Bought the unlocked Verizon model, do I need cell service to do software update?

[Chris Benson1]

I bought the recent Woot deal for a Galaxy Note 12.2 unlocked Verizon 4G LTE model. I have Verizon cell service but would prefer to just use this on wifi to replace my Ipad 2 that was wifi-only. I love the device so far except for two issues, and I'm wondering if they are related.

The device is on Android 4.4.2, which it appears is an outdated version. When I try to do "software update", it tells me that is temporarily unavailable, but it has been telling me that since I bought it 3 weeks ago. I also constantly have a notification that says "activation incomplete your tablet will try again when you restart". I've restarted a lot and even did a factory reset and these issues are the same.

Additionally, the battery life has been abysmal. I've gone through all the guides and turned off all the non-essential services and notifications and downloaded battery doctor to track my usage. As an example of the poor battery - I fully charged it as of noon yesterday. I closed all running programs and put it in sleep mode. When I woke it up this morning it was down to 42% battery! It shows that "android system" used 72% of the battery in the past 24 hours. I don't understand how this could be when I didn't touch it and have most all notifications turned off, plus location, bluetooth, etc.

In trying to fix the battery life I started to think maybe the two are connected. Perhaps if I can update the software it will fix the battery drain issues. I went to my Verizon account and thought maybe I could just activate service to get an update but to do that I need to spend $40 to activate plus add a $10 per month fee to my account. Is that necessary if I plan to only use in wifi mode? Did I screw up buying a LTE version instead of wifi-only? If I need to add the data to fix things I will. Unfortunately I didn't realize you can't return items bought on Woot so I'm stuck with this thing and would really like it to work.

These might be dumb questions and I apologize if so. I've read through countless articles and forum discussions and can't seem to find the answers I need. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[goin_nil]

Battery life on my Wi-Fi only Note Pro is exceptional. I can easily go 2 days with very heavy usage.

If it's just sitting idle on standby (turned on but not really being used, Wi-Fi on or off doesn't matter) I've gone 5 or 6 days before when I didn't use it much at all (maybe an hour or two screen time total over 5 days).

I think I've read that the 4G version is not as good on battery life as the Wi-Fi only version. Try searching this forum for that.

But maybe others that have the 4G version can chime in with their actual battery stats and usage.

You might try putting it in airplane mode and then turning Wi-Fi on. See if that helps.

 

[goin_nil]

...
The device is on Android 4.4.2, which it appears is an outdated version. When I try to do "software update", it tells me that is temporarily unavailable, but it has been telling me that since I bought it 3 weeks ago. I also constantly have a notification that says "activation incomplete your tablet will try again when you restart". I've restarted a lot and even did a factory reset and these issues are the same.
...

Mine is still on Android 4.4.2. I've had it for one year now.

Given the issues people have had with Android 5 (reported in this forum), I'm holding off on any updates to Android.

Android 5 just came out for the Note Pro about a month ago. So it's not like you are running on something that is way out of date.

 

[beh]

From my experience with AT&T and Verizon you need a SIM card to get the upgrade. The message you get is a general error message meaning in this case that there is no SIM card installed. Your easiest way to upgrade is to go to a Samsung center in a Best Buy and have them flash the Verizon upgrade when it is available. The next best is to use an old Verizonn SIM card or one in your phone or other Verizon device if you have one. Or you could borrow a friends if they have a Verizon phone. You really only need it installed so the OTA computer knows you have the correct device for the software.

 

[Niteowl1970]

I bought the same tablet on a deal through groupon and I get the same error. I have to use the Samsung Kies software to update mine, and there was an update right after I bought it that helped my battery life. You can get Kies here (Looks like I can post a link because I just joined, just do a search for Samsung Kies download).