:

Menu-->System Settings-->Privacy-->under the Backup & Restore items clear the Automatic Restore checkbox.

***NOTE*** By doing this you will lose everything on the phone and internal storage(NOT on the microSD) - you will have to manually reinstall all apps, setup all accounts etc...it take awhile to do but it has solved 99% of the issues I was having: dragginess, dropped 4G, poor battery life etc... Factory Data Reset

1. From the screen of your phone, press the Menu button
2. Tap System Settings.
3. Scroll down and tap Privacy       
4. Tap Factory Data Reset
5. Check Erase internal storage if you would like to erase all the data on the phone internal storage such as applications, music, movies or photos.
6. Tap Reset Phone

Smash that looks good i like the good Info.!  But i wanted to add a little thing in Here:  Pay special attention to Lines-->  3. and 4. 

With the Permission from Wildman

1. Uncheck "Back up my data" under Settings/Privacy

2. Click Factory Data Reset/Reset Phone

3. After reset is complete only Active Phone but do not input Google Email information

4. Once phone is at homepage go back into Settings/Privacy and make sure the Automatic Restore option is unchecked, even if grayed out, activate "Back up my data" and quickly disable "Automatic Restore"

5. After being sure that the Automatic Restore option is off it will be safe to log into Google and you can continue installing preferred apps and custom settings.

[amadeuss]

Smash Ogre, I understand this method works temporarily with some phones. Unfortunately mine is not one of them.I understand Verizon and Motorola are working on a bug fix to be released soon. What amuses me and at the same time infuriates me is that none of them want to take the heat for the issues with connection. No device is perfect but I expect it to at least have a stable connection.Heh...no answer on forum from a VZ rep yet...Surprised? I'm not.

[smashogre]

@amadeuss - Totally doesn't surprise me, give them a week or two and they will(sometimes) There is an update that will make your phone as it should be. I'm hearing middle of the month for an "official" release. You can google around for more details...and stuff...

[ChristinaM]

My phone recently has been doing the same thing. It'll completely drop signal and then reboot itself on and off until the signal comes back. I JUST got this phone as a replacement for my first RAZR after it shut down and would not charge.

I don't know if it's because of all the recent storms in my area (I live in Georgia) or is it because they're trying to put 4G in my area or maybe a mixture of both. I know when I go into a 4G area I have hardly any issues (It did it once when I was at Toys R US) with the signal going out. I'm just worried about it turning itself on and off so much that it'll fry my battery and I don't want that to happen again

[Greypuss]

Re:  Droid RAZR (not MAXX) 4G service drops on GB and ICS

I have had the same problems with my Droid RAZR for months.  I have talked with a  number of tier 2 techs over the months trying to resolve the connectivity issues.  Some acknowledge know connection issues; some don't.  The last 3 techs have all said that it is a known issue.

Motorola didn't acknowledge a problem in my conversations with them.  They told me to call Verizon.

I have tried all of the things that have been recommended here and from the techs.  None make a difference.

I have replaced the SIM card, replaced the phone and I still have the same problems.  There are times that I can't even open Advanced Task Killer because of connection problems.

What is more frustrating is that I can't even get a 3G connection after the RAZR tries to connect with 4G.  I can be sitting next to someone with a Droid 4 and not be able to connect to the same site they are looking at.

The last Tier 2 tech I spoke with wrote a trouble ticket and said that she would personally contact Motorola about the issue.  She gave me her email address and said she would respond within 48 hours.

It has now been10 days and I haven't heard from her or anyone else at Verizon regarding the issue.  I sent another email last week.  Still no response.

I am convinced that the Droid RAZR has antenna issues.  In the Verizon store in San Luis Obispo, I got 10 mbps down.  2 blocks away, it dropped to .76 mbps.  Usually, it is between .55 mbps and 2.76 mbps depending on the area.  That is when I actually have a connection.

This is definitely my last Motorola purchase.. 

[B33]

Change your Setting From Global to CDMA /LTE i did on my Maxx and it Works Fine.. b33