Terrible signal

[Mysteria]

My signal is constantly switching from 3G to 1x despite the fact that I'm at home and not moving.  I was in the same place last night and my signal only switched once.  The only thing I can think of is that I'm downloading an audiobook.  I don't see how that would affect the signal strength, though.  I've pressed *228 twice and that didn't help.  My browsing experience is soo slow even on 3G.

Also, I had to log into the forum on my PC because I couldn't do more than fill in the subject line for this post on my Droid..  Everything I typed was going in the message tags box to the right. ???  I'm stumped.  Any ideas?  Thanks in advance.

[carrots]

I have been getting a similar kind of problem.  While my 3G signal is fine all the time, the moment I get on a voice call the signal drops to almost nothing and the people on the other end of the line sometimes have difficulty understanding me.

I have a trouble ticket out as I'd rather not do yet another exchange but it really looks as though there's a problem either with the phone's firmware or else the way the phone is configured for voice calling in certain Verizon markets.  Where I am the phone usually goes on 1900MHz for both data and voice.  When I've traveled in markets in which Verizon only uses the 800MHz band for calls and data, I've had much less of a problem although it's still not quite up to snuff.  

[Mysteria]

I sure hope I don't have to take the phone back.  It's the only one I like and Verizon has always been reliable for me on dumb phones.  This is my second Droid.  I had problems with people not being able to hear me on calls and I was being knocked off the Internet.  I thought I might be in a bad spot and took it back.  Two representatives at my local store told me that there was some work being done on the towers and lots of customers were having the same problems.  I thought it was odd that my family members weren't having any trouble with their phones.        

I switched to AT&T for the iPhone, but 3G isn't available here.  The coverage area is very spotty.  I'm usually on the Edge network which is slower than molasses in winter.    I got this Droid because several Droid users were posting that their phones weren't causing any problems.  Someone said I probably got a defective phone the first time around.

At any rate, I hope the update fixes the problem.

[AFguy]

I have had this problem ever since I moved to my new address.  It is not my Droid that is the problem, because I have it with my Touch Pro 2 device as well.  I opened a trouble ticket with Verizon Wireless and was told that there is no problem in my area and that the problem I am experiencing is because of the signal loss inside my home.  I was then advised to purchase the Network Extender from Verizon Wireless which costs $249.   I hope you do not get the same results that I have received.  I was also told that the reason my device goes from 3G to 1x when on call, is because with CDMA you cannot be on 3G data while also on a voice call.  So therefore, when you make or receive calls, you are dropped from 3G, then when you end the call you connect back to 3G.  I dont understand all of that, its just what the Verizon Wireless technician explain.  Anybody else ever heard about this?  I also noticed that this is one of the things that Apple/AT&T are using in their latest commercial that the iphone can use both data and voice at the same time whereas Verizon devices cannot.  

[Mysteria]

I was looking at the Droid accessories and I saw the device you mentioned.  Wow!  It's more expensive than I thought.  I'm hoping I won't have to buy it for my home use.  I've never heard of the phone going from 3G to 1x while on a call.  So far, I've had success with my calls.  It's the web experience I'm most concerned about.  I don't know why, but I'm not able to get WiFi here either.  It's ridiculous to pay $30 per month for the data plan if I can't have quick access to web pages.

[snorkel]

It goes from 3g to 1x every single time you make a call or if you enable wifi.

If you are really close to the towers you may not notice it, but if you are 1.5 to 2 miles you will notice.

I would see 4 full bars 3g, make a call and it would drop to 2 and that was in the verizon store parking lot.  At my house I would have 3 to 4 bars, make a call and bam 0 to 1 bars and the call would take 20 seconds to connect and ring and the quality was terrible, all I had to do was listen to the voicemail recordings, bad very bad.

They have a seriouse issue with this in some areas, I suspect it has to to with the fact that they can only use 1900mzh in areas like SE Wisc.   Lower freq like 800mzh have better range and penetrate buildings better.

[Mysteria]

It seems to be getting better. I've only noticed my web pages loading slowly a few times. Maybe the update fixed my issue.

[Marsh511]

Same situation here.  Terrible signal at home (even in the driveway) from the day we moved here over 2 years ago.  On my Blackberry, I get a signal of *at best* -96 dbm...and typically 1-2 bars.  Even as I stand still, sometimes I get 0 bars, then 1 or 2 bars will appear for an instant.  As for 3G, about 2/3 of the time, I just see 1X ... and not 1XEV.  As soon as I take my Storm on a trip or even a mile away from home, the data signal improves to -80 dbm, I get 3-4 bars, and pretty steady 1XEV (3G).  It's ridiculous.  I've had several trouble tickets with Verizon, they've acknowledged a problem in our area, and one of their Tier 2 techs told me I should just get out of my contract and my situation is bad enough that VZW shouldn't charge me any ETF for either my wife or me.  So...I'm wondering why I'm hanging onto Verizon, especially when they just passed up a chance to get the new Android Google phone (whatever it will be called - Bravo, Passion, Dragon, nom du jour....).  Yeah...why am I hanging with Verizon, especially when their prices are also the highest???  Oh...the most frustrating people to talk to are the people at the local VZW store.  "Oh yes, there's a problem with reception in your area, but they're supposed to have a new tower going online next week."  This was 3 weeks ago...and no improvement whatsoever.  Talk about saying ANYTHING to try and appease a customer.  The Verizon techs on the phone had no record of a new tower being planned, much less being set up, anytime in the near future in my area.  The other supremely  annoying thing is to have my friends who have AT&T or Sprint be able to make calls from inside my home...while I can barely complete a call from my driveway!

Someone please smack me upside the head so I can wake up and try another carrier!!  And we've already paid Verizon at least $20K in the 12 years we've been with them!!!

[Anonymous]

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Mysteria wrote:

My signal is constantly switching from 3G to 1x despite the fact that I'm at home and not moving.  I was in the same place last night and my signal only switched once.  The only thing I can think of is that I'm downloading an audiobook.  I don't see how that would affect the signal strength, though.  I've pressed *228 twice and that didn't help.  My browsing experience is soo slow even on 3G.

Also, I had to log into the forum on my PC because I couldn't do more than fill in the subject line for this post on my Droid..  Everything I typed was going in the message tags box to the right. ???  I'm stumped.  Any ideas?  Thanks in advance.

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Well, the signal issue is well known for the Droid/Droid Eris people.  I am on my second Eris and both phones pre and post update are having the signal bounce all around and even reading 0dcb levels.  My home gets full signal and maybe rarely 3 out of 4 bars on any other device such as the W755 and Storm 2.  My Eris phone...maybe 1, maybe 2, but the vast majority of the time....0.  This is ridiculous.  Something is wrong and it seems that HTC/Moto/Google don't want ot fess up and its really beginning to annoy me.

So I completely understand your issue and want an explanation as well.

[Mysteria]

After I posted, I had the problem again.  I never had trouble with any other cell phone in at least 8 years.  I love the Droid so this is disappointing.  I've been reading on lots of forums, and people with other devices have been complaining about one thing or another.  Most of them have Android devices.  I was trying to download a ringtone from the Zedge app.  The signal went from 3G to 1x to nothing.  I decided to wait.  I picked the phone up at least 30 minutes later and it was still lagging.  I just closed the app.