4g LTE is a joke-period

[WillWho]

I have spoken to someone pretty high up in the food chain at VZW.  The "handoff" between 3G and 4G, and 4G to 3G is a known issue.  In fact, it is that very issue that delayed the rollout of 4G LTE by several weeks.  The issue has been partially fixed, but there are still some quirky issues.  Some of those issues are unique to a certain local.  The techies are out roving every single day trying to find the quirky conundrum areas.  So, what does that mean?  My contact basically told me that 85% of their 4G LTE market is problem free, but the other 15% is going to take some time to identify the anomaly and then figure out how to fix it.

Another consideration is how long it takes to roll out 4G LTE to the rest of the US. I am in lower Alabama and there is 4G LTE 45 miles from me in almost every direction. Major airports may get 4G LTE before the cities around the airport.  So, until 4G LTE is nationwide, expect glitches as you move from 3G to 4G and 4G to 3G.  The really cool thing is that when they are done, VZW’s 4G coverage is supposed to be available to over 98% of the US population. This is something that I look forward to having since there are some places that I travel to frequently that have zero coverage from any carrier.

I have read some articles that talk about how much faster the Internet is using 4G LTE. Faster than basic cable Internet with plans to reach GB speeds. It is rumored that it is so fast that VZW will offer wireless TV service that will rival cable and satellite TV.

Have you attempted a battery pull, and left the phone without the battery for a few minutes?  Sometimes that is enough to force the phone to switch modes - which as you have noticed - is not always seamless.  With as much travelling as you are doing, it may be easier on your internal stress-o-meter to add a basic phone line for $9.99 to your plan and keep that phone in your carry-on luggage. With tax, that should be less than $14 per month – just a bit higher than month’s supply of Xanax. 

By the way, amen on the "just connect" at the end of your last response. Sheesh, imagine that... a phone that actually makes phone calls.

[MichiganMike]

You are 100% correct. I am sick of Verizon over hyping their network when all it does is fail. They rake hundreds of millions of dollars out of this country for an unreliable and unsecure network. As far as i am concerned they are crooks. 4Glte is a joke. Not worth the investment in any product they offer it with. Michigan.

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rdoine wrote:
Again tonight after getting off a plane in my home town, I have been unable to make calls our send texts for close to two hours. I am ready to throw the samsung charge and vw lte in lake michigan. I never know when I get off a plane if I'm going to be able to conduct business or sit on my butt for an hour or more until the phone and system decide to work again. I cannot be the only user with this problem. I never had a problem on the 3g system with my droid.

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[MichiganMike]

I couldn't agree with you more. I am a pre-Verizon customer. They used to be a solid company but the are crumbling more and more each day. It is a pity that they are so far behind the rest of the world. 4G was nothing more than a gimmick. It barely works and the phones are garbage. If your reading this DO NOT UPGRADE to 4G. Waste of time and money.

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rdoine wrote:

You're probably right but these phones are supposed to switch to 3g when 4g isn't available.  The sad thing is that I got off two planes in two 4g areas.  I had at least 3 bars while in the airports and could not make or receive calls or texts.  That's bad.  After I got out of the airport and to my house, I had 4g and 5 bars but still could not make calls or text.  There is obviously a problem here and the sooner Verizon acknowledges the problem and gets it corrected the less griping there will be.  And, I plan to continue to gripe.  I've been with Verizon since before there was a Verizon and I'm one unhappy long-term customer at this point.  Thanks for you input.  I appreciate it.

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[Protege]

There is going to be that time where a new technology launches and it has a couple of qwerks.  Did anybody do anything to troubleshoot their own issues yet? 

On my thunderbolt, I toggle airplane mode or go to settings > wireless and network > mobile networks > network mode > and then switch to cdma, then back to LTE/CDMA.

It might be worth giving a shot, as it may help resolve some of the conflicts you are having.

Just trying to be helpful, and with all things new and fancy, eventually they get better. 

I'm sure as other carriers launch their networks, they will run into similar issues as well.  Can you blame big red for biting the bullet for the entire industry right now? (rhetorical, I'm sure the reponse is "yes.")

Just my 2 cents 😃

[rdoine]

Four days this week with minimal issues.  Best run I've had so far.

Thank you "WillWho" for the feedback from Verizon.  I found that information somewhat refreshing and helps me realize I'm not completely nuts.  Or, well, maybe I am.  But, not about the Verizon 4g issues.

[toughbook]

Geez of pete Michigan Mike! I hope you are not a VZW customer. If so you really are nuts. If you are not a VZW customer and you come on here just to spread the "Bad Word" you really gotta get a life.

WillWho, that was a very good post. I could not agree with your statements anymore.

[willzzz99]

They are having problems that are MOSTLY solved because they are doing 2 things:

1. CDMA and LTE are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES OFF TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY TREES. CDMA is CDG based (CDMA2000) and LTE is GSM based (GSMA), VZW is using bridging technology called eHRPD to bridge the EVDO rA and LTE technologies by overlaying their EVDO core with a GSM LTE EPC one.

2. LTE like all 4G technologies requires fiber+possible microwave (rural areas) back-haul. They need to get fiber to a cell site with-in 60 miles of a cell-site. You get the best performance on fiber and it's the easiest. Of course the urban areas are getting it first, faster cheaper ROI (return on investment) and also the fiber is already there from a fiber supplier (Cable, ILEC, IXC, Indy provider, etc, etc.).

3. It looks like VZW is FINALLY working out its bugs on the system. I'm glad for that!