Verizon LTE Down... AGAIN!

[STC09]

So if I understand correctly, someone could travel from a 4g area to a 3g-only area, restart to get standard 3G service, then retain it when entering 4G coverage?

 

[mariongiant]

Verizon issued a statement explaining what happened.

Statement From Verizon Wireless on 4GLTE Network

I was on 4G in Columbus when the outage occurred. We were leaving to head back to Indiana where we're 3G only. I had no service for the 3-hour drive. When we got home, 3G was up on EVDO. I must have been one of those "proactively moved" by VZW.

I'm assuming that I'll go off EVDO when I switch the phone to LTE/CDMA.

 

[MrBigFeathers]

I have had 4g at my house since i got the phone. Now I only have 3g. Not sure what the deal is. And at work earlier I had 3g when a coworker who also has the nexus had 4g.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[sacerdos]

Hmm...I've had it all week, with no loss of 4G. I'm in the (Pitts)Burgh area.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk

 

[samkatz]

this memo is really a crock. If I were reading it as someone not affected, I would believe that all the customers would have maintained at the very least a 3g connection. That's not true. Did I read it wrong? Are they spinning this instead of being truthful?

 

[Droid800]

this memo is really a crock. If I were reading it as someone not affected, I would believe that all the customers would have maintained at the very least a 3g connection. That's not true. Did I read it wrong? Are they spinning this instead of being truthful?

No, you're just not really understanding the underlying technical issues. 4G devices must authenticate on the same system as 4G in order to get 3G. If that system goes down, so does a 4G device's 3G. That is what happened yesterday before Verizon started forcing LTE devices onto the older EVDO network by bypassing the EHRPD compatibility layer.

BUT, in cases where an outage may be prolonged (like yesterday), they cut out that middle layer (also labeled as EHRPD on your device) and connect users straight to EVDO. They did this. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen fast, because they have to force several million users onto a network layer that they don't normally use. Verizon even acknowledged that in this release:

For brief periods, such as on Wednesday (12/28), 4GLTE customers could not connect to the 3G Network as quickly as we would have liked.

What they're trying to make clear is that the 3G network was never actually affected, because it wasn't. Although users had issues being transitioned to the 3G network, which, frankly, should not be unexpected in an outage like this, the network was ALWAYS there and never went down.

 

[samkatz]

thanks for trying to clear up. When you write that" 4G devices must authenticate on the same system as 4G in order to get 3G. " does that mean no matter what I say my prefered network is (LTE or CDMA) I'm still authenticating w/ LTE w/my sim card? What happens if I'm in an area where there's no 4g at all?

 

[Droid800]

thanks for trying to clear up. When you write that" 4G devices must authenticate on the same system as 4G in order to get 3G. " does that mean no matter what I say my prefered network is (LTE or CDMA) I'm still authenticating w/ LTE w/my sim card? What happens if I'm in an area where there's no 4g at all?

Yes that's exactly it. The system that authenticates the SIM card, and therefore the device, on the network (regardless of if its 3G or 4G) is also tied into the 4G network's back end. So if 4G goes down, so does everything for LTE Devices. The ONLY way to get around this is for Verizon to do what it did yesterday, and completely bypass that system for 4G users.

 

[ambboy]

My wife and I (stratosphere and nexus) have had nothing but trouble for the last week in and around Portland, Oregon. Yesterday (28th) data connectivity was down during the day several times and today was intermittent. Friends with Razr's and iPhones on Verizon were not having problems while a coworker with a Nexus was having the same issues. I think Verizon and Samsung are having some major issue...whether it is Verizon towers or the sheer number of Samsung phones...I don't care. The performance (or lack thereof) seems to be getting worse...

Anyone else have similar casual observations?

 

[DaPoets]

Not sure what they did but I have more 4G bars now in Buffalo NY

 

[Ken7]

this memo is really a crock. If I were reading it as someone not affected, I would believe that all the customers would have maintained at the very least a 3g connection. That's not true. Did I read it wrong? Are they spinning this instead of being truthful?

Yeah, they said that '3G didn't connect as quickly as they would have liked". To me that does not imply the long outages that many of us experienced for a good portion of the day. Unless I missed it, I didn't even see an apology.

 

[samkatz]

Yes that's exactly it. The system that authenticates the SIM card, and therefore the device, on the network (regardless of if its 3G or 4G) is also tied into the 4G network's back end. So if 4G goes down, so does everything for LTE Devices. The ONLY way to get around this is for Verizon to do what it did yesterday, and completely bypass that system for 4G users.

sorry to be so dense,tx for the explanation. Another follow-up.....If I travel into an area out in the sticks with no 4g service whatsoever, what happens? This is a reality for me..

 

[majiklantrn]

So 3G and 4G have been stable so far. I've noticed that I get 3 bars of 4G now where I used to only get 1. So I don't know if they decided to do an upgrade or what. It is pretty F'd up that they won't apologize for the three LTE outages this month. I guess when you're top dawg, your (as my son would call it) poopie doesn't stink.

 

[FishPharm]

As of right now, I still don't have any 4G service on my phone from my home....I usually get 2 bars of 4g. I have to run a few errands today around the city and I'm going to see if I get any 4G signal. Are they saying everything is fixed now? If so and I still don't have 4G, I am going to return it for another Nexus.

 

[delco714]

What so you all mean by "bars". There's no bars for 3g/4g. You mean the call/text final with the five steps?

 

[akhi216]

What so you all mean by "bars". There's no bars for 3g/4g. You mean the call/text final with the five steps?

I don't know about everyone else but I get bars of 4G on my Jetpack 4G hotspot. I don't think that there's a way to see bars of 4G on a smartphone.

Sent from my Xperia Play using Tapatalk

 

[Droid800]

What so you all mean by "bars". There's no bars for 3g/4g. You mean the call/text final with the five steps?

That's wrong. The nexus shows it's signal in it bars, for both 3G and 4g.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[estebancam]

Sooooo..... is 4G down again again again? 12-31 andno 4G in my city or any neighboring one.

 

[delco714]

That's wrong. The nexus shows it's signal in it bars, for both 3G and 4g.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ah. Lucky you guys, that's very cool!

 

[nkd]

I hate when people say there are no bars of 4g and crap. Go to about phone then signal and see your bars fluctuate as the signal dbm go up and down. When u have done that come back and let us know.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk