New Galaxy Nexus - No 4G?!

[ThePiombino]

Gooooood morning, esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the VZW Community.  I am having an issue with my new SGN and was wondering if anyone here might be able to offer some insight or assitance of any kind...

Before purchasing the phone I went to the 4G coverage page on VZW's website, popped in both my home and work addresses and verified that both area are, in fact, within 4G coverage.  I picked up the phone yesterday during my lunch break and immediately headed back to the office- no 4G signal.  I figured no big deal- I work indoors and I have electronic equipment all around me, maybe I just won't get 4G inside.  So I head outside- weird, still no 4G signal.

I head home a few hours later (again- I confirmed that this is a 4G area beforehand) and wouldn't you know it- no 4G again!  At no point during the ride home did it pop up either.  I double-checked the site with the addresses and even popped in a couple addresses of area that I know don't have 4G just to make sure the site doesn't say EVERY area is a 4G area- sure enough, the site APPEARS to be accurate.

I then reached out to my buddy who works in one of the VZW NOCs.  He confirmed that not only is my office in a 4G area, but we're literally within a stone's throw of a 4G tower.  So at this point I figured there's something wrong with the phone so I called phone support.  I spent about 10 minutes with level I and another 25 minutes with level II (4G support) and at the end all I had was a ticket number for my efforts.  Everyone agrees i SHOULD be getting a 4G signal at work and home.  My signal strength is admittedly bad (hovers around -100 dB) and never changes from eHRDP.

Also weird, when I turn WiFi on, my 3G status bar immediately drops 1-2 bars.  What on earth is going on here?!

Has anyone else here had any issues with the SGN and 4G or just 4G in general in the NNJ area?

Any feedback would be GREATLY apprecited- thanks!

[NuDroidUsrr]

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ThePiombino wrote:

Gooooood morning, esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the VZW Community.  I am having an issue with my new SGN and was wondering if anyone here might be able to offer some insight or assitance of any kind...

Before purchasing the phone I went to the 4G coverage page on VZW's website, popped in both my home and work addresses and verified that both area are, in fact, within 4G coverage.  I picked up the phone yesterday during my lunch break and immediately headed back to the office- no 4G signal.  I figured no big deal- I work indoors and I have electronic equipment all around me, maybe I just won't get 4G inside.  So I head outside- weird, still no 4G signal.

I head home a few hours later (again- I confirmed that this is a 4G area beforehand) and wouldn't you know it- no 4G again!  At no point during the ride home did it pop up either.  I double-checked the site with the addresses and even popped in a couple addresses of area that I know don't have 4G just to make sure the site doesn't say EVERY area is a 4G area- sure enough, the site APPEARS to be accurate.

I then reached out to my buddy who works in one of the VZW NOCs.  He confirmed that not only is my office in a 4G area, but we're literally within a stone's throw of a 4G tower.  So at this point I figured there's something wrong with the phone so I called phone support.  I spent about 10 minutes with level I and another 25 minutes with level II (4G support) and at the end all I had was a ticket number for my efforts.  Everyone agrees i SHOULD be getting a 4G signal at work and home.  My signal strength is admittedly bad (hovers around -100 dB) and never changes from eHRDP.

Also weird, when I turn WiFi on, my 3G status bar immediately drops 1-2 bars.  What on earth is going on here?!

Has anyone else here had any issues with the SGN and 4G or just 4G in general in the NNJ area?

Any feedback would be GREATLY apprecited- thanks!

---

  I would go back to the Verizon store, and ask them about it. Does anyone there have the Nexus, and are they getting 4G coverage? There may be something wrong with the way it was activated, so I would go back to the store. You have 14 days from the time you got the phone to change your mind.

[kryptykk]

I am having the same problem (Albany, NY). I will be going to a VZW store this afternoon to see what the problem may be. 4G will stay for about 5 minutes, then I lose ALL data + voice. Very frustrating 

[NuDroidUsrr]

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kryptykk wrote:

I am having the same problem (Albany, NY). I will be going to a VZW store this afternoon to see what the problem may be. 4G will stay for about 5 minutes, then I lose ALL data + voice. Very frustrating 

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  I can't stress it enough, especially since the phone was just released, that any problems need to be brought to Verizon's attention, and make sure they document in your account that you were there and what the issue was.

[kryptykk]

I see you are from NY as well, are you getting 4G on your device? Beleive me, I have already sent an email to them, and like I said I will be going to the store when I am out of work... Would this affect my battery life as well?

[NuDroidUsrr]

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kryptykk wrote:

I see you are from NY as well, are you getting 4G on your device? Beleive me, I have already sent an email to them, and like I said I will be going to the store when I am out of work... Would this affect my battery life as well?

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  I live in an area that will not see 4G for quite some time, so no, I do not have a 4G device. Yes, it could affect your battery life if it is popping in and out of 4G/3G coverage, or just trying to connect.

[AZSALUKI]

i hate to be the pessimist here....but there were many rumors that the release of this device was delayed due to LTE/4g radio issues. i would hope that this was resolved before they sold them. however, these phones have supposedly been in stores since last week, when the rumored LTE issues still had not been fixed. if you check for an update to the phone, is one available? it is possible that there is already an available update that could fix the issue????

[kryptykk]

Well, from what I've gathered due to my frustration/crawling around the web, that yes there is a problem with the radio firmware. Android 4.1 (which was released to testers on Dec 2nd) is supposedly NIGHT and DAY between the current 4.0.2 software.

Still, I wonder if I have a faulty 4G sim?

And no, that's not being a pessimist. It's actually reassuring to know that it seems like it is just a firmware/software glitch, and not an actual hardware issue. 

[AZSALUKI]

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kryptykk wrote:

Well, from what I've gathered due to my frustration/crawling around the web, that yes there is a problem with the radio firmware. Android 4.1 (which was released to testers on Dec 2nd) is supposedly NIGHT and DAY between the current 4.0.2 software.

Still, I wonder if I have a faulty 4G sim?

And no, that's not being a pessimist. It's actually reassuring to know that it seems like it is just a firmware/software glitch, and not an actual hardware issue. 

---

so have you already downloaded 4.0.2? it was likely on 4.0.1 out of the box. you should have already had a recommended update.

[kryptykk]

Yes, 4.0.2 popped up as I left the VZW store. Has not helped whatsoever. Like I said, there were a bunch of posts on Dec 2nd about Android 4.1 being released to testers, I just hope we don't have to wait long because this is irritating. I guess I can just go to the Verizon store, complain, and see what happens? 

[AZSALUKI]

you have 3 days to return it and avoid the $35 restocking fee. after 3 days, you have to pay $35 to return or exchange it.

[ThePiombino]

I have also read online that 4.1 supposedly addresses the radio issue and that it is reportedly going to be released within the next two weeks.  If this whole Galaxy Nexus experience has taught me anything it to not hang my hat on any dates regarding this phone lol.

That said, this aside the phone is fantastic.  I was just really looking forward to a 4G experience more than anything and I'm just so extremely frustrated- and I haven't even had the phone 24 hours yet!

[kryptykk]

Yes, exactly. The phone itself is so fantastic, I can handle the bugs IF a fix is in the works. That's all I want to know. If it is going to stay like this, I can't use it...

[ThePiombino]

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kryptykk wrote:

Yes, exactly. The phone itself is so fantastic, I can handle the bugs IF a fix is in the works. That's all I want to know. If it is going to stay like this, I can't use it...

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Agreed.  As much as I hate the thought of abandoning this phone, not being able to utilize 4G is a deal breaker for me.  I hope they at least acknowledge the issue soon.

[rcschnoor]

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NuDroidUsrr wrote:

  I would go back to the Verizon store, and ask them about it. Does anyone there have the Nexus, and are they getting 4G coverage? There may be something wrong with the way it was activated, so I would go back to the store. You have 14 days from the time you got the phone to change your mind.

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Actually, for purchases between Nov 15 and Dec 28, you have until Jan 15 to return the device.

[blueshirt11]

Having the same prob with my nexus and i live in NNJ....secaucus. Coverage map has my house in a strong 4g signal but been getting 1 bar on both 4g & 3g.....sometimes i get 4 bars for about 2 min then disappears. The phone keeps switching between 4g & 3g. Also i noticed the signal strength bar is all grey sometimes then it turns blue. Does anyone know what this means? I can still make calls with the bars all grey but no data. 

What bothers me the most is that i just switched over to verizon from t-mobile after 6 yrs....terminated my contract early and will have to pay $200 + an extra $40 a month for verizon service. T-mobile has a cell tower 2 blocks from my house and so does sprint.....was getting 4-5 bars on those 2 services. I figured verizon has the best service & strongest signal it shouldnt be a prob. Well, i was wrong....signal keeps going out, no data for 5 min then one 4g bar comes on then 4 bars of 3g....im very dissappointed. Constant dropped calls and sometimes no data for 5-10 min at a time. Dont know if its the phone or the network. I switched to verizon cuz i was sick of having no service on t-mobile outside of my home area. Im getting very strong 4g a few blocks from my house and where i work but right now its only a prob at my house....and i live on 2nd floor.

Also, whats up with the galaxy nexus having no support for the nfl mobile app? The newest and best phone on verizon cant support its own app? They need to fix this on a $650 phone.....thats crazy 

[blueshirt11]

Seems the prob is in the area around my house....no 4g within a 10 block radius of my house but outside that area is 4g everywhere all day....NNJ.....just dont know why on the coverage map my house is showing a strong 4g signal...they need to change that.....its all 3g....somestimes 4g shows up for 10 min...1 bar then its gone. Battery life is horrible on the nexus. Shut the phone off and charged it for 8 hrs overnight.....turned it on and after 10 min battery was down 4%...?? Doesnt sound like much but my old phone (3g android) went down 10% after 3 hrs. Battery is down 50% after 3 hrs of checking a few emails and a few texts....when im sitting at home watching tv i have to leave it on the charger until i leave the house.....its crazy. I went into settings and tried to stop all the running apps that im not using but battery life is not improving. I do run the battery down to 15-18% at least 3 times a week. Are there any extended batteries for sale on the nexus yet?

[grasshopper1671]

There is an extended battery that you can buy through big red. I bought it when I bought my SGN and I am a heavy user and my phone lasts almost 9 hours. Make sure you have screen brightness turned all the way down, auto mode does not let the screen brightness get as low as it can.

[ThePiombino]

Wow, thanks for all the great replies, everyone!  I can tell this is going to be a great place to frequent (hopefully for better reasons...)!

I fully intend on heading to a VZW store first chance I get.  When i was on the phone with the 4G tech last night he claimed that this was "a known issue" and that typical turnaround is 5-7 business days, but that this would likely be taken care of sooner since it's a widespread issue.  Are there any VZW employees scouring this thread that can confirm any of this information?

I'm a little skeptical in that answer for two reasons:

1. I used to work for Big Red (FiOS Tech Support) and the old stanby for when we didn't have a solution (i.e. the dreaded HDMI issue) was that it was "a known issue" and we were working on it.  Truth was yes, it IS a known issue and YES we are working on it, but the reality was that we were never really able to resolve anything- some users were just SOL depending on their hardware setup.
2. There seemed to be a lot of back-peddling done on the phone (and with online chat later that night).  Makes me think that an issue has NOT been identified beyond the fact that there are areas with spotty 4G coverage.  Therefor, no solution is within 5-7 business days.

I don't know enough about LTE, so I apologize if this is a stupid question, but is it possible that a bad SIM card could cause this?  I believe that the card is purely responsible for LTE and nothing else.  Is it possible that the card would allow activation, yet be defective and only really affect 4G coverage?

Thanks in advance, folks!

[AZSALUKI]

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ThePiombino wrote:

Wow, thanks for all the great replies, everyone!  I can tell this is going to be a great place to frequent (hopefully for better reasons...)!

I fully intend on heading to a VZW store first chance I get.  When i was on the phone with the 4G tech last night he claimed that this was "a known issue" and that typical turnaround is 5-7 business days, but that this would likely be taken care of sooner since it's a widespread issue.  Are there any VZW employees scouring this thread that can confirm any of this information?

I'm a little skeptical in that answer for two reasons:

1. I used to work for Big Red (FiOS Tech Support) and the old stanby for when we didn't have a solution (i.e. the dreaded HDMI issue) was that it was "a known issue" and we were working on it.  Truth was yes, it IS a known issue and YES we are working on it, but the reality was that we were never really able to resolve anything- some users were just SOL depending on their hardware setup.
2. There seemed to be a lot of back-peddling done on the phone (and with online chat later that night).  Makes me think that an issue has NOT been identified beyond the fact that there are areas with spotty 4G coverage.  Therefor, no solution is within 5-7 business days.

I don't know enough about LTE, so I apologize if this is a stupid question, but is it possible that a bad SIM card could cause this?  I believe that the card is purely responsible for LTE and nothing else.  Is it possible that the card would allow activation, yet be defective and only really affect 4G coverage?

Thanks in advance, folks!

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you're correct. you will get "this is a known issue that is being addressed" A LOT.....lol. i don't think it's the sim card, but i could be wrong. i think it has more to do with the radio software. from what i've seen, a bad sim card is a bad sim card and you wouldn't have been able to activate it if it were bad. LTE is pretty sweet, but to be honest, i keep my device on 3g about 90% of the time (for battery reasons). i only turn on LTE if i'm streaming video or downloading a LARGE file and wifi is not available.

[kryptykk]

I also usually keep it on 3G, but even my 3G reception has been **bleep**-poor