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Help Verizon's offer to fix my Bionic problems

stoney bones said:
unfortunately no matter what i choose the "capacity" issue remains. 3g or 4g. basically described it as a traffic jam on our local towers....
Click to expand...

If you absolutely must have a reliable data connection today the the answer is to go wit a 3G device. I have experience with a Droid X and it is a superb device.

The correction to this problem will be coming ... it isn't here yet ... my guess it 2-3 months should be your expectation for a business decision.

There are spots only a few miles from me that have lousy reception from Verizon and great reception from US Cellular. Save the call to Verison ... the only way you are going to know is to move to your new location and test it in the environment(s) where you operate most.

I think the Bionic is a great device and I am heavily on WiFi so the data drops do not affect me as much as others. I have customers who work out of trucks and rely on data for their day-to-day work. I tell them to stay on 3G for a while.

Must have data today - go with 3G
Can live with data drops today - take the $120

... Thom
 
i just get so offended by there options...i still lose money, even taking the discount. ive had months of problems and data issue aside i could still see problems for another YEAR....not to mention, the HOURS upon HOURS on the phone keeping me from work and a personal life just trying to sort this crap out.

thats why these contracts we have need to be analyzed. for all i know im entitled to rights by my contract that are being trampled on just because i dont know about them...and they like it that way.

contracts exist to protect both parties rights. i paid 100% costs for far less than 100% service as it has been advertised.

i have a friend that is a lawyer and im going to hire him to go over my contract. i advise anyone having serious device/network problems that go unresolved to really step back and look at your options (and your contract). dont just bend over and take it because they say you have to....
 
Highly annoyed by the fact I keep losing 3G when I was traveling for the holidays. I was using nav and 3G kept going out. So no nav. Im yet to recieve the OTA update. I would goto Verizon but i dont think its gonna do any good. Should I call them to atleast have my complaints on file? That way maybe they would let me upgrade early.
 
What OTA are you "yet to receive"? 5.5.893 or 5.9.901?

It is my understanding that the people who got 5.9.901 sent directly to them were people who had reported the data drop problem to Verizon/Motorola prior to the date it was slipped out the door.

So ... what is your objective?

... Thom
 
no update currently available weather it be leaked or official is a sure fire fix for the data drop issue.

.893 fixed it for some (mysteriously) and not for others..... .901 also..fixed for some (mysteriously) and not others....

they now claim ICS will fix it but thats not till around march if they stay on track with their current time frame.



file a complaint, for sure. they need to know the scope of the issue. people staying mute about their problems only add to a larger problem for everyone.
 
Well, it's good to see that I'm not the only person having these issues. My Bionic is my company phone. I have not had any issues using this as a phone, for calls. But my main reason for having it is tethering. It is a terrible phone for this purpose. I previously posted a thread with the issues I was having. After downloading PDAnet, it got better. I still get data drops and cannot maintain a good internet connection for a prolonged period of time. It's very annoying and unproductive. I need it for work purposes and it has not delivered what was promised. I see I am not alone in my sentiments. I thought of exchanging it for a different phone, but it seems everyone is having some sort of issue. It's a shame that a $300 phone has so many issues. I have never come close to anything like this with my personal phone, which is an Apple product. I hope they figure out a way to resolve this.
 
Please DBIOTB (don't blame it on the Bionic) ... there are "growing pains" on the transition from 3G to 3G/4G LTE on the tower side and the phone side.

The Bionic hit the most because it was there first. There are still problems on the tower side. See ... This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection ... for more information.

Yes your Apple whatever that is 3G is not going to be affected by the tower-side 3G/4G problems ... yet.

If you can not live with data drops for another 2-3 months I suggest that you get off 3G/4G for a while. (I have some customers ready to get new equipment who must have a reliable data connection for working out of their trucks and I recommend that they wait [2-3 months].)

... Thom
 
Thom Little said:
Please DBIOTB (don't blame it on the Bionic) ... there are "growing pains" on the transition from 3G to 3G/4G LTE on the tower side and the phone side.

The Bionic hit the most because it was there first. There are still problems on the tower side. See ... This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection ... for more information.

Yes your Apple whatever that is 3G is not going to be affected by the tower-side 3G/4G problems ... yet.

If you can not live with data drops for another 2-3 months I suggest that you get off 3G/4G for a while. (I have some customers ready to get new equipment who must have a reliable data connection for working out of their trucks and I recommend that they wait [2-3 months].)

... Thom
Click to expand...

I am going to have to respectfully disagree......Sort of.

I think the blame lies with the Bionic and the tower equipment.

My wife has a T-Bolt and does not lose data connections. At all. While my Bionic sitting less than inches away from it does lose data.

According to another poster in these forums, the T-Bolt has 2 radios (I may not be using the proper jargon) one for 3G and one for 4G. When 4G flakes the phones does a very nice and efficient job of going to 3G without a hitch. They claim the Bionic only has 1 radio or chip or whatever to handle this and when 4G goes, it all goes.

Granted, I don't know that info for a fact and maybe someone can clarify it for me, but if that is the case then I think some of the blame should absolutely fall on the Bionic as it is a design limitation/flaw.
 
The Thunderbolt has three radios. Two EVDO (hybrid SVDO) and one 4G. That is how it can do talk and data on 3G where others can't.

The Bionic has an EVDO chip but seems to only provide voice and no data. Voice calls are not ip based. They are still circuit switched. The Bionic has a 4G radio for data that uses EHPRD for 3G connections. There is no standard implementation for voice over 4G ip. This is why you can make calls on the Bionic even with no data.

Thom, you keep saying 2-3 months to fix these issues. Where are you obtaining that info. When LA Cellular/ATT switched to GSM from PCS it took years to get the problems worked out and they lost many customers. In fact ATT and Tmobile still haven't worked out GSM in the USA. GSM in EU works much better. The problem, generally, with GSM being that GSM can only connect to one tower at a time and often drops calls when switching towers. CDMA can connect to two towers so the handoff is smooth. LTE takes the best of both, hopefully.

Both ATT and VZW are deploying LTE in 700 MHZ band EU is deploying in 800MHZ and others. Another wasted opportunity for compatibility.
 
... respectfully sort of disagree?

The quote was "there are "growing pains" on the transition from 3G to 3G/4G LTE on the tower side and the phone side".

My recommendation to him was to not assume that another 3G/4G phone today will eliminate all data drops.

Here's the tower issue ...

-- There have been four national data outages ... some lasting for over a day ... not acceptable for a business that needs mobile data. Conclusion ... installing nation-wide tower side upgrades.

-- I am in a 3G-only area. I went through a period of about 10 days when the data was like a yo-yo. After the 10 days it never happened again. Conclusion ... working on tower upgrade.

Conclusion ... they are still getting the bugs out on the tower side.

... Thom
 
Thom Little said:
Thanks.

For him and all the crap he has been through ... if it was me I would change the charger and see if it made a difference.

There MUST be a reason.

Here's one ... how about some noise in his electrical service being delivered into his charger?

No ... defective charger seems more likely.

... Thom
Click to expand...
i've been using the same charger with my razr. so far no issues.

Feel free to buy my motorola bionic costco parts as i can't find anyone to sell them and u can test it all out!

johnlgalt said:
There is also the slight chance it's him - I cannot remember where, but I saw one user report that he was too conductive for his phone and kept frying it....
Click to expand...
how 'shocking' :p sorry bad play on words.
 
Thom Little said:
... respectfully sort of disagree?

The quote was "there are "growing pains" on the transition from 3G to 3G/4G LTE on the tower side and the phone side".

My recommendation to him was to not assume that another 3G/4G phone today will eliminate all data drops.

Here's the tower issue ...

-- There have been four national data outages ... some lasting for over a day ... not acceptable for a business that needs mobile data. Conclusion ... installing nation-wide tower side upgrades.

-- I am in a 3G-only area. I went through a period of about 10 days when the data was like a yo-yo. After the 10 days it never happened again. Conclusion ... working on tower upgrade.

Conclusion ... they are still getting the bugs out on the tower side.

... Thom
Click to expand...

I was disagreeing with your "DBIOTB" acronym. Nothing else. I think I can safely say that I can and will blame it on the Bionic, or better yet. Blame it on Motorola and VZW (BIOMAVZW). They both allowed a phone to be released that obviously wasn't ready to operate the way it should. I won't disagree that there may be an issue or issues with the network as well, but that is just pure speculation on our part. I have not seen any concrete evidence or admissions from VZW that their network is not ready for prime time.

I just don't see how people can blame a network or towers when there are other phones (4G) that work perfectly. Like the wife's T-Bolt.

There is also further evidence that the phone may be more to blame than the network. Why is it that some people that have the Bionic and live in 3/4G areas have absolutely no issues at all? Maybe the whole issue we are having is just piss poor quality control in a plant tucked off in a remote area in a country that pays their people a weekly wage that is less than I make in an hour.

I'm not trying to start a pissing contest or anything, and I appreciate the help and information that you provide on these forums. You've even helped me with issues I have had. Which is why I "Respectfully disagreed.....Sort of." Which should be interpreted that I didn't completely agree with everything you were saying. Specifically your DBIOTB.
 
The issues are the responsibility of Verizon Wireless.

There was a mammoth QC problem with the Bionic that resulted in Bionics being pulled off Radio Shack shelves. There seemed to have been another less publicized occurrence. Bionics had their manufacturing problems. I don't knwo what the failure rate is.

Bionics also had software problems when released ... less with 5.5.893 (December 12) and now apparently much less with 5.9.901. Some of those software problems were data drop related.


My recommendation to the person was to not assume that all dropped data issues would be resolved by going with a different device. It has published a number of places like ...
This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection. He should wait a few months or go with a 3G solution if no data drops was a requirement.

I have no direct experience with the Thunderbolt. I have read good and bad reports about the data drop problems with them.

For some of the data drops you could probably have two identical devices sitting side-by-side and one would fail and the other would not. As the article mentioned it is a failure in the hand shaking between the device and the tower.

... Thom
 
Sometimes the obvious is the answer. Years ago I had a canon video camera and the tape would often jamb. Many others on forums had the same issue. Canon claimed all sorts of things. Moisture, bad tapes, mistreatment etc. I finally bought a Sony and never had another issue. The canon was just a piece of junk.

Motorola and vzw can point fingers where ever they want. Simple fact is that this is their fault, not something we did. It's another "you're not holding it right. "
 
bryan.allen said:
after 3 replacements, the patch making my phone worse, about 15 calls in to tech support, they have finally given up on making my Bionic work properly.

They said they can offer me any other phone besides the Nexus as a replacement. Basically he said he would choose the Rezound or the Razr. I am extremely hesitant to take on another Motorola device. They waited 4 months to release a patch on this Bionic and it somehow made my device more glitchy.

I honestly feel like if I press hard enough I might could get them to send me a Nexus but to be completely honest, its not a super impressive device. The 4.0 didnt blow me away.

What do you guys think I should do? Ive done a little research into the Razr and it seems like a pretty nice device but I just am very hesisitant to accept this offer and basically be stuck with another Moto device for the life of my contract.

Any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...

after three bionics, i got the another phone. still trying to sell that thing. good luck with verizon. i had to complain to the FCC to get any action on it.
 
Thom Little said:
Please DBIOTB (don't blame it on the Bionic) ... there are "growing pains" on the transition from 3G to 3G/4G LTE on the tower side and the phone side.

The Bionic hit the most because it was there first. There are still problems on the tower side. See ... This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection ... for more information.

Yes your Apple whatever that is 3G is not going to be affected by the tower-side 3G/4G problems ... yet.

If you can not live with data drops for another 2-3 months I suggest that you get off 3G/4G for a while. (I have some customers ready to get new equipment who must have a reliable data connection for working out of their trucks and I recommend that they wait [2-3 months].)

... Thom
Click to expand...

Its not a 3g/4g/ tower issue.
I am roaming in a foreign country with 3g services only and my data drops are phenomenal. Bluetooth drops are frequent ( nothing to do with tower), phone reboots often( nothing to do with tower), disgusting roaming pop ups(nothing to do with tower as per verizon).
My device is junk that never should have been sold to me in the first place. Hmmmm...I wonder why it is being discontinued so soon after launch?????????
 
Britney said:
Its not a 3g/4g/ tower issue.
I am roaming in a foreign country with 3g services only and my data drops are phenomenal. Bluetooth drops are frequent ( nothing to do with tower), phone reboots often( nothing to do with tower), disgusting roaming pop ups(nothing to do with tower as per verizon).
The device is junk that never should have been sold to unsuspecting consumers in the first place. Hmmmm...I wonder why it is being discontinued so soon after launch?????????
Click to expand...

It was actually both and both were being addressed simultaneously.

From the reports I've been reading it looks like the tower issues are mostly taken care of now.

The reports on 5.9.901 are very good indicating that the the problems there are about to be mostly behind us.

I do recognize your frustration and I am not trying to minimize it. I don't think 4G was ready for the business world ... it was too unreliable ... and the Bionic was an early release into that environment.

The path for someone who requires reliability today would be 5.9.901 on the Bionic or revert to 3G.

The big problem is that Verizon was selling 4G as being reliable ... when it wasn't. (Visit a Verizon store today and read the posters ... and try not to laugh too hard.)

... Thom
 
Britney said:
Its not a 3g/4g/ tower issue.
I am roaming in a foreign country with 3g services only and my data drops are phenomenal. Bluetooth drops are frequent ( nothing to do with tower), phone reboots often( nothing to do with tower), disgusting roaming pop ups(nothing to do with tower as per verizon).
The device is junk that never should have been sold to unsuspecting consumers in the first place. Hmmmm...I wonder why it is being discontinued so soon after launch?????????
Click to expand...

You seem to be assuming that everyone else is also having/seeing the same issues as you are and that simply is not the case... Many of us ( if not most of us ) have had very few issues if any beyond the data drops.
 
I am not assuming anything. My phone is a piece of garbage that cost me $299.00. I have edited my post accordingly.
Who are the "most of us" you are assuming to represent?.
There are 11 users of Bionic in my company with similar or worst issues. They are real people.
 
No, I havent. I have enquired about it in another thread. Where do i get it and how is it installed?.
Thank you.
Thom Little said:
Me again ... in the 12 devices that are having the problems have you tried the leaked 5.9.901 in one of them to see if it helped and/or solved the problems?

... Thom
Click to expand...
 
Britney said:
No, I havent. I have enquired about it in another thread. Where do i get it and how is it installed?.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

I am on 5.5.893 with the original SIM card and have not installed the 5.9.901 leak. I am waiting for 5.9.902.

I went looking for the message on the5.9.901 leak and have not been able to find it. If you want to pursue it perhaps someone can point us at it.

... Thom
 
It's in here if you want to root.
xda-developers - View Single Post - [GUIDE][N00B] Step-By-Step Instructions for New Stock Bionic Owners

OR

Download
Blur_Version.5.5.893.XT875.Verizon.en.US.zip (the file is named 5.5.893 because it's what you are currently on)
And:
1. Hold both volume buttons and power button at start up.
2. When phone boots there will be letters on top of the Motorola splash screen,.. scroll down to android recovery.
3. Select with power button.
4. Once in recovery you will get the android with the triangle hold both volume buttons and you will enter stock recovery.
5. Scroll down to / install zip from sd/ card.

I haven't done either and take no responsibility for your actions. :-)
 
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