Reception Issues - Not Again!

[HollyDolly]

Today is my first day at work with my new Rezound (bought it on Saturday night). Reception was quite good at home/around where I live - which was usually the issue with Sprint.

Well, at work today, outdoors, in the middle of little obstruction and in the middle of the city (there are plenty of towers), my 4G is constantly on 3G...and, attempting to stream a short trailer on Youtube has the phone hicupping, and saying "network is not available now, try again later". And when I "try again later," the video is highly pixelated (which means slow speeds), and it keeps stopping to stream. Even connecting the phone to my work Wifi is still slow. Ummmm...

Also, I set up K-9 email last night, did the polling thing, and I'm rarely getting my emails pulled down unless I wake my phone from Idle mode, or hit "check mail". I'm assuming this is also due to poor reception?

One of the MAIN reasons I switched carriers/phones was because I was getting poor reception at work...and that's where I use my phone the MOST. So why is this happening again?

What to do?

 

[HollyDolly]

Sure enough...I just ran a speed test on work Wifi, and I'm only pulling 3.6DL/4.2UL. Then I turned off Wifi and running the speed test on 4G - first, it kept saying "network not available. Try again later". And then finally, it ran the test and got 2.45DL/0.56UL.

That is a HECK of a lot different than yesterday on 4G. Why the huge lag?!

 

[Paradocks]

What is your signal strength in Settings/About Phone/Network? Looking at your screen shot it appears you are getting just one bar, which is very poor. A low signal strength could be responsible for low data speeds.

Sent from my Rezound using Tapatalk

 

[kgirl808]

Have you spoken to your colleagues about this and see which carrier they have and whether or not they are experiencing the same problem as you are? Only reason I asked is because you said you switched carriers and is getting poor reception again @ work so it may just be the area that you are working in and not the carriers/phones itself. I had the same problem w/ my old job, the building wasn't great for any phone carrier-everyone had bad reception period.

 

[HollyDolly]

What is your signal strength in Settings/About Phone/Network? Looking at your screen shot it appears you are getting just one bar, which is very poor. A low signal strength could be responsible for low data speeds.

Sent from my Rezound using Tapatalk

It varies between -91 to -97 dBm.

And now, it switched to 3G and signal strength is at -92 dBm.

 

[HollyDolly]

Have you spoken to your colleagues about this and see which carrier they have and whether or not they are experiencing the same problem as you are? Only reason I asked is because you said you switched carriers and is getting poor reception again @ work so it may just be the area that you are working in and not the carriers/phones itself. I had the same problem w/ my old job, the building wasn't great for any phone carrier-everyone had bad reception period.

I have, and gotten mixed reviews. One colleague whose office is about 2 feet away from mine has an iPhone 4S on VZW and can stream Netflix, no problem. The others, it's a mixed bag.

 

[dpham00]

^second the idea to check with coworkers, esp. ones with verizon 4glte phones running 4G.

you can try to pull the sim for 5 minutes to see if that makes a difference. if not, you can do a factory data reset, do the one in the settings menu first, if that doesn't work, do one in hboot.

if that doesn't work, you can return the phone within 14 days and cancel the contract. you will be responsible for the activation fee and restocking fee if you were assessed one. the activation fee would be refunded if you returned within 3 days.

 

[dpham00]

I have, and gotten mixed reviews. One colleague whose office is about 2 feet away from mine has an iPhone 4S on VZW and can stream Netflix, no problem. The others, it's a mixed bag.

the 4S doesn't have 4G. if you are in a weak 4g area, you can try to force it into 3G mode and see how it goes.

menu>settings>wireless and networks>mobile networks>network mode.

Select "CDMA Only"

should you wish to switch it back to 4g/3g auto mode, select "LTE/CDMA"

 

[Paradocks]

It varies between -91 to -97 dBm.

And now, it switched to 3G and signal strength is at -92 dBm.

4G LTE is very finicky. I'm in downtown Pittsburgh with 5 full bars on the meter and -72 dBm, yet I am only pulling 5 megabits down and 5.8 up. The number of people accessing the network at the same time will also affect data speeds.

Sent from my Rezound using Tapatalk

 

[Egnix]

Well, at work today, outdoors, in the middle of little obstruction and in the middle of the city (there are plenty of towers), my 4G is constantly on 3G...and, attempting to stream a short trailer on Youtube has the phone hicupping, and saying "network is not available now, try again later". And when I "try again later," the video is highly pixelated (which means slow speeds), and it keeps stopping to stream. Even connecting the phone to my work Wifi is still slow. Ummmm...

Some people (myself included) have seen intermittent 4G outages over the last day.

Also, I set up K-9 email last night, did the polling thing, and I'm rarely getting my emails pulled down unless I wake my phone from Idle mode, or hit "check mail". I'm assuming this is also due to poor reception?

What Power Mode are you using? If it isn't "High Performance", your syncing could be turned off. I would recommend High Performance, so things aren't automagically turned off.
Make sure you "Background data" and "Auto-sync" settings under the phone's "Accounts & sync" are in agreement with K'9's "Background sync" settings.

 

[dpham00]

4G LTE is very finicky. I'm in downtown Pittsburgh with 5 full bars on the meter and -72 dBm, yet I am only pulling 5 megabits down and 5.8 up. The number of people accessing the network at the same time will also affect data speeds.

Sent from my Rezound using Tapatalk

The 72 dbm you are seeing is not lte signal.

 

[HollyDolly]

the 4S doesn't have 4G. if you are in a weak 4g area, you can try to force it into 3G mode and see how it goes.

menu>settings>wireless and networks>mobile networks>network mode.

Select "CDMA Only"

should you wish to switch it back to 4g/3g auto mode, select "LTE/CDMA"

It's switching on its own between 4g/3g.

 

[HollyDolly]

Some people (myself included) have seen intermittent 4G outages over the last day.

Have you called to confirm this with Verizon?

What Power Mode are you using? If it isn't "High Performance", your syncing could be turned off. I would recommend High Performance, so things aren't automagically turned off.
Make sure you "Background data" and "Auto-sync" settings under the phone's "Accounts & sync" are in agreement with K'9's "Background sync" settings.

I am starting to hate K-9; the set-up is so complicated. Where would I find High Performance? And the Background data vs K-9...how does one do that? This is too difficult for just an e-mail app. :-\ Would really appreciate some help.

Thanks!

 

[dpham00]

It's switching on its own between 4g/3g.

Right, but sometimes, if you are in a weak 4GLTE signal area, then it may be better to use 3G for a more solid connection. You can test it out and see how it goes.

 

[HollyDolly]

Right, but sometimes, if you are in a weak 4GLTE signal area, then it may be better to use 3G for a more solid connection. You can test it out and see how it goes.

Well, the phone finally slipped into 1x, then lost signal altogether. It's now not getting any network signals AT ALL.

I have now taken out the battery, the SIM, and am waiting a few before trying to see if that helps. Otherwise, wow...I'm no better off than when I was with Sprint. :'(

 

[dpham00]

Well, the phone finally slipped into 1x, then lost signal altogether. It's now not getting any network signals AT ALL.

I have now taken out the battery, the SIM, and am waiting a few before trying to see if that helps. Otherwise, wow...I'm no better off than when I was with Sprint. :'(

Make sure that the battery cover is on snug. The antenna are in the cover.

 

[HollyDolly]

Make sure that the battery cover is on snug. The antenna are in the cover.

I have. Now it says "No Service".

I've been on the phone with VZW for the past 20 minutes and they made me do the whole thing over again. Now they think it's my SIM card and should go into the store and get a new SIM card. I mentioned that the phone was fine yesterday and she says, it could still be the SIM card.

I dunno anymore...

 

[dpham00]

I have. Now it says "No Service".

I've been on the phone with VZW for the past 20 minutes and they made me do the whole thing over again. Now they think it's my SIM card and should go into the store and get a new SIM card. I mentioned that the phone was fine yesterday and she says, it could still be the SIM card.

I dunno anymore...

Make sure the sim is correctly seated. Other than that, it is possible that it is a bad sim, i would certainly try to get a new sim first.

 

[HollyDolly]

Make sure the sim is correctly seated. Other than that, it is possible that it is a bad sim, i would certainly try to get a new sim first.

It is correctly seated. Looks I'll be going in for a new SIM card. And if it's not that...then what? Swap the phone? Is that how it works?

Didn't think I'd have the same issue with VZW.

 

[dpham00]

It is correctly seated. Looks I'll be going in for a new SIM card. And if it's not that...then what? Swap the phone? Is that how it works?

Didn't think I'd have the same issue with VZW.

Sorry that you are having problems. It unfortunately happens to every carrier. I still think that overall, Verizon provides the best network coverage, but of course this is dependent on a variety of factors.