Verizon network question - Essential Phone Questions & Answers

I use MVNOs because I am on a tight budget. With MintSim and MetroPCS which use T-mobile I had a below average signal on this phone and with Boost which uses Sprint I had a dreadful signal. Currently I'm using a Verizon MVNO which has an excellent signal except for one issue. The signal will be great for a day then it will become poor. The signal strength will not return to previous strength unless I power the phone down for a minute and then turn it back on. Then the signal will be great for about a day again until it goes bad and I have to turn the phone off and on again.
I tried a factory reset which didn't help. Toggling airplane mode on and off doesn't help. Rebooting the phone instead of powering off doesn't help. Changing the preferred network type in settings doesn't help.
If I type *#*#4636#*#* and change the network from LTE/CDMD/UMTS (Auto PRL) to one where LTE is replaced by a different network and then switch back to LTE/CDMA/UMTS that restores the strong LTE signal but powering the phone on and off is faster.
I could change the APN settings with T-Mobile but with Verizon the APN settings are greyed out and there is no way to edit the current APN or add a new one.
Mobile Data Always Active is already enabled in developer options.
Does anybody know what I could do so the Verizon network strength doesn't eventually drop requiring shutting the phone off and turning it back on to refresh the network connection?
I have owned a lot of phones over the years but never one with signal issues like the PH-1. Essential support won't help because they escalated my ticket to RMA when I was still on T-Mobile. Since an RMA would provide me with a refurbished phone that somebody else probably returned due to the signal strength issues I would rather figure out how to get my current phone to work right with Verizon if that's possible.

When I went out I had no data despite the signal meter showing a strong signal. It turned out my phone had the wrong APN (Verizon instead of Trac Wireless) but unlike GSM carriers the APN settings are locked so TotalWireless (which is owned by Trac Phone) had to send my phone the correct APN. My data actually works now and so far the signal has been very strong but it's too early to say if the same signal problem I wrote about will pop up again since the APN was only corrected a few hours ago.
If nobody else has experienced a similar issue with the quality of the Verizon signal losing strength after the phone has been asleep for an extended period of time then maybe my phone is defective after all. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed that the signal still looks good when I wake up tomorrow.

Related

[Q] Could Fast Dormancy be causing the data drop while on calls (AT&T)

There's been a lot of talk on XDA recently about fast dormancy on the Galaxy series and yesterday on the LG Optimus G. Apparently AT&T loves using FD on their network and it's causing many users issues from battery to reconnect issues on data.
There are a couple of threads on here particularly detailing a scenario whereby AT&T users will start on a phone call with their data connection active. After a small period of time (usually around 1 minute), the data connection will drop and will not reconnect (forced onto 2G) until you end the phone call. Users are able to fix this by going into *#*#4636#*#* and selecting WCDMA only.
My question is could it be possible that our devices have FD on by default and after a period of data inactivity (phone call) the phone is using FD to drop down to the lower level of cell service?
If so, how can we fix this?
Sorry to necro this thread, but I just went through a week of new (new as in not the normal Qualcomm WIFI data drop issue) data connectivity issues, on AT&T, here in the Twin Cities. I would not have data after being idle, after leaving WIFI, or after what I assume is a tower switch -- for about 5-10 minutes, then I'd get data for a little bit, then as soon as I idled I'd be back in bollocks. After trying EVERYTHING including getting my account reprovisioned, a new SIM, every ROM/kernel/baseband, etc., I walked into a T-Mobile and picked up a prepaid SIM. Everything works great.
What I noticed is when data is idle on AT&T you get HSPA:10 while on TMobile you get UMTS:3. When active on either network you get HSPA+:15.
Since, for me, the issue has gotten worse of the last week, I've concluded that AT&T changed something having to do with fast dormancy and it really messes with the N4. I did see similar symptoms on my iPhone 4, but they weren't quite as debilitating as on the N4.
Anyway, this is my long-winded reply of saying I agree with your original assessment of the problem, although you're referring specifically to a different symptom than I am (to the drop while on a call vs drop after idle).
dispatch said:
What I noticed is when data is idle on AT&T you get HSPA:10 while on TMobile you get UMTS:3. When active on either network you get HSPA+:15.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not on AT&T, but have the exact same symptoms. After having searched for a while and tried whatever I could (different radios, disabling hspap in the build.prop, enabling LTE, etc.), I concur with the conclusion that certain providers' Fast Dormancy settings don't work with the N4.
So has anyone got a fix? Disabling FD or even disabling HSPAP?

Data Connectivity Dropping Cured

I just wanted to share my experience with some issues I had with my cell connectivity randomly dropping during the day and then randomly coming back. AT&T was no help what so ever and their only solution was to wipe my device (I'm rooted).
The Cause: Crappy LTE coverage in my area
I live between two towers that offer LTE coverage in my area, but not close enough to one or the other for them to connect. I solved the random drops by disabling LTE in the networks menu and then also going to *#*#INFO#*#* and using GSM only in that menu. I miss no more calls and everything works now. Apparently the phone was trying to get on LTE, succeeded in a handshake, and then didn't have enough signal to continue. It would then drop and try to reconnect several times before attempting to jump back on the GSM tower I can throw a rock and hit.
I can only hope AT&T gets their crap together and I hope this helps anyone with similar issues

OnePlus Two - HSPA+ and 3G Data Connection Problem

Hi Everyone,
I'm usually just a reader on XDA, but I have found a problem that appears not to have been solved and wondered if anyone had any insight.
Problem Summary
When in an area (or network) with only HSPA and UMTS (strong HSPA/UMTS signal, but with no LTE or 2G available), the phone will drop from H+ to 3G erratically, always dropping the data connection. Traditional phone calls are not affected.
Detailed Description
I have a OnePlus Two and have 2 SIM cards. My first SIM Card is with Bell Canada (Virgin), and the second SIM Card is with WIND Mobile Canada.
Neither Bell nor WIND operate a 2G network, so the lowest the service can fall to is UMTS/3G.
Initially, I didn't notice the problem because Bell also operates an LTE network, and there is no problem with dropping the data connections when on LTE.
When I switched to the WIND SIM card (which only operates HSPA and UMTS), I noticed a problem where the phone would initially connect to H+, begin downloading whatever is needed (say, streaming music), but then part way through the download, the connection would switch to 3G, and the data would effectively stop. Within a minute, the service would jump back to H+ and download some more, but this cycle would continue (H+ --> 3G --> H+ --> 3G... ), with no way of knowing 1) how long the H+ connection would last before dropping to 3G (usually less than 30 seconds), and 2) after dropping to 3G, how long before going back to H+. This problem makes the phone almost useless when there is no LTE.
The most obvious troubleshooting I did was move to locations of better signal but I quickly ruled that out, as nothing seems to remove this problem. Other things I tried was to: move locations in the city, reboot phone, hard reset phone, flash most updated version of Oxygen, unlock bootloader, root, try the HSPA Keepalive app, swap SIM1 to SIM2, and many other things.
I originally thought this was a network issue, but I put this WIND SIM in another phone and there was no problem in any way that resembled this problem.
I also ruled out this being a network-specific problem, as I have taken a trip with the Bell SIM to an area where Bell does not have any LTE coverage (only HSPA and UMTS) and the same problem occurs on Bell as with the WIND SIM.
I have found people who had this problem on the OnePlus One tend to recommend using 2G to stabilize the connection, but this is not possible on Bell or WIND. That solution also would not provide adequate data speeds.
Remember this problem only affects data connectivity, as 3G traditional phone calls have no problems.
Question
Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust the conditions when the OnePlus Two will choose to switch from H+ to 3G?
Does anyone have any easier suggestions?
Thank you all in advance, because this rendering this phone almost useless when there is no LTE coverage.
I believe your problem is that phone it's dualsim standby, that means only one modem that alternates signal for both sims, I think normal would be alternating from faster network to slower network on sim without data.
Having to change to g3 between sims theres something stoped in the modem and data connection is also stopped.
You have no problem with voice calls because other sim is automatically turned off and unreachable.
There's nothing you can do if you're forced to only 3g on both sims
By 3g I mean 3g or h+ which to my knowledge are the same
Hope I was helpful and not wrong or more confusing
Sent from my ONE A2005 using Tapatalk
fburgos said:
I believe your problem is that phone it's dualsim standby, that means only one modem that alternates signal for both sims, I think normal would be alternating from faster network to slower network on sim without data.
Having to change to g3 between sims theres something stoped in the modem and data connection is also stopped.
You have no problem with voice calls because other sim is automatically turned off and unreachable.
There's nothing you can do if you're forced to only 3g on both sims
By 3g I mean 3g or h+ which to my knowledge are the same
Hope I was helpful and not wrong or more confusing
Sent from my ONE A2005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will try disabling the second SIM to see if there is a bug with the dual-sim...
What it currently does with the second SIM is it either shows "R" for roaming or just emergency only, but perhaps there is a software issue so I'll see if disabling the second SIM makes a difference.
biomedeng said:
Thanks, I will try disabling the second SIM to see if there is a bug with the dual-sim...
What it currently does with the second SIM is it either shows "R" for roaming or just emergency only, but perhaps there is a software issue so I'll see if disabling the second SIM makes a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though strange, this workaround fixes the issue. Thank you to fburgos for the suggestion!
So just in case anyone ever finds this issue creeps up on them, the solution is to DISABLE the SIM you are not using. It's not the most convenient workaround to swap SIMs, but the other SIM will be in Emergency Mode, so it really makes no functional difference.
On the technical side, it does appear that there is actually a bug in Android for a very uncommon network configuration. It will only appear in this exact configuration:
SIM1: Network has HSPA/3G only, no LTE or 2G to move to
SIM2: Network also only has HSPA/3G with no LTE or 2G
The non-data SIM does NOT connect to a roaming network (connects with "Emergency Only") - if it connects to a roaming 2G network, this problem does not happen.
The data SIM connects to HSPA/3G
Both SIMs are active
I'm not sure if this will happen anywhere else in the world other than having a WIND Mobile Canada SIM and Bell or TELUS Canada SIM
If anyone has insight on how to report this to Google, or someone else who can confirm my theory, that would be great!
Try this:
1. You need to make sure you have the correct LTE APN selected in mobile networks and LTE as preferred type.
2. Go to dialer and type in this: *#*#4636#*#*
3. Phone Information
4. Set Preferred Network Type to: LTE/GSM (PRL) - you an play with which one you wanna use but the one I said works for sure. on other roms I have" TD-SCDMA, GSM/WCDMA and LTE"
5. Now click TURN OFF RADIO and wait WAIT few secs. will that button turns to Turn Radio ON
6. Now TURN ON RADIO and wait
7. when u see the triangle for the signal is back, at least black , go down and lick SMSC REFRESH then UPDATE.
8. now just go back to APN settings and go into your LTE APN
9. Change Bearer to LTE
biomedeng said:
Hi Everyone,
I'm usually just a reader on XDA, but I have found a problem that appears not to have been solved and wondered if anyone had any insight.
Problem Summary
When in an area (or network) with only HSPA and UMTS (strong HSPA/UMTS signal, but with no LTE or 2G available), the phone will drop from H+ to 3G erratically, always dropping the data connection. Traditional phone calls are not affected.
Detailed Description
I have a OnePlus Two and have 2 SIM cards. My first SIM Card is with Bell Canada (Virgin), and the second SIM Card is with WIND Mobile Canada.
Neither Bell nor WIND operate a 2G network, so the lowest the service can fall to is UMTS/3G.
Initially, I didn't notice the problem because Bell also operates an LTE network, and there is no problem with dropping the data connections when on LTE.
When I switched to the WIND SIM card (which only operates HSPA and UMTS), I noticed a problem where the phone would initially connect to H+, begin downloading whatever is needed (say, streaming music), but then part way through the download, the connection would switch to 3G, and the data would effectively stop. Within a minute, the service would jump back to H+ and download some more, but this cycle would continue (H+ --> 3G --> H+ --> 3G... ), with no way of knowing 1) how long the H+ connection would last before dropping to 3G (usually less than 30 seconds), and 2) after dropping to 3G, how long before going back to H+. This problem makes the phone almost useless when there is no LTE.
The most obvious troubleshooting I did was move to locations of better signal but I quickly ruled that out, as nothing seems to remove this problem. Other things I tried was to: move locations in the city, reboot phone, hard reset phone, flash most updated version of Oxygen, unlock bootloader, root, try the HSPA Keepalive app, swap SIM1 to SIM2, and many other things.
I originally thought this was a network issue, but I put this WIND SIM in another phone and there was no problem in any way that resembled this problem.
I also ruled out this being a network-specific problem, as I have taken a trip with the Bell SIM to an area where Bell does not have any LTE coverage (only HSPA and UMTS) and the same problem occurs on Bell as with the WIND SIM.
I have found people who had this problem on the OnePlus One tend to recommend using 2G to stabilize the connection, but this is not possible on Bell or WIND. That solution also would not provide adequate data speeds.
Remember this problem only affects data connectivity, as 3G traditional phone calls have no problems.
Question
Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust the conditions when the OnePlus Two will choose to switch from H+ to 3G?
Does anyone have any easier suggestions?
Thank you all in advance, because this rendering this phone almost useless when there is no LTE coverage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem. Do you already have solved it?
I use only one SIM card so it is not a problem two cards.
really you do not have this problem? if no one knows the solution?
compared with my htc butterfly 2 and another low-end android, one plus 2 running latest Oxygen OS has serious connectivity issues. I compared the signals strength using same sim card in same location (including being connected to the same tower) and One Plus 2 keeps dropping the connection and has really poor signal strength. I have tried the *#*#4636#*#* and tried different network modes, but none of them are helping. Its a real disappointment that the basic feature of this phone is screwed up.
I have tried with CM13 as well. Any ideas if this is a modem version issue?
odeccacccp said:
Try this:
1. You need to make sure you have the correct LTE APN selected in mobile networks and LTE as preferred type.
2. Go to dialer and type in this: *#*#4636#*#*
3. Phone Information
4. Set Preferred Network Type to: LTE/GSM (PRL) - you an play with which one you wanna use but the one I said works for sure. on other roms I have" TD-SCDMA, GSM/WCDMA and LTE"
5. Now click TURN OFF RADIO and wait WAIT few secs. will that button turns to Turn Radio ON
6. Now TURN ON RADIO and wait
7. when u see the triangle for the signal is back, at least black , go down and lick SMSC REFRESH then UPDATE.
8. now just go back to APN settings and go into your LTE APN
9. Change Bearer to LTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did It.. But it seems like it didn't solve my problem..

Can't Get International Data (On VZW)

Took my first international trip since getting the 6P. I called to add international services. In the Bahamas, I can get voice, but no data.
I spent a hour hour on the phone with VZW, but they were unable to assist. Took the SIM out, rebooted, checked a dozen settings - nothing.
This is the first negative experience I've had with the phone.
Anyone else have experience with this, or have any thoughts/ideas?
I have had a similar problem anytime I am away from my home network. Two observations from me: (1) the phone does not give any indication on whether it's connected to a data network or not when roaming (all you see is the "R" symbol in the signal strength meter whether you have data or not) and (2) most of the time it doesn't connect automatically- if you toggle data roaming or airplane mode, it connects to data, but this disappears when handing off to the next tower.
This is clearly a bug- if I move my SIM from the 6P to my iPhone 6, i get continuous roaming data, so it's nothing to do with the provider. I wish there was a fix as it's a pain in the b**t.
Not very helpful I know, but you're not alone with this issue

Signal loss

Hi everyone,
I already looked for an answer in the forum but nothing conclusive.
My moto g4 play loses signal during calls. The sim card is 3G and so I changed the network manually to 3g on the phone. However the problem continues and I think it even got worse. It happens especially when I'm moving, in the car, etc.
Is there any real solution for this problem? I have seen many users complaining but I did not realize if there was a solution or not.
Can you help me?
Thank you
Since the SIM is 3G, I'm going to assume the network you're using is GSM (ATT/Tmo). It is possible that the cell towers in your area operate on a specific type of GSM frequency, and your signal loss is due to the phone trying to connect to towers not supported by your carrier. If a call drops again, check the Roaming status of your phone in Settings and see what turns up.
Also, it seems odd that you would have to change the network settings at all. Even if the phone is set to prioritize LTE, it should automatically detect the 3G signal and adjust accordingly.

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