Weird reception issue

[bluedragon1971]

My father has had issues with Droid Maxx dropping calls at his house. He can talk for about 10 minutes then the call gets a bunch a static then drops. It was also dropping calls it the same way at other locatons. He then calls back and go for a while and it happens again. Verizon replaced the phone, and it no longer drops calls at other locations, but it still does at his house, just not quite as much. He previously had a droid x, and it never had this problem. Mom has a LG flip phone that also works fine in this location. Does the droid maxx use LTE for voice? This is the only thing I can think off that is different? There are 3 cell sites varying from 9-11 miles from him.

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[DASHAUS]

Verizon doesn't do volte yet so it's not that. Is he walking around the house when this happens or its it while staying still?

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[bluedragon1971]

His is stitting in his chair. I forgot to mention he can move to other parts of the house and not drop calls. I guess he doesn't want to move furniture around just for one phone that drops calls when others don't. I told him that's what needed to be done, but he didn't want to that, since his old droid x worked fine there.

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[B. Diddy]

Just wondering, is he using a case? I've seen reports of people having problems with reception due to cases, but that's usually if the case is metal.

 

[bluedragon1971]

He has an otterbox defender. No metal in it that I know of.

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[Eclipse2K]

Is he connected to WiFi when this happens? I had this issue where my cellular radio would randomly shut down when on WiFi. No static though.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[bluedragon1971]

He may have it on, but it wouldn't be connected to anything. He is in a rural area.

I was able to talk to him tonight for 30 minutes without any problems. He told me it occurs at random times. Is it possible the MAXX radio isn't as good as the droid x?

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[Eclipse2K]

He may have it on, but it wouldn't be connected to anything. He is in a rural area.

I was able to talk to him tonight for 30 minutes without any problems. He told me it occurs at random times. Is it possible the MAXX radio isn't as good as the droid x?

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The Maxx radio is excellent. The WiFi issue I experienced only happened when connected to a network. I left it on constantly so that doesn't appear to be the issue.

Try a new SIM Card and check with Verizon that his PRL is up to date.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[brian7751]

phone scoop thinks the reception as of now is the best if the body being different doesnt change the reception compared to the droid ultra check out the links below

Reviews (Phone Scoop)

also look here Review: Motorola Droid Ultra for Verizon Wireless : Performance (Phone Scoop)

 

[bluedragon1971]

Verizon changed the sim card and it did help some. Dad figures he will just have to live with it(or move his chair a bit). Thanks for the suggestions.

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[vzwuser76]

Just curious, what is the house sided with? Is it wood, vinyl, cement board, or steel siding? We have steel siding on our house & it causes issues, around a 20dB drop in signal in some places. Comparing signal to your mother's flip phone won't tell you much since they always have better signal than any smartphone. But it is possible the Droid X had a better antenna setup or stronger radio in it. You could fire his X up and compare signal strengths (the one in the settings menu not the little icon in the status bar). The only way to truly test would be to have both phones on and when the Maxx drops the call check both devices for signal.

 

[bluedragon1971]

Using the droid x is not option, he traded it in for a small credit. The house has wood siding. I was out there today, and the signal was weak on my iPhone, so I suspect it is a signal problem. Even mom's phone dropped a call yesterday. The signal has always been weak, but still usable.

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[doogald]

Well, one idea (expensive) is to buy a Verizon network extender. Every once in a while they go on sale, but I have one and it's great.

 

[vzwuser76]

I ended up with 2 of the first gen NEs, the one that handles 3 calls and uses 1Rxtt for data, when they were on closeout. We needed two to cover everything (house & garage addition). But I've heard that in some cases if you make a stink about the lack of signal, they'll offer you one for free. But in some cases they simply offer to let you out of your contract for free. As with anything Verizon, it depends on who you get, luck of the draw.

 

[vzwuser76]

Using the droid x is not option, he traded it in for a small credit. The house has wood siding. I was out there today, and the signal was weak on my iPhone, so I suspect it is a signal problem. Even mom's phone dropped a call yesterday. The signal has always been weak, but still usable.

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You could search to see if anyone has tested signal between the Droid X and the Ultra/Maxx. But it does sound like there's an issue with intermittent signal problems. You could even be looking at things like weather and cloud cover affecting the signal. That's one of the few things I remember from wireless transmission class I took.

 

[bluedragon1971]

It looks like he is just going to have to live with it. It is driving him crazy because he hasn't had issues before getting his MAXX. A network extender is not an option either. DSL is not available, and there is a cable line 1/4 away, but they won't extend it. He has a MIFI that is 3G that works well, also with Verizon.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Btw, other carriers are not an option either, Verizon is the only one with the coverage he needs in areas he travels to.

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