Roaming / poor network connection

[scodoublet]

My Verizon Note 3 is suffering from roaming in areas that it should have a solid 4G connection.

I live and work in the city of Port Huron Michigan 48060 and when I'm at home I get a strong consistent 4G signal but when I'm at work I'm stuck roaming about 90% of the day.

I've had the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note 2 as well in these locations and never had this issue. I'm assuming this has to be some kind of hardware issue but I'm not sure.

When I called Verizon Customer Service they tried to tell me it was because I'm so close to Canada and offered to disable roaming on my account. This didn't work at all.

When I do pick up a Canadian tower I get at least 3 text messages warning me about international charges. This daily roaming issue I'm having does not appear to be connecting to Canadian towers though because I'm not getting that warning message. It just simply has the roaming icon on the task bar and won't connect to any data services (I have data roaming disabled)

On top of that issue I went out of town to Pennsylvania for the first time with this phone. Usually I have service all up and down the Ohio turnpike. With this phone I was constantly without service. I'd say for roughly half of my road trip I didn't have a connection.

Just wondering if anyone else is having issues like this and if there are any fixes that have worked. I'm hoping either there's an easy fix or that I simply have a defective phone that a replacement will fix my problems. Any ideas or words of wisdom?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DINGSTER1]

Are you set to lte/cdma and not global?

Sent from my Note 3

 

[scodoublet]

Yeah I've tried it on both settings and it makes no difference. Roams either way. I'm also on the latest OTA update from Verizon.

 

[Eclipse2K]

Hey Scott, long time no talk. .

15287 is the latest 4G LTE PRL. Is that what you're running at the moment?

If it's current then ask Verizon to remove your line from the network and then activate it again. If this fails try and switch out the SIM Card. Based on what a SIM Card does though this most likely isn't the issue but I'd exhaust all options before getting a replacement.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[scodoublet]

My prl is 15256. How would I go about updating that? Shouldn't it be automatic?

 

[Eclipse2K]

My prl is 15256. How would I go about updating that? Shouldn't it be automatic?

It should be automatic but I've heard of glitches. I believe you update it by pulling your battery and removing the SIM Card for a couple minutes. If that doesn't work call Verizon and ask them if they can push the new PRL. You should call from a different line.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[scodoublet]

I'll see if any of that works. I really don't want to factory reset my phone or get a replacement unless I know it will work 100%. It's so much work getting everything back up and running again.

 

[Eclipse2K]

I'll see if any of that works. I really don't want to factory reset my phone or get a replacement unless I know it will work 100%. It's so much work getting everything back up and running again.

I wouldn't do a factory reset unless it's that or a replacement. Verizon should be able to update your PRL if you can't and this doesn't require any form of device factory reset.

I'll be heading to bed shortly so if I don't respond I'll check everything in the morning. Hopefully we can solve this without a replacement since that's no guarantee either.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[jam4775]

You can update your PRL manually by dialing *228 on your phone.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Eclipse2K]

That's not going to do a thing on an LTE phone. Don't dial *228.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[scodoublet]

I did know that the *228 thing doesn't work on LTE phones. They pushed me a new prl update but the version number went down instead of up lol! It's 13047 now. I'm going to test it out while I'm at work to see if anything changes. The tech tried telling me that removing and adding my line on the account won't do anything... But we'll see what happens. So far I'm getting a solid 4G connection.

 

[Eclipse2K]

I did know that the *228 thing doesn't work on LTE phones. They pushed me a new prl update but the version number went down instead of up lol! It's 13047 now. I'm going to test it out while I'm at work to see if anything changes. The tech tried telling me that removing and adding my line on the account won't do anything... But we'll see what happens. So far I'm getting a solid 4G connection.

Probably wouldn't help but I'm suggesting anything before a factory reset. Kind of odd that it we t down though. If this doesn't work call back and ask them what the latest PRL number is.



Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[scodoublet]

Scratch that... Back to roaming again... This is one of the most frustrating phones I've ever had!

 

[chevyman29]

I really think you should just do the factory reset. I tried the note 3 whenever it first came out and even after the first update I still wasn't happy with the signal so I returned it. But I purchased it again yesterday and loaded up the latest updates before I did anything else and it definitely has a better signal than before. Before I couldn't hardly make a call in my basement now I have Lte in the basement that's a rock steady 1 or 2 bars actually work. And voice calls are much better as well.

 

[scodoublet]

I suppose it would be worth a shot to do a factory reset. If it worked it would be worth having to set it up again. I'm thinking that I probably just have a defective phone. What I don't understand is how I can have great signal sitting at home yet at work I constantly roam. It's like my phone can't handle being connected to certain towers.

 

[Eclipse2K]

I suppose it would be worth a shot to do a factory reset. If it worked it would be worth having to set it up again. I'm thinking that I probably just have a defective phone. What I don't understand is how I can have great signal sitting at home yet at work I constantly roam. It's like my phone can't handle being connected to certain towers.

I called Verizon yesterday to find some things out and tech support seemed to think it may be your phone. I obviously didn't have your information so I just did as much as I could. My friend in T-Mobile had hers replaced for signal issues and she said that fixed it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[scodoublet]

I did a factory reset last night. I'll see if that fixed it when I go in to work later today. If not then I guess I need a replacement phone.

 

[hcane466]

Just to add a little something
My phone is up to date and my PRL is 15256 down in South Florida

Sent from my SM-N900V using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Eclipse2K]

Just to add a little something
My phone is up to date and my PRL is 15256 down in South Florida

Sent from my SM-N900V using AC Forums mobile app

That caught be off guard when Verizon told me they could differ. I always saw people compare PRL and most were the same. Lol

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (Verizon)

 

[a250gpreguy]

I'm up to date as of 12/26..My PRL is 15827...In NW Colorado

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk