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3G Drops & Standby Battery Drain (Solutions)

loumalnati said:
I had my first day ever where I had 3G the whole day (Im in Chicago). My settings are normal..autosynch is on.. I have no idea why today was ok..

Can anyone tell me why I have no problems with my phone calls. What is the difference between the signal/data sent to the Sprint towers for my phone calls vs the signal/data sent to Sprint for the 3G. If Sprint is favoring Sprint customers with there signal/data, then why no problems with my phone.
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When dealing with wireless signals remember first and foremost it is a radio reliable to frequency,the more frequency's the provider can purchase from the FCC the more it can handle data voice talk text,so i would imagine the data uses a completely different set of frequencies stacks then the voice and texts.
 
lynx2cross said:
I think the guy was telling me the truth, I can't imagine that any business would allow their huge customer base continue to be unhappy with the service. I told the guy that before I switched to this phone I had the blackberry and didn't have this problem and that's when he told me that its this particular phone and specifically android 2.2, he said the intercept which runs 2.1 doesn't seem to have this issue. He also mentioned that they are planning on releasing a new feature that allows the phone to be used as a hotspot, I didn't tell him that I and most other people have already figured out how to do that, lol.
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This is not something new. I had a Curve 8530 with Virgin and it keep always disconnecting from the network. It was last year May 2010. I was sure that the phone was programmed to disconnect itself after certain idle time. My hypothesis was that as the Curve was a smartphone, a data intensive device, Virgin would have done something to restrict the access to the network.

I downgraded to an Rumor Touch and the same thing started to happened. This time though I was missing text messages. I got tired and felt that paying $25 for an unreliable service was not worth it.

I was tempted in again, however, when I saw the LG Optimus for only $130 at Best Buy. I was like "what the heck, even if Virgin is screwed over again, I will have a nice MP3 Player/PDA, an Android iPod.".

Well, same issues as last year with the Curve. If you call Virgin they will tell you the same thing over and over. Their network is having issues, their engineers are hard at work to fix the problem, and they they DO apologize but there is no Estimated Date on when the service will be fixed. Some dude even dared to tell me to try to access the web from the phone in 1 or 2 weeks! LOL :clapping:

Virgin knows the issue, they won't do anything. That is abuse. I have filed a complaint with the FCC - let's see if the government can do anything - I truly hope so.

It seems it a practice on prepaid services, as I also have a Nokia E71 with StraightTalk and after a while the phone disconnects from the network and displays a "Connection Time-Out" message on the browser.

If you want 100% up-time service I guess you have to sign a contact. I have come to depend on data so much, that I am strongly considering Verizon as I am fed up by these issues as US customer going on TECH MODE and not getting paid for it.
 
I have been following this thread since I also experience occasional 3G drops down in south cal (once per day, sometimes more). Today however is the first day in a while I haven't experienced any 3G problems. Maybe VM finally has somebody working on it? Hope springs eternal! ;)
 
Yeah, yesterday was a good day for me too. Maybe they are on to something, but tonight it dropped signal again. I tried airplane mode, toggling 3g, and eventually turned it off and back on and got nothing. It didn't work again until I pulled the battery and let it sit for a few minutes. Now it's working fine. ( 534ms ping/ .92dl / .59ul ). Actually the past few days have been pretty good, and the few times it has lost signal it has usually gotten it back on it's own (showing around 5% time without signal yesterday and didn't have to toggle airplane mode at all). Over the past few weeks airplane mode usually brings it back when it does show the problem, but the day before yesterday and today I have had to pull the battery to get it working again.
 
I wish I was getting .92 mbps download. I live in Rockville MD. I'm only getting 200k. I was getting better speed on Cricket. But they have bad phone reception. I wonder what speeds other people are getting.
 
Yesterday and today so far have been good with 3g. I can't say about last night as when I get home I go to wifi. It seems after yesterday afternoon's in and out for me it has been stable since then. I am in the Chicago area.

After more research and looking at others posts, I have to correct some of my misconceptions on what Virgin Mobile is. Virgin Mobile USA is Sprint. Sprint started the aquisition process in the summer of 2009 and the completion of the sale in Nov 2009. So Sprint is to blame for hamstrining VM users for their contract users on Sprint.
 
I went back to Verizon because of this issue. Reliable connection plus wonderful customer service = worth going from $25 to $80 (or so) for me each month... so far... still within my 14 days, though.

I had a BB 8530 before the Opt V, and I swear I didn't have these issues, but maybe I'm wrong, didn't have it more than a few weeks before the V came out. Anybody else on here have another phone besides the Opt V that they can compare to with their Opt V - especially the BB?
 
Overnight I lost the 3G...Used Quick Settings app to toggle btw Mobile connection on/off. Service resumed until afternoon and same issue arose. 1 dropped call.

Filed a complaint with the BBB.
 
I think there might be an issue with the stock rom itself, because now that I am using aosps 2.3 rom I get 0% time without signal without having to toggle airplane mode or anything when first booting the phone. Since I changed the rom, data has been 100% aside from dropping for a minute and it picked it back up on its own right away.
 
Scyy said:
I think there might be an issue with the stock rom itself, because now that I am using aosps 2.3 rom I get 0% time without signal without having to toggle airplane mode or anything when first booting the phone. Since I changed the rom, data has been 100% aside from dropping for a minute and it picked it back up on its own right away.
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nope, using stock rom i have 0% time without signal. while streaming online radio today, the connection dropped twice but continued after a minute or so.
 
Just got off the phone with tech at VMob and they told me the following:
  • 3G drops are a known issue
  • A fix is expected within 7 days
  • I will be comp
ensated for my down time

When I asked what the issue was he said it was 3G related, but they did not know the exact issue. When I asked how he could promise a 7 day resolution when the issue is unknown there was a long silence and then a response of that was what the main office is telling us..

This was the first tech I talked to that freely admitted there was an issue and did not have me click my heels and say "Take me back to Kansas". He was very professional and sincere. I give him credit as I would not cate to be a VM rep during this time.
 
After almost 6 days of no 3G drops, it dumped this afternoon. Hasn't come back. The browser keeps redirecting me to the Virgin site.
 
johnn1jm said:
After almost 6 days of no 3G drops, it dumped this afternoon. Hasn't come back. The browser keeps redirecting me to the Virgin site.
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That's an account issue. If it's redirecting that means it can get a signal but for whatever reason your account isn't being allowed data.
 
I read somewhere that all you need to do is Turn Off the phone, then turn it back on, then Enable Airport Setting for at least 15 seconds, then disable it and you will have 3G from that point.

I thought the solution would be too simple to work, BUT, it actually worked... I have not let my phone turn off and I have not have to do that again. Napster, Push Email through Exchange, IM, Texts, Google Listen POdcasts, all working phenomenal.

Now something that I also did was to file a complaint against Virgin with the FCC. Prepaid should not mean bad customer service and undeliverance of promised service.

I am lucky that I speak Spanish, because the Spanish reps are 1000% nicer and actually efficient than the English ones. The English ones are outsourced in I don't know what country and they are really rude - they hang up on you. I was on the phone 2 hours with the English ones and got hung up 3 times after being on hold for very long. Then, I decided to try the Spanish queue, asking for a Supervisor, wating 10 minutes for the Supervisor (I understand that hold time for a supervisor to be reasonable). Supervisor came and gave me the $25 back to my credit card (not a top-up), apologized for the nightmare service, and said my service would still be in place for me give Virgin a second chance, if not I would lose a penny.

I installed Norton Utililties and I have consumed so far 1.4 GB of data :( My average speed is 0.7 mbps. I have seen it peak to 1.2 mbps outdoors in some places. YouTube streaming is not very good outside, but Napster works marvelously (I pay $8 a month for it).

Try that tric of the Airport mode after Restart.

Now, all I have to find out is how to fully Sync Exchange Email on the Optimus V as it seems it won't let the device be wiped remotely or managed remotely.
 
Wow. Can I just say I am really glad to find other people LIKE ME that are having the same problems! Yes. It sucks everyone is going through this, but at least we know we are not alone.

My story: I bought my phone in Dec, although it only has android 2.1 I was pretty happy with the phone. A little slow because of the lack of updating to 2.2 but I was fine with that. On the 22nd of March I was checking my voicemail, looked down at my screen to enter in my pin and it was black. Yes it was on lol (which is the same question VM asked). I called them and told them what happened. They said they would send out a brand new phone on the 23rd, should get to me in 2-3 days.

I waited 4 days and called them. I spoke to a "specialist" who told me the 2-3 day thing was a joke. Its actually 3-5 days. So I waited til day 6 and called them. Before that, I actually called Fedex and some nice lady said she had no log of me and to call VM back. I called VM and they said um... were sorry but we have no log of one being sent out. I was like um.. why?!? Shes like, honestly, I have no idea why, but we will open a ticket, expect to hear from us in a week (A WEEK?). Well, I asked, can I have a phone sent to me? No, we cannot do that. I needed the phone by Tuesday, which is why I called a week ahead of time. My mom was getting a mastectomy and I was in charge of keeping family and friends updated.

So I hung up with them and waited. Finally today I come home to a box. Its packed crappy. I opened it, I slid open my phone (Intercept) and I was like ew, its grainy. I put it in the light - well, theres brown stuff all over the keyboard. I wont venture to guess what it is LOL. Nor do I want to know. Chocolate? Tootsie roll? Something.... else? :eek: Ew. Okay enough.

So I call them AGAIN, I get hung up on twice. The third time I was put on hold for 15 minutes, no music, no updates (virtual voice). So I kinda figured that just muted me. I asked to speak to the supervisor and THAT is what THAT got me lol. Hung up twice and put on hold once. Er muted.

Then, I went to dinner, came back, started trying to set things up again and I noticed my wifi is "connected" (bars are filled) but, I cannot connect. I am NOT connected. I tried 3g. My little blue square is not showing up at all. Awesome.

I was actually like VM (besides the 2.2 thing), but now I can say I am truly angered by how I was treated, the lack of responsibility, and MY PHONE HAS BROWN STUFF ON IT! I mean, come on. I actually called headquarters in NJ. I dont know if they will call back, but I can tell you one thing: I will make a stink about this if its not fixed. I know others have tried, but I will get this fixed somehow, someway. And its not calling the BBB either.

Anyway, I am trying the airport thing now. We'll see :(

Kristi Ambrose
 
I don't have any drops, but the battery runs hot and uses like 20% an hour while the phone is idle and 3g is on. I had a high TWS but then I used the secret menu fix and that went away. Now my TWS is close to zero but the phone still runs hot and loses battery Any ideas/suggestions? I read the whole thread yesterday but I didn't see anybody with this specific combination.... 0 TWS, no drops, but still burning through battery. Currently battery usage is listed as 44% cell standby (yes, I have zero TWS), 39% phone idle, 11% android system, 6% display, 3% wifi.

What's going on?
 
Well I exchanged the phone. The new one worked. This means it was a hardware issue, unless it was one of the following apps, which I had on the previous one but did not install on this one (yet).

Quicksettings (and used wifi hotspot)
nettalk

Can anybody confirm that these two apps are safe? I know somebody posted quicksettings is okay, but I'm wondering specifically about wifi hotspot, since virgin clearly discourages its customers from using this feature.
 
I have QuickSettings and I have used the hotspot feature it provides.

My 3g was as bad as anyone else's a few weeks ago, and then like most people, it suddenly got better without me doing anything different at all. A friend of mine in another state had the same experience.

I do not think QuickSettings or its hotspot feature are to blame.
 
One thing I've learned since having the Optimus (and something I've known since using Virgin for almost a decade), expect the unexpected.

In other posts I've talked about my 3G problems to the point I filed a complaint with the BBB. It's been 3 weeks since then and I've had no disruptions, constant 3G connections and oddly enough my battery seems to last longer.

Prior to this, with 3G turned off, no extra apps running I'd last about 12 hours before being recharged with medium usage. Now, with 3G on constantly, live wallpaper, a Twitter app running and weather bug all running, I've gone about 30 hours before recharging. Go figure.
 
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