• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help 4G + loss of data connection

B

brennan77

Newbie
I've had my Thunderbolt for nearly a month now. My experience has been one of frustration and elation. When the phone works, it's awesome.That said, I'm only able to get proper function if I keep 4G turned OFF.

With 4G on, I experience random, but regular drops of data connection. The signal will look good, but the data is not there. What's worse is that the phone freaks out when this happens. Something goes on where the phone's resources become challenged and everything slows to a halt.

The fix is to turn off 4G altogether. But then I'm left with a 3G phone. The reason I paid a premium for the Thunderbolt and sacrificed on battery life is 4G. Needless to say, this is disappointing. The Verizon store offered to replace the phone with a refurb and acted like they had never heard of this problem. But I do not want a used replacement if it's just going to do the same thing.

Thoughts? Will this ever be fixed? Is this a problem with my phone? Verizon?
 
I ordered a refurbished phone to save a few bucks when I bought the TB, and I've had no significant problems. Certainly nothing like what you're describing. Go for the replacement before you give up.
 
brennan77 said:
Thoughts? Will this ever be fixed? Is this a problem with my phone? Verizon?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say. It could be a problem with your phone or it could be your location. Are you on the outskirts of 4g area? Do you have anyone around your area that has a 4g phone that you can compare the signal with?
 
dylo22 said:
It's hard to say. It could be a problem with your phone or it could be your location. Are you on the outskirts of 4g area? Do you have anyone around your area that has a 4g phone that you can compare the signal with?
Click to expand...

I am not in the outskirts. I'm right in the middle of New Orleans. Now I do travel during the day, so one could argue that it's a 4g to 3g hand off issue. But today, for example, I went no where. I tested this morning at nearly 30gigabits. 30 minutes later my phone is slowing down and I have no data connection despite a 4G icon and four bars.

After playing around with it, I'm noticing that I can re-institute the connection by switching 4G on and off, rebooting, or by simply turning the wifi on and off.

I haven't compared with anyone else that has a 4G phone as of yet. But I'll try to do so in the coming days.
 
After talking with Verizon's tech support, we are going for another phone. They say I've tried all the tricks and this is the next step. They are over nighting a 'new' phone to me. So we'll see...
 
I'm laughing on the outside, but crying on the inside. I've had this problem since the phone first came out. I'd get 4G, then it would drop to 3G, 1X, and then just bars. I have a ticket opened with Verizon since March and some bonehead closed the ticket. I had to call back and had them re-open it since the issue hadn't been resolved. I have pretty much stayed in 3G unless I drive around where I can actually switch to 4G. I'm convinced that I must be right between 2 towers and that the towers don't know how to handle my location thus they just deny me data service since the tower sees my cell phone bouncing in and out. My ticket is STILL opened with Verizon. So much for "customer service".
 
TxGoat said:
I'm laughing on the outside, but crying on the inside. I've had this problem since the phone first came out. I'd get 4G, then it would drop to 3G, 1X, and then just bars. I have a ticket opened with Verizon since March and some bonehead closed the ticket. I had to call back and had them re-open it since the issue hadn't been resolved. I have pretty much stayed in 3G unless I drive around where I can actually switch to 4G. I'm convinced that I must be right between 2 towers and that the towers don't know how to handle my location thus they just deny me data service since the tower sees my cell phone bouncing in and out. My ticket is STILL opened with Verizon. So much for "customer service".
Click to expand...


It doesn't sound like our problem is quite the same. I don't lose the 4G icon much at all. I'll be in the middle of the city with a great signal. For no reason, I'll simply lose the data connection. There is nothing to indicate the dropped connection. The 4G icon is still there with full bars. I just can't receive or send data until I reset it somehow.

We'll see if the new phone fixes the problem. Verizon says they don't see a trend specific to my area so their first suggestion was a problem with this specific phone. I'll know by this evening.
 
brennan77 said:
I've had my Thunderbolt for nearly a month now. My experience has been one of frustration and elation. When the phone works, it's awesome.That said, I'm only able to get proper function if I keep 4G turned OFF.

With 4G on, I experience random, but regular drops of data connection. The signal will look good, but the data is not there. What's worse is that the phone freaks out when this happens. Something goes on where the phone's resources become challenged and everything slows to a halt.

The fix is to turn off 4G altogether. But then I'm left with a 3G phone. The reason I paid a premium for the Thunderbolt and sacrificed on battery life is 4G. Needless to say, this is disappointing. The Verizon store offered to replace the phone with a refurb and acted like they had never heard of this problem. But I do not want a used replacement if it's just going to do the same thing.

Thoughts? Will this ever be fixed? Is this a problem with my phone? Verizon?
Click to expand...

I had very similar problem. a replacement fixed it.
 
Hey guys,

Im pretty new to this forum but thought id add my comment here as well. Im glad someone else expereinced the same thing because i have the EXACT same issue as brennan77! I called Verizon and they opened up a case and said its not the phone (im on my second replacement) and said it has something to do with the network and are "investigating"

But yeah, i have 4G and data will eventually load. Ill load up google and 4-5 min later the page will load. it sucks!

I dont know about you guys but when i got the phone 4G was great! no problems and never lost 4G. Then suddenly (last friday) i ran into this issue. I dont really want to blame the phone but it worked for a few weeks then itll crap out. same with the first phone i had.

i drive to work 25 miles and have this 4G issue all over the fort worth area....
 
Jon22 said:
Hey guys,

Im pretty new to this forum but thought id add my comment here as well. Im glad someone else expereinced the same thing because i have the EXACT same issue as brennan77! I called Verizon and they opened up a case and said its not the phone (im on my second replacement) and said it has something to do with the network and are "investigating"

But yeah, i have 4G and data will eventually load. Ill load up google and 4-5 min later the page will load. it sucks!

I dont know about you guys but when i got the phone 4G was great! no problems and never lost 4G. Then suddenly (last friday) i ran into this issue. I dont really want to blame the phone but it worked for a few weeks then itll crap out. same with the first phone i had.

i drive to work 25 miles and have this 4G issue all over the fort worth area....
Click to expand...

That's interesting, I live in the DFW area myself and my problems started on Friday as well. I couldn't get Verizon to tell me if there were any reported issues in the DFW area or near my area specifically, so they decided to swap out my device. I'm told I should receive it sometime today. I'm just hopeful that the phone I'm getting had an actual issue with it that was repaired, and not just some sporadic issue like what I'm having with my data connection. Granted my phone's data issue isn't the only problem. I'm also having trouble with the screen going dark on occasion (the home buttons light up but the screen is black).
 
Hmmm. I had this same thing happen Monday at the airport--but I'm in Raleigh. Had to reboot my phone to recover--4G icon was stuck on, but nothing that used data would work. I attributed it to me messing around with airplane mode on/off/on quickly and hitting some bug. I've had no problems since, however. That said, I haven't used airplane mode since, either.
 
I have been having a data connection also. Mine goes from straight 4g to bars only and a data connection error message. I have to reboot to get data back. Never had this problem before and now it happens at least once an hour.
 
I wouldn't doubt this is a software issue. I have the same connection fail error start just recently. I'm in Albany, NY with full bars and 4G nearly all the time (large city). Why would I get a connection fail- especially when sitting next to a window and not going anywhere. P.S. this is the 2nd phone too. The first one kept rebooting for no reason and I returned it after the 2nd day of that nonsense. I'm starting to think this is all a conspiracy.
 
im still waiting on what verizon says. Goin on 5 days without any update. I called them and they said they dont know because its not in thier tier...oh well. Still having this issue though. Only works if i change it to CDMA only.
 
Rumor has it that a SIM card switch is also a verified fix to the data issue in 4G... Try taking your device in and having the SIM switched out. We're trying it on a unit that is experiencing the same issue today.
 
Verizon has been adding markets and expanding some that is already 4g. Me and my friends are rooted and having no problems with new radio. Coworkers that have 3g have been having problems in my area going live with 4g. Saying they have less signal or none when they were at full bars before going 4g. I am thinking it is more of a network problem right now.
 
zcarman said:
Rumor has it that a SIM card switch is also a verified fix to the data issue in 4G... Try taking your device in and having the SIM switched out. We're trying it on a unit that is experiencing the same issue today.
Click to expand...

They tried switching out my original sim card with no change.

To update, I am on my new refurbished phone. It's in good condition and appears new. I have not had the outright drop in data that I was experiencing with the other phone. I have checked numerous times with speedtest.net and have not had an issue with connecting.

That said, I now have another odd issue. The phone seems to pause before downloading an app or accessing websites, specifically google.com. It's like it holds for 20 seconds and then instantly loads. It's quite odd, to say the least. I'll see if this fixes itself, but at this point it's unacceptable.

Here's what I don't understand. I had what is arguably a terrible phone...the Palm Pre. It was slow and the slider eventually wore out. But I had NEVER experienced any of the connection and software oddities of the Thunderbolt and Android. Things just worked. I spent what I consider to be a premium for the Thunderbolt and have been nothing but disappointed in it's functionality. It's been quite the frustrating experience.
 
brennan77 said:
I am not in the outskirts. I'm right in the middle of New Orleans. Now I do travel during the day, so one could argue that it's a 4g to 3g hand off issue. But today, for example, I went no where. I tested this morning at nearly 30gigabits. 30 minutes later my phone is slowing down and I have no data connection despite a 4G icon and four bars.

After playing around with it, I'm noticing that I can re-institute the connection by switching 4G on and off, rebooting, or by simply turning the wifi on and off.

I haven't compared with anyone else that has a 4G phone as of yet. But I'll try to do so in the coming days.
Click to expand...


I'm having the same problem with my thunderbolt in baton rouge had a sin card replaced and everything nothing seems to work
 
ilovevhsporn said:
I'm having the same problem with my thunderbolt in baton rouge had a sin card replaced and everything nothing seems to work
Click to expand...

Call customer service and tell them the sim card didn't help. I haven't traveled out of the area yet, but the new phone I received is definitely an improvement. The tech lady told me that they are dealing with this all day and have a green light to ship replacements.
 
I called VZ for an update and still nothing. The guy is like "if it works with 3G just fine why not leave it at 3G?" and I said i bought a $200 phone for it to work, i didnt spend $200 to get to know you people. Im getting very frustrated with them and hopw a fix comes soon
 
brennan77 said:
...That said, I now have another odd issue. The phone seems to pause before downloading an app or accessing websites, specifically google.com. It's like it holds for 20 seconds and then instantly loads. It's quite odd, to say the least. I'll see if this fixes itself, but at this point it's unacceptable.
Click to expand...

Try disabling location updates for the google page. Sounds like it's attempting a GPS fix before display of the web page, which can take some time in a building. Click settings at the bottom of the Google page. After that, it should come up instantly.
 
trapperjohn said:
Hmm is this implying a hardware failure after a period of time?
Thanks,
Bryan
Click to expand...

At least in my market, yes. They seemed very familiar with the problem and confident in the status of the network. I went all day today without losing connection and was getting 4G 20 miles outside of the city, which is awesome considering with the original phone I couldn't even get 3G.
 
Puppa said:
Try disabling location updates for the google page. Sounds like it's attempting a GPS fix before display of the web page, which can take some time in a building. Click settings at the bottom of the Google page. After that, it should come up instantly.
Click to expand...

I think this had something to do with it. I was playing with the phone during meetings this morning and it finally asked if I'd like to set location on or off for google.com Now regardless if it's on or off, it seems to be loading without the pause.

Dare I say it? I think I've enjoyed the phone this afternoon. After the location thing, it's actually worked all day.
 
I don't know if this has been addressed before in regards to the dropping 4G problem (I see your problem has been fixed brennan77), but I was experimenting with trying to get even more battery life the other day and decided to turn off "Always on data connection" or whatever it's called. I then noticed over the next couple of days that I would lose my 4G, 3G, and 1X connection and get nothing, even when I tried to turn the connection on/off, tried to use internet, or toggled the "Always on" setting. I had to restart the phone to get my connection back. So, I just toggled it back to "Always on" and it has worked fine since. Perhaps some have experienced the same issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom