Galaxy Note 4 Android 5.1.1 Update - VZW FAIL

[RandomKoreanGuy]

Again, I accept that Verizon isn't always the villain, but you can't really hold them up as blameless either. The reality always falls somewhere in the middle. But yeah, if I decide to stay with VZW, my next phone will probably be a Nexus 6P, which does supposedly work on their network. This handily solves most of my issues with both Samsung and Verizon delaying me from getting my precious updates (at whatever levels of involvement they share in those delays). I haven't personally purchased a subsidized phone since they stopped offering unlimited data (since paying full price is the only way to keep my unlimited plan). I mean, I could go on and on about Samsung and TouchWiz and how they clutter up Android with their proprietary nonsense, but this isn't the Samsung forum, it's the Verizon one. I have such mixed feelings about Samsung and their phones, but I really think the Nexus phones have finally improved enough that I can use the 6P in lieu of a Note 5 (or 6) without any remorse or feeling that I'm downgrading.

The Block C rules thing has been around for a while, but I feel like Verizon is only just now getting around to accepting it with this latest batch of phones. I've heard anecdotal stories of people who've been denied under the pretense that the phone has not yet been certified for VZW's network, even though it's equipped to run their bands, but it seems like that's all finally in the past now.

[Tidbits]

It's not they have not been accepting them.  They can't accept them if manufacturers are not making them.  People have this assumption Verizon can block them or tell manufacturers they will block it which is furthest from the truth and is against block c rules.  There isn't even a need to be "certified" to work on Verizon.  Verizon even has to open source things like VoLTE, WiFi calling, and Video calling for example.  There hasn't been ANY device I am aware of that was out that didn't work on Verizon if it has all the bands.  What's most important is Band 13, CDMA, and then the rest of the network stuff in that order. 

You can blame that on Google when it comes to proprietary nonsense.  IF they made Android GPL over ASL we wouldn't have this problem, and it would have been easier to go to stock, but since ASL allows proprietary code stay proprietary that's what happens.

I have said this many times on many forums.  I wholeheartedly dislike Samsung, and they often lie about things.  The company I work for we have dealt with them on many occasions.  There are not the friendliest to work with.  Honestly LG is one of the best, and Motorola used to be good but management started to go bad then Google purchased them and then we were about to start a new contract with Motorola, then Lenovo happened and now we won't touch them with a 50ft pole...

[RandomKoreanGuy]

Maybe it's a matter of who they speak to, but I've heard of instances where a Verizon sim (from a working phone) popped into the device will cause it to work, but they're denied a new sim to activate the device (for whatever reason), but again, this is stuff that happened a while ago, not recently, and it's all mostly anecdotal. It's clearly not that way anymore. VZW has thrown the proverbial gates wide open. 

Corporations do have personalities and unique cultures and totally believe that about Samsung, that they're not pleasant to work with. My cousin works for them and he has a Sony smartphone of all things. I've stuck with the Note series phones because they've generally been consistently high rated as far as Android phones go, but I feel like lately the drawbacks are starting to outweigh the positives, which is why I'll probably jump to something else next time. I've never been fond of TouchWiz anyway.

[Tidbits]

Most reps don't understand and the policy for sim cards has always been activate in store  from what I have gathered. Probably to push sales. Honestly when I had the 6 from the play store(I was one of the first to get one) I walked in with it and had to get a new sim because my previous sim was larger. The guy was like "whoa dude you got one?" 2 minutes later activated and ready to go. He played with it and eventually got one himself.

It could be they simply didn't know how to activate the sim with an unauthorized device or still stuck on old policies without realizing they have changed.

I await the day I can carry 1 phone on all carriers we use at work(its complicated). I hate having to swap phones.

[RandomKoreanGuy]

Yeah, I could believe that. Sometimes you even get different answers just by calling back again and getting a different rep, but such is how the dice lands with these things. (Especially when you have policy changes.)

Older corporations are, by nature, conservative and slow to change, but that day is coming, I'm sure. Google's Project Fi has made it a reality, albeit on the fringes for the moment. But basically the technology exists and it is possible to do it without having to have a multi-sim phone (like in international markets). I think Apple even had something similar, like a smart sim that can swap with a command from the OS (something to that effect), but the carriers obviously resisted and each carrier stripped the sim of features in their own way until it was essentially useless. The tech exists, though. It's just waiting for the carriers to be ready to accept it. I think Qualcomm supposedly created a chip capable of supporting nearly every band from almost every carrier, so it's theoretically possible to have a single phone variant that services every market.

[elkhaven]

Poor customer service, full price upgrades, highest cost plans, degrading coverage, and the slowest software releases. Remind me why I am a Verizon customer?

[Toxicle]

I keep asking myself that as well - the biggest issue is that they actually do have the best reception for where I live, which is hard to deal with in terms of considering to switch. Honestly, with all of the issues I've had, I'm constantly checking on my fi invite. I almost don't even care what I'll have to pay to get out of Verizon, with a plan half the price, with a phone that is easier to update, I'm just killing time until I switch.

Everyone has, at the very least, asked Verizon 'Give us an estimate of when', and they can't even do that. I'm sure internally they have a deadline, because I can't think of a whole lot of job fields where your boss says 'Hey, just get it done whenever, take your time!' - meaning, there has to be some sort of deadline for them, which would hopefully mean if they tried, could give us at least an idea of when we'd be getting the update after they had finished up. And of course, that's the minimum of what people want, seeing as how they're on pace to be the last to get the update out, we all just want the update.

I want to be happy with them, I really do, but other than the coverage I get where I live, there isn't a single quality, price, or software reason any sane person would stay with them. I'm so tired of paying the most for poor customer service with issues, no communication about anything, and the highest prices.

[Ann154]

They won't ever give you a deadline or due date when they expect an OS update is going to be released. It creates more liabilities if they give a date then if they don't.

[Jhahn01]

That would be just another promise they wouldn't fulfill.  Your right though, no news is better than bad news.

[hoboX10]

I find it pathetic that some people actually try to defend Verizon here.

The reality is, if ANY carrier is capable of having 5.1.1 out by now for the Note 4, then there is no excuse for Verizon to have not done it first. They are the biggest carrier and have the most resources to keep their network and phones up to date. Their whole notion of "we test our software rigorously first" is completely debunked every time they release updates with issues and bugs like, ahem, our Note 4. Any anyone that tries yelling "B-B-BUT MINE WORKS SO PURFEKTLEEEEE" -stop. You are either very lucky, or too stupid to notice. Most of the Note 4 models (not just VZW) have issues. There were slightly modified versions of the phones released that fixed them. Most of us have the faulty device versions. 5.1.1 alleviated most of the issues people had on AT&T despite this however, so Verizon's PRIORITY should have been getting us this update ASAP to give me a freaking break from this headache of a device.

This whole thing is inexcusable and I will definitely being leaving Verizon after this. And Samsung for that matter. I'll be getting a Nexus device on either AT&T or T-mobile. And what's sad is Verizon's service is been slipping majorly in all the areas I frequent. I mean come on, having less coverage than T-mobile in major metropolitan areas... That just shouldn't happen. Pathetic.