Network fails often. Almost unusable

[dm33]

I'm having major trouble with my thunderbolt the last couple of months. I've had it since launch with few problems. It may have been since the OTA update.

- network often loses connection. Very often when I want or need to get data on the phone, there is a data connection problem. Usually it displays 4G LTE, and data going back and forth, but nothing is really being received. Then the 4G LTE goes away as if there's no data connectivity, then the 4G LTE comes back. It keeps going back and forth, the whole time while the app is waiting for whatever data that never arrives. Sometimes enabling airplane mode and disabling fixes it for a while. Other times I need to reboot the phone.

- the phone is also rebooting on its own every day or two. I've been using the phone less and am surprised that often when I pick it up, I can tell it has rebooted.

- I've had cases where the ringer volume gets turned down and I can't even turn it back up. At the home screen, trying to raise the volume was raising the media volume, not the ringer volume.

Any ideas appreciated. I'd be happy to root at this point, or reset the phone to factory settings and see if that clears something up. Otherwise I'll need to go back to my incredible because the thunderbolt is not working as a phone for me any more.

 

[mightyfacundo]

The network issues are affecting pretty much everyone with a 4G Verizon phone. Read through the various threads in this forum and commiserate with us

I also had the same problems as you after the most recent OTA, so I rooted my phone and flashed a ROM. Since then I've experienced less outages and the rebooting and volume issues have gone away. Check out trter's root tool if you decide to take the plunge.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

As much as I'm sure you don't want to hear it, I'd probably try a factory reset to see if that fixes the reboot issues.

Alternatively, you could root it and then be able to clear caches and/or install different ROMs without necessarily losing all of your data, but obviously that's a whole different road to go down.

 

[johnriii]

has ANYONE been able to get a straight answer from Verizon on this? I'm sure on Android Central there are dozens of this same thread. I'm rebooting about 3 times a week, among other really weird random occurences. just yesterday, my screen would not stay off. it would fade out, then POOF, i'm looking at the lockscreen. this happened continuously for about 15 minutes, until I did a battery and sim card pull. hasn't done it since. but yes, my phone is actually performing BETTER on 3G than 4G since the last OTA. not faster, but better.

 

[anon(394005)]

has ANYONE been able to get a straight answer from Verizon on this? I'm sure on Android Central there are dozens of this same thread. I'm rebooting about 3 times a week, among other really weird random occurences. just yesterday, my screen would not stay off. it would fade out, then POOF, i'm looking at the lockscreen. this happened continuously for about 15 minutes, until I did a battery and sim card pull. hasn't done it since. but yes, my phone is actually performing BETTER on 3G than 4G since the last OTA. not faster, but better.

Verizon won't provide a straight answer as to the intermittent network data drop issue. They either don't know exactly what the cause is or they do and don't want to admit it. Personally, I think it's an ongoing issue with their LTE authentication system. See this article for more info: This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection

Anyway, in some cases it is the phone itself or even the SIM card and those have to be ruled out by process of elimination. I'd venture a guess though that if your ONLY problem is the data drop issue, then it's not the phone, but the network and no amount of master resets or phone/SIM card replacements is going to help.

Finally, it sounds like you may have other issues with your phone as the frequency of random reboots and other random weirdness indicate, none of which the network issue should have anything to do with. (Myself, I haven't had a random reboot since last summer 2011 on the old Froyo based software that had that issue). So you may wish to try a master (factory) reset just to get back to a known clean state.

 

[natehoy]

If you are still on the old firmware it may be trying to upgrade and failing. I would go to settings software and see if you have an upgrade that's trying to apply. If it is and it's failing you can try pulling the battery and the Sim for 10 minutes. That should help reset the phone.

Actually, I would try a battery and SIM pull to start with. Simply pull the battery and the Sim card out of the phone for 10 to 30 minutes. Then plug it all back in and see if that helps. This forces the phone to reprovision on Verizon's network. It may also help the phone pull a new PRL (preferred roaming list) which assists the phone in choosing the correct tower to connect to.

After each OTA I have found this very helpful in getting my phone working properly again.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[ToddL]

I had a twitter conversation with VZWSupport about the data drop issue, it didn't really go anywhere. For me it's usually (but not always) when I open up FB, and sometimes Foursquare. Data cuts out, sometimes comes back 10-15 seconds later, sometimes I have to toggle data off and on to get it back. Very annoying that it's been happening to so many people for a few months now, yet no fix yet.

I've tried the SIM card pull, etc, no luck. I haven't tried reset yet, since I've read others say it didn't help (and I don't want to reset). Hopefully new firmware will come out soon to fix it.