Well, things seem to be a bit better, but I'm still having some issues. I'm still getting very inconsistent SpeedTest results, and they're typically nowhere near where they should be. I just got 6.97mbps down and 3.43 up, for instance. Granted, this is much faster than 3G, but I have only seen results in the 20's a few times, I typically see somewhere around 10 down.
The 3g/4g switching issue isn't happening much at all anymore, though when I was using JuiceDefender Free I noticed that several times when it would turn my data off with the screen, it wouldn't come back on when I unlocked it, and would have to reboot. This happened a few times in 3g or 4g, but I haven't noticed that being an issue when I just uninstall it and switch data on and off manually. So I'm keeping it off for now and the phone works great, I'm not sure the app did much else to save battery life other than switching data on and off, which I can just remember to do manually.
So I can't really say I'm having problems anymore, I'm just disappointed that I'm not seeing the bandwidth results I should. I don't notice much slower network performance, though its not always quite as zippy as it is at other times. I know Columbia, SC is a comparatively small market, so the coverage may not be the greatest, or it may be a backhaul issue. Wired connections in Columbia have always been rather slow, the data infrastructure may just be weak, because private individuals don't typically have that great of a connection. I have ATT Xtreme Broadband DSL at the house, and I typically see about 6mbps down and .3-.8 up, and I actually have one of the faster connections around... If VZW is using the same data infrastructure for their LTE backhaul, my results would make sense.
Is anyone else in the Columbia, SC market with an LTE device and getting similar results? As in, its perfectly fast, faster than my home connection at least, and data doesn't seem to lag, but the SpeedTest results show it being a lot lower than you'd expect?
Also, can anyone confirm that if my phone is working great otherwise, and 3g and 4g data work great as well, its just that 4g isn't nearly as fast most of the time as I'd expect, that its not a problem with my device? I don't see how a phone could work fine on data, but just be kinda slow. I'm wanting to confirm this because I really don't want to exchange my device unless that's a likely source of my problems. I also haven't started messing around with any custom ROM's or kernels yet for the same reason, as they make it that much more of a hassle to take it back, since you have to return it to stock first.