Galaxy Note 4 Android 5.1.1 Update - VZW FAIL

[emlspencer]

I am beyond irritated that as the flagship of exactly one year, Verizon continues to provide less than vague answers as to when we will be receiving this update.  I used to laugh at Sprint as a provider and swore that I'd never consider AT&T again as an option.  However, I have been awaiting Android 5.1.1 since June this year and have watched carries such as Spring and AT&T release 5.1.1 to their customers.  At this point, considering I pay about $125/month, I have been investigating other carriers and their service records and can honestly say, I am considering paying the fee to break my contract with Verizon to receive support and tech that keeps current.  In my estimation, Verizon should be offering credit to those of us that have been waiting months to receive this update to our [removed] devices which haven't worked properly since 5.0.1 was released.  I've been a customer with Verizon for 10+ years and can honestly say I have never been so disappointed with the service or lack thereof.   Get with it Verizon.  Stop treating your customers, whom are probably paying the highest bills based on the handset of their choice, like second rate piles of [removed].

I'm rather curious how much time and money was spent on Verizon creating their fancy new logo - perhaps the developers, designers and others on that team should have focused their energy on testing and releasing the update for their note 4 customers.

VERIZON FAIL!!!!!

[Removal required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service]

[Dgianne]

Mine did this and once I replaced the battery it stopped although I think the battery died so fast because I was constantly charging the phone. When I called Verizon today they told me that people weren't having issues with the software or they would fix it. I told them to look at their forum and they said that its because only bad comments are posted and that they aren't getting complaints from people about the phone. They have horrible customer service.

[Tidbits]

They can't fix it because it's not their product. Sure their name is on it but it isn't theirs. The branding is to differentiate between models made so you don't end up buying a different one and then it wouldn't activate. Manufacturers for a long time can homogenize their products but choose not to maximize profits by offering options to carriers they couldn't do if they homogenize them.

[Zacharee1]

I think I finally see where you're coming from. You're saying that, even though Verizon is the company that has to certify the update, Samsung is the company that actually has to make the update. You think that's where this update is getting help up. However, Verizon's Executive Customer Relations told me that Verizon currently has the 5.1.1 update and that it is currently being tested. I wasn't told that it had been tested and sent back, I was told that 5.1.1 is in the testing phase at Verizon. This points to Verizon causing the hold-up, and since this information is from executive support, it must carry some weight.

[Zacharee1]

A new battery will actually help you out a little bit. When I updated to Lollipop my battery was destroyed. Leaving it on standby, I was lucky to get even 4 hours out of it before it reached 10%. In May, I got a new battery and, while I still struggle to get over 8 hours from minimal usage, it's a noticeable improvement. I will point out that my battery started having problems literally the second Lollipop finished installing (10% drain in 5 minutes, no usage). I still have the old battery, and I use it as a backup, in case my new one dies. Whenever I use it, I notice pretty much exactly what you described. It drains (very quickly) to around 35%, then drops to 15% pretty much instantly, then 5%, then goes into the startup loop.

[Note4s]

They really need to get a fix out for this soon.  We have 3 Note 4 phones and all 3 of them are having the same issues since updating from Kit Kat.  Before the update we loved our phones and the battery life was incredible but ever since it has been crap.  Every once in a while I get a decent day with my phone but it is only a tease.  A couple of weeks ago I went to The Samsung area at our local Best Buy to talk to them about getting a refresh of my phone with a non OTA image as I saw somebody else did the same thing and it helped them.  When I went in and talked to them I brought up that I had a phone from Verizon that I am waiting on for an update due to its terrible battery life.  Before I could bring my phone out they said it must be the Note 4.  One of the employees there also had the same phone and he said he was definitely going to jump ship once he could get out of his contract.  They said they have a lot of people coming in with these issues and that the non OTA load rarely works.  I was desperate and had them update my phone.  Well it is still the same POS and I am really getting sick of it.  Last night my battery said it was at 21% when it suddenly went into its out of battery reboot storm.

-Frustrated

[Tidbits]

So the all the Note 4 are the same(everyone's argument lately). Samsung employee say it must be the phone... They said their troubleshooting rarely works. So how is this a Verizon issue when by now everyone should know carriers don't touch code like people thought they did. Manufacturers even said carriers don't.

[Zacharee1]

It's not a carrier issue because we think Verizon did something to it to sabotage 5.0.1; we know that 5.0.1 was problematic even on non-Samsung devices. We (at least I) think it's a carrier issue because Verizon is the company that has the control over whether or not 5.1.1 gets released. Sure it's possible that Samsung is the problem. They could, for some reason,  not be working on the 5.1.1 update for Verizon. However, it's this reason that no one can seem to find. It just makes no sense that Samsung would work up to late November to give T-Mobile its upgrade and then just give up. Also, since this thread was started before T-Mobile got the update, it made even less sense that Samsung would be the company slacking here. Since none of us but you and Ann can see why Samsung has given up on Verizon, we blame Verizon. I have spoken with Verizon Wireless Executive Customer Relations, and the rep told me outright that Verizon has the update currently and is testing it. Maybe this is a test of a new build that Samsung just sent out. But, since there aren't any hardware differences between the different Notes that could cause performance problems (I heard from someone else on this thread or on another forum that Verizon Executive told them that the update had severe performance problems), then it would make sense that this is the same build that Verizon has been "testing" for a while now. The only real difference between the US variations is the radio technology. The variant with the other processor isn't in the US, AFAIK.

Maybe this evidence is shaky, but I still don't understand on what you're basing some of what you've said.

[Doing_work_son]

Zacharee,

Well said sir

[jeepntj]

The problem is the firmware. The problem is Verizon not getting 5.1.1 in a

timely manner.

[Chapman1969]

I agree the note 4's worked just fine on 4.4.4 and now we can't even get

5.1.1 update. that all of the other carriers have gotten already even the

gs5 has got 5.1.1 update. so verizon we are tired of waiting for are

phone's to work properly it has been way to long this should have been

taken care of a long time ago so if you care about your customers then you

would make sure the devices you sell and update work properly.

[Jason_Nipp]

I really want a phone that can make a phone call without being on a network extender.  Last time I talked to tech support I was near a 60% drop call rate.

[Chapman1969]

Verizon should be taken steps to fixing the problems that use note 4

owner's have been having. verizon needs to make it right and fix this

problem and the bad thing is they know about all of the problems. With the

note 4

[Note4s]

The Samsung employee didn't say it must be the phone.  He said our latest Verizon load (5.0.1) was the issue on the Note 4s.  He said that they rarely saw the re-flash help the customers phone.

[Doing_work_son]

I agree, the problem isn't the phone. KitKat 4.4.4 ran rather smoothly on

my Note 4, hardly ever did I notice lag, the battery life was great and my

wife and I both almost always had good to very strong signals at our house

(4 to 5 full bars), anywhere within it, now it constantly cycles between 3

bars and drops down to one bar numerous times a day, the battery life

suffers due to this. The issue is the buggy mess that Google created in the

5.0.1. build. Verizon was super late in pushing out the initial Lollipop

update last year (even after "rigorous testing" they still pushed this

buggy build out months after the other 3 carriers). They could have at

least pushed 5.0.2 as that build had been out for awhile and squashed some

bugs, but no, they stuck us with an even buggier build of 5.0.1. Now while

all the other 3 large carriers have pushed 5.1.1 OTA to their Note 4's,

which not only squashed many more bugs, it finally fixed the memory leaks

and it seems this build has made the phone more responsive, snappier and

provided better signals (from what I've read). Yet here we are still stuck

on a 5.0.1 build that was released by Google well over a year ago now and

now approximately 5 months (just shy of 150 days) have passed since our

last update to the phone. I understand no software is perfect, there will

always be bugs, I get that, but paying a premium for a smartphone each

month, I'd expect close to premium support, I'm not asking for monthly

updates, but I'd expect when a overwhelming number of Verizon Note 4 owners

are complaining of issues over and over, Verizon listen and act somewhat in

a timely manner and push out some fixes. We still need a security patch for

Stagefright 2.0 (the original was patched fairly timely (kudos to Verizon

on that) but we are still vulnerable to 2.0) and it doesn't seem Verizon

cares one bit. I pay Verizon monthly, not Samsung, they were willing to

sell the phone, now it's time to follow through and support it (all of

their phones for that matter) and make sure they provide adequate software

updates in a reasonable time frame), especially when thousands of people

have been and still are complaining daily regarding issues with the phone

on their own forums! It's not like we've been complaining and listing

issues on an unofficial forum, it's in the official Verizon Wireless

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 forum. Samsung released the 5.1.1 Snapdragon and

Exynos builds back in....July of last year was it? Sprint did what was

necessary to obtain a 5.1.1 build and push it out by August. AT&T did what

was necessary to obtain a copy and pushed out the OTA in October. Sprint

heard and listened to their customers issues with the first 5.1.1 from

August and managed to do what ever was necessary in obtaining a second

5.1.1 build and pushed out a bug fixing 5.1.1 build in October AGAIN.

T-mobile did what was necessary to obtain a build of 5.1.1 and had it

loaded on their T3 Hardware Note 4 around this time and then they did what

was necessary to obtain another build of 5.1.1 and push it out OTA in

November. Here we are January 2016, these forums have been filled, a

plethora of 5.0.1 Lollipop issues and requests for 5.1.1 for well over 4

months now. This is becoming absurd, the lack of support for Verizon to

MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN is ridiculous. If Verizon truly has yet to receive a

build of 5.1.1 (which I don't believe to be true at all), then somebody

high up at Verizon needs to listen to what we are saying and MAKE A PHONE

CALL TO SAMSUNG AND GET A PRIORITY5.1.1 BUILD built! We pay a monthly

premium at Verizon for smartphones, Samsung has long been done with 5.1.1

builds for Snapdragon variants and Exynos variants, they have moved onto

building 6.0.x builds of Marshmallow and has been developing builds now for

around 1 and a half months or so. The way things are going, I wouldn't be

surprised if the other 3 major carriers start pushing out 6.0.x builds of

Marshmallow and we're still stuck on 5.0.1 from August of 2015.....I would

HOPE that if we don't get an update soon it's because Verizon is rushing to

be one of the first (like Sprint who was one of, if not the first of any

Note 4 variants to push out 5.1.1 builds to the Note 4) to push out a

Marshmallow 6.0.x build OTA for any Note 4 (internationally, unlocked or

carrier variant).

[jiff777]

If Verizon cared in the least bit about their customers, they would publicly state they were working on the 5.1.1 update and resolving issues. Giving me 6.0 will not in the least bit, "make it all right." As previously stated, we have 2 ea. Note 3's, 2 ea. Note 4's and a Droid Turbo. As contracts expire, I am confident we will be moving away from Samsung and probably Verizon. It will be interesting to see how many other people move away from Verizon as the Note 4's come up on 2 years. I'm thinking T-Mobile and a different device manufacturer. Customer service includes communicating with your customers, not marketing a new 700-800 dollar phone to me. I now have to restart the phone on a daily basis to improve the ever increasing lag from my Flagship phone. I empathize with the poor Verizon Reps who attempt to make excuses for their employer. America doesn't manufacture anything anymore and they are trying to exist on a service only culture. Verizon, you are failing miserably at servicing your customers. Fool me once...

[Zacharee1]

Don't buy what? The threats to leave or the reports of issues? Because I have to ask: how many people with the Note 4 do you know? One? My Note 4 (I guess both of them, since I got a replacement), a family member's Note 4, a friend's Note 4, and quite a few people (100+) on the internet who say they have problems. There are definitely a lot of people who are lucky enough to not have issues, but I can assure you there are at least as many people with problems, and these problems are severe. Even if we don't have problems, we're still completely vulnerable to Stagefright 2.0. If Verizon/Samsung isn't obligated to release 5.1.1 because 5.0.1 doesn't work well for some people, I'm fairly certain there's some agreement that security updates will be provided. For the threats to leave: just look at this thread. People have already left, and more are on their way to moving. Look at other threads and other forums. Dozens have left. This thread, however, has nothing to do with leaving Verizon. Those posts with threats to leave and those about those who have left are technically off-topic. This thread is about wondering WHERE THE HELL THE 5.1.1 UPDATE IS FOR OUR PHONES. I think it's rather important to have a major security fix, don't you think? A performance increase is a nice side benefit, since that's what you seem to think.

[Chapman1969]

Very will said bro

[Waimon]

Ok this is getting old yes I would also like the 5.1.1 update as wwll. But if they are not pushing it out because it will give us another issue then by all means wait for the 6.0 I do not care. What I do care about is about getting an update that fixes some of the errors the note 4 does have since upgrading. The quicker the battery drains compared to previous operating system. I mean it is not bad but it is there. And love to see new updates fixing these and other problems people are having whether it be in the 5.1.1 update of the 6 update as long as we are one of the first ones to get the 6 updates first for a change. That would make it fine with me to wait for the 6 update.

[Jason_Nipp]

I have noticed battery life, but really thwarts the least of my concerns.

I am having radio issues, and memory allocation issues.  I am often over 2gb of the available 2.71gb of memory... With only 1 app running... Since my last factory reset/cache wipe I have only loaded 2 apps from the google play store.  My system often slows to the point of unresponsiveness then a minute or so later it closes what I was doing and I end up at the home screen.

It's not my 2 apps doing this.  I ran two weeks without losing any apps after a factory reset.  Same system instability and freezes...

It is true that these system issues are not occurring 100% of the time... But it is frequent and when it happens I get so mad I want to smash the phone.

My radio issues are constant in my area however.  In my area, where my old GS4 worked fine, and my kids phones still work fine, my Note 4 had an extreme drop call rate.  So bad the only way I can make an uninterrupted voice call is with the use of a network extender.  I had these issues with a replacement Note 4 as well.  I recently was on a business trip in Vermont... A home area for Verizon.... I've never had a better connection.  My phone worked flawlessly in Vergennes VT.

For those about to say something's wrong in my area, 3 Network trouble calls were investigated.  The towers checked out.  And the GS3 that was loaned to me when I sent my N4 to Samsung never skipped a beat.  My daughter's iPhone is good, My old GS4 is fine, my son's new GS6 Edge is fine.... So something about the N4 doesn't like the infrastructure in my home area... I personally think it's the xLTE band which the N4 was the first released in my market pre-enabled for the xLTE band.  Just my own hypothesis.

I do plan on switching.  Not only have a struggled with this handset since about a week after getting it, I've been told to buy another handset to replace it no less than 10 times... Not one option offered did not pose additional cost to me....   then, looking at my bill, I have priced out options much less expensive.   I do not receive the premium care I expect to receive paying a substantial premium for service.

I am accepting the Fi invite, I'm just waiting for my taxes so I have enough money to buy the required Nexus device and to pay off my edge contract.

I frankly am on the fence over caring about having latest and greatest software all the time.  All I want is a phone that functions as advertised without constant reboots, having to charge it 3 times per day, and to make a phone call.

[vzw_customer_support]

Jason_Nipp,

We want you to be able to rely on your phone for constant communication and it would sadden us to see you go because of this.  I appreciate all your efforts that you have taken in order to get this fixed.  Allow us a chance to review your device.  I will send a private message for better assistances.

YareliM_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[Doing_work_son]

Jason, right there with you. My Note 4 and my wife's Note 4 both had great

to very strong signals on 4.4.4 at home (especially) and most places around

our neighborhood. Since Lollipop, we constantly hardly ever see more than 3

bars (it's rare to see 4 bars and very rare to see 5 bars, if we do it's

short lived) at our house where on KitKat it was always pegged at 4 or 5

bars. Now, our phones both cycle from 3 bars down to one bar and this cycle

repeats itself over and over numerous times a day standing in the exact

same places of our house where when on 4.4.4, we always had a solid 4 or 5

bars. My wife's phone always drops calls in a particular spot (her usual

route to and from work) almost 99% of the time when we are talking and it

never happened on 4.4.4 in this spot what so ever. I too believe it has to

do with the xlte band, cycling from 3 bars down to one constantly, this

kills the battery, it's always searching for a better signal. I used an app

(lte discovery) to tell me what bands I'm using and it constantly changes

from lte band 13 to xlte band 4 and when I'm on band 4, that's when I

notice my bars are pegged to either one or two bars and it just gobbles up

battery. I used to get almost 6.5 hours screen on time, now I'm lucky if I

can manage 3.5 hours screen on time doing the same daily routines. When we

had advanced calling 1.0 enabled, we barely could use it as we constantly

had screeching noises interrupting our conversations so we also had to

disable that feature. Stagefright 2.0 is also a decent concern, it sure

would be nice to at least receive a bug fixer/security fixer since all

other major carrier Note 4's have received updates (5.1.1 with security

patches included) since our last update back in August, 5 months ago.

Hopefully we don't have to wait another 4-6 months to get an update because

they've decided to skip 5.1.1 and jump us to Marshmallow 6.0.X, because

then we will be playing another waiting game for them to get that tested

and certified and before we know it, it's august of 2016 before we get any

kind of update for bug fixes, security patches, etc.