new to the bionic, simple question about the data drop issue

[Deleted User]

Just switched to Verizon from sprint and an evo 4g.
The building I work in had no service inside except wifi. I've noticed when I go out side my bionic will show 4 bars of service, but no 3/4g. I've tried airplane mode on then off and turning battery mode to performance, yet it won't regain data. If I do a restart, it immediately gets data.
Its does this frequently, is the notorious data drop every one talks about here?


Btw I have the .902 update. And i'm 10 days in.

 

[wildkitten]

Just switched to Verizon from sprint and an evo 4g.
The building I work in had no service inside except wifi. I've noticed when I go out side my bionic will show 4 bars of service, but no 3/4g. I've tried airplane mode on then off and turning battery mode to performance, yet it won't regain data. If I do a restart, it immediately gets data.
Its does this frequently, is the notorious data drop every one talks about here?


Btw I have the .902 update. And i'm 10 days in.

I know there were a lot of data drop issues previous. I've seen Thom and a few other comment on these issues, and honestly, from what I've gathered this may be due to a bad sim card. I would see if you can get that exchanged.

In Huntsville I have always had a a strong 4G signal with little data drops. However, on my first Bionic I had black screen and other issues and swapping out the phone took care of it, but I didn't know then that it could have been just the sim card.

893 update really took care of a lot of people's data drop issues and 902 seems very good too. Recently I saw some data issues but it seems to have been them working on towers because people with non Bionic phones, and even non Motorola phones, saw the same things and I know they are still doing tower work.

So unless someone smarter than me has a better idea, I would start off with a sim card change.

 

[kool kat2]

I've had data and no phone signal before. I've called Verizon before so they can do their thing over the phone to get the issue fixed. It's an idea if you don't wanna head over to a store first to get a new Sim

 

[Thom]

If it was me I would try another SIM card.

It is likely from the description that he is just in a lousy area and nothing will help.

The worst case I ever heard in this forum was a person who had a standard desk in his office. If he was on one end of the desk it worked without a problem. If he was at the other end of his desk it never worked.

A 3G-only phone might do better.

Talk to other people in the office building. Do they have problems with their 3G/4G phone? DO others have problems with their 3G-only phone?

... Thom

 

[Deleted User]

im getting this issue when coming from a non service area with wifi and going to an area of excellent service with no wifi outside.
Not sure if its related to the wifi or not. Possible its just a coincidence.

I read dozens of discussions on these data drops, but don't exactly know the symptoms of it

 

[Thom]

This is not the "data drop" problem that was discussed so much. Those were issues on both the tower and Bionic side.

As wildkitten stated, we were all waiting for the corrections on the Bionic side and they were almost all done in 5.9.902.

Over the last few days I have had some extended data drops. I am in a 3G-only area. I ASSUME they were working on the tower AGAIN.

You can try talking to Verizon. I would not expect to much help from them. You will get the best indication of problems in your area by talking to other users. 3G/4G users are one type. 3G-only users are another type. Are they all having the same kind of problems you are?

... Thom

 

[Deleted User]

I talked to a couple people at work and all told me they have not been having issues with verizon. I dont know what kind of phones they have.

Im back at work today and i left my phone in "performance mode", and beside the battery getting hot and discharging much much quicker, i have not had the issue. So i put my phone in "maximum saver" again, went inside... came back out 2 hours later... full signal and no data. Again, i tried clicking browser, email, airplane mode on/off, nothing makes the data come back on. I also didn't mention, im in a 3g area only at work.

I guess im going to ask for a new sim cards, and give verizon a call. Im sure they will just have me reset the phone and say "its fixed!"

This is not the "data drop" problem that was discussed so much. Those were issues on both the tower and Bionic side.

As wildkitten stated, we were all waiting for the corrections on the Bionic side and they were almost all done in 5.9.902.

Over the last few days I have had some extended data drops. I am in a 3G-only area. I ASSUME they were working on the tower AGAIN.

You can try talking to Verizon. I would not expect to much help from them. You will get the best indication of problems in your area by talking to other users. 3G/4G users are one type. 3G-only users are another type. Are they all having the same kind of problems you are?

... Thom

 

[Thom]

I talked to a couple people at work and all told me they have not been having issues with verizon. I dont know what kind of phones they have.

Im back at work today and i left my phone in "performance mode", and beside the battery getting hot and discharging much much quicker, i have not had the issue. So i put my phone in "maximum saver" again, went inside... came back out 2 hours later... full signal and no data. Again, i tried clicking browser, email, airplane mode on/off, nothing makes the data come back on. I also didn't mention, im in a 3g area only at work.

I guess im going to ask for a new sim cards, and give verizon a call. Im sure they will just have me reset the phone and say "its fixed!"

Good investigation.

You should be in performance mode.

If the battery dies quickly and the phone is real hot you PROBABLY are running a CPU-intensive app and need to stop doing so.

Mobile Hotspot is a known battery eater and it is recommend that you be plugged into a wall charger if you are going to use it for any amount of time.

I have recently been checking out the link to my video screen by HDMI and it is a battery killer also.

The worst app for all around mobile use is anything that uses GPS. The absolute worst offender there is Social Location. Don't use it. The kicker is that some of the "social" apps call Social Location in the background.

If your life requires Social Location then plan on plugging in your Bionic frequently (wall charger and cable that came with it and not just a USB port).

An alternative if that is the problem is to install the extended battery.

... Thom

 

[dave1812]

I had a bit of a problem a number of weeks ago with my normally trusty Bionic. I called tech support, because battery and SIM card pulls wouldn't give me back 4G. The gal had me do something I never thought of, and it ALWAYS WORKS!!! Got to Battery & Data Manager>Data Delivery>uncheck Data Enabled. She said that severs the connection at the Verizon network, so that when you recheck it moments later, the network will immediately connect up with the phone. This technique has never failed me and I've not noticed anyone else ever mention it!!

 

[Deleted User]

I had a bit of a problem a number of weeks ago with my normally trusty Bionic. I called tech support, because battery and SIM card pulls wouldn't give me back 4G. The gal had me do something I never thought of, and it ALWAYS WORKS!!! Got to Battery & Data Manager>Data Delivery>uncheck Data Enabled. She said that severs the connection at the Verizon network, so that when you recheck it moments later, the network will immediately connect up with the phone. This technique has never failed me and I've not noticed anyone else ever mention it!!

I will try this, thanks!

Good investigation.

You should be in performance mode.

If the battery dies quickly and the phone is real hot you PROBABLY are running a CPU-intensive app and need to stop doing so.

Mobile Hotspot is a known battery eater and it is recommend that you be plugged into a wall charger if you are going to use it for any amount of time.

I have recently been checking out the link to my video screen by HDMI and it is a battery killer also.

The worst app for all around mobile use is anything that uses GPS. The absolute worst offender there is Social Location. Don't use it. The kicker is that some of the "social" apps call Social Location in the background.

If your life requires Social Location then plan on plugging in your Bionic frequently (wall charger and cable that came with it and not just a USB port).

An alternative if that is the problem is to install the extended battery.

... Thom

I almost positive that the battery drain at work is related to the radio on the phone. My building is almost shielded, so when im inside i get a 1/2 bar of signal. Im sure the phones ramps up the power to the antenna to try to connect to a voice tower (going in an out of service). this has happened with all my smart phones and even non-smart phones to some extent.
Performance mode seems to keep trying while max battery will just turn the antenna off until i bring my phone out of standby. which will triple my batt life

Anyway, it should not be doing this regardless of what mode im in once im outside.



I dont have any of those apps you mentioned and im certainly not new to the smart phone world

 

[Thom]

I had a bit of a problem a number of weeks ago with my normally trusty Bionic. I called tech support, because battery and SIM card pulls wouldn't give me back 4G. The gal had me do something I never thought of, and it ALWAYS WORKS!!! Got to Battery & Data Manager>Data Delivery>uncheck Data Enabled. She said that severs the connection at the Verizon network, so that when you recheck it moments later, the network will immediately connect up with the phone. This technique has never failed me and I've not noticed anyone else ever mention it!!

You can toggle the data connection this way. It takes five clicks to do the toggle. It leaves voice on while you are toggling.

You can toggle the data connection with the Airplane mode icon. It takes two clicks to do the toggle. It turns off voice while you are toggling. Since you are toggling data and voice with this one it is a little slower than the other.

... Thom

 

[Deleted User]

You can toggle the data connection this way. It takes five clicks to do the toggle. It leaves voice on while you are toggling.

You can toggle the data connection with the Airplane mode icon. It takes two clicks to do the toggle. It turns off voice while you are toggling. Since you are toggling data and voice with this one it is a little slower than the other.

... Thom

Just went on break at work, went out side, no data aga. I tried dave1812 suggested and immediately got 3g again. I still think something is wrong as I should never have to do this, but it worked.
I am baffled why airplane mode does not work however. You would think it does the same thing, but I have certainly tried toggling airplane mode dozens of times with no luck

 

[Thom]

I tried running Social Location for an hour for you. It made my Bionic warm but not hot.

When your Bionic is hot and the battery is almost dead ... what does it tell you? (Mine is below.)

Did you try it in 3G-only mode?

Settings | Wireless & networks | Mobile networks | Network mode
Set CDMA only

... Thom

 

[sgschwend]

I apologize if someone already made this point.
From what I can see living and working in a reception area that the connection quality varies from OK to poor. The Bionic appears to not accurately show the received power correctly or there is poor agreement in the main display of power received and the status of power received found in the phone settings area.

Or you may have data roaming turned off and you are seeing power from another service provider.

I just had a 24 hour cycle here that the phone showed good power but would not lock to the tower or stay locked for more than a few seconds. Today the received power is the same, but the phone is rock.

Another possible issue is called multipath. Where the radio signal bounces between large reflective surfaces and the phone's receiver can't lock to only one of the signals.

 

[doogald]

Just went on break at work, went out side, no data aga. I tried dave1812 suggested and immediately got 3g again. I still think something is wrong as I should never have to do this, but it worked.
I am baffled why airplane mode does not work however. You would think it does the same thing, but I have certainly tried toggling airplane mode dozens of times with no luck

What may be worth a try (rather than going through all of the settings for data enable) is to try the Data Enabler Widget. Put it on a home screen and see if a quick toggle of data off and then on also reconnects you. Of course, you could disable data while you are in your building and toggle it back on when you go back outside - that will definitely save battery.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sMSwxLDEsImNvbS5mYXJwcm9jLmRhdGEuZW5hYmxlciJd

 

[Thom]

I'm wondering if it is the old 3G/4G problem where it is sitting there constantly trying to switch between the two.

Perhaps setting CDMA only would stop that behavior? Hot battery is the red flag. (Perhaps his only option is to turn data off when he is inside.}

... Thom

 

[Deleted User]

I did get the data widget and confirmed it does turn off the data the same a if you went through all those menus.

Although this has occasionaly happened else where, were it happens most is in a 3g area only

 

[Thom]

I did get the data widget and confirmed it does turn off the data the same a if you went through all those menus.

Although this has occasionaly happened else where, were it happens most is in a 3g area only

The question ... is your Bionic set for 3G-only (CDMA only) so it won't cause this extra switching to happen?

To be clear ... this is a GUESS on my part.

... Thom

 

[Deleted User]

The question ... is your Bionic set for 3G-only (CDMA only) so it won't cause this extra switching to happen?

To be clear ... this is a GUESS on my part.

... Thom

Negative, I have it in the cdma/lte or whatever let's you have 4g. I will see I'd it does it in cdma only.