Help 4g Data drastically diminished after 5.1 update (Verizon)

[Kevin-B]

After applying the recent update to Lollipop, my phone has significantly worse 4G LTE reception. I've compared my reception to an identical Verizon Turbo in the same spot, and I will have to 4G while he has several bars.

Tried safe mode and clearing the cache without improvement. Reluctant to endure the process of Factory Data Reset unless it's totally necessary.

Have deleted a few potentially suspect apps, also without result. Changed off "Global data" and then back, having remembered that was alleged to solve similar problems in the past.

Any other ideas on what's going on here? Anyone else seeing 4G deterioration?

 

[Kevin-B]

Answer found!

Short summary: Evidently in some cases, the Lollipop upgrade messes up the SIM card. Verizon is shipping me a new SIM card free.

Longer version: I compared all of the settings on the problem phone with an identical Turbo that upgraded to Lollipop at the same time, and found these discrepancies that might be related:

• Defective phone had an IMEI of "0" -- obviously wrong
• Defective phone had the "Advanced Calling" feature no longer activated, but the Verizon web site claimed it was activated, and the web interface was unable to cycle the feature off.

So I got onto online chat, and lucked out with a smart, persistent rep (far from the normal case). It was immediately clear that something was seriously wrong, since Verizon associated my phone number with an Ellipsis Tablet (which I've never even seen, let alone owned), not my Turbo. The "Advanced Calling" issue, the data problem, and the IMEI problem were all linked in the chat rep's view. She was unable to reassign my real IMEI to my phone. Although she said Verizon had no record of the Lollipop upgrade causing this problem, she eventually reached out to Motorola who recognized the issue and said a new SIM card would fix it. She's sending that out free on Monday.

So that seems likely to be the fix. I'll update this thread on Wednesday when the new SIM arrives.

 

[Thom]

I just ran three tests. The results were ...

Download Upload
45.00 Mbps 15.04 Mbps
43.94 Mbps 16.72 Mbps
47.84 Mbps 16.92 Mbps

... in a word ... wow.

... Thom

 

[stanglifemike]

I just ran three tests. The results were ...


Your results are attached to this email in CSV format.

Download Upload
45.00 Mbps 15.04 Mbps
43.94 Mbps 16.72 Mbps
47.84 Mbps 16.92 Mbps

... in a word ... wow.

... Thom

And that's related how??

 

[Thom]

His sounds like a firmware or hardwire issue. I assume that if the SIM replacement doesn't fix it a Factory data Reset might.

... Thom

 

[Kevin-B]

Summary of final answer: As hoped, the problem was solved, after one more rinse/repeat cycle with Verizon.

Longer story: The new SIM card did arrive, but did not initially fix the MEID/Device mismatch. Verizon's database insisted that the Turbo was an Ellipsis tablet, and the phone would not complete the initialization. So another call with Verizon produced a brand-new (refurb) Turbo. The new phone and new SIM card combo did at last work, and all seems fine. It's been in use for the last two weeks with no further complaints.

Small rant: Something is kind of wrong with Verizon's database that allows phones' identities and MEIDs to get scrambled so badly that they have to issue a whole new phone (including new SIM) to fix the problem. It's a concern and annoyance for me, but is obviously expensive for Verizon.

His sounds like a firmware or hardwire issue. I assume that if the SIM replacement doesn't fix it a Factory data Reset might.
... Thom

Thanks Thom. Yes, I did the FDR prior to calling Verizon and it did not fix the problem. I hate hate hate doing Factory Data Resets, since it takes the better part of a day to get all apps, screens, accounts, and settings back to rights afterwards. But since the next option was to replace the phone anyhow, FDR seemed worth a try. It didn't help.

And thanks for the earlier info on your new data speeds. My Turbo's data problem was so severe that data essentially no longer worked at all in many areas. That's when the painful saga began resulting in the new SIM and new Turbo.