Can't Make or Receive Calls on Two Droid Mini Phones
winswnewwqxr
Enthusiast - Level 2

I live in a 4G LTE area. About a week ago, I stopped being able to make and receive calls from inside my houseon a Droid Mini. I live about a quarter mile from a cell site mounted on a light pole in a strip mall with a authorized Verizon Wireless dealer as one of the tenants. So, I walked to the strip mall along with a borrowed cell phone with service from another carrier. I was able to get a call completion rate of 80% between the two cellphones at the strip mall. Then, I went to other shopping areas about 5 miles from home. In some areas, I got good results. In others, I again could make or receive calls on the Verizon phone. I went through all of the troubleshooting steps here on the Support area of the website, including the factory reset. Nothing helped.

I wanted to buy another small smart phone the size of the Droid Mini, but Verizon has none at present. I lost two other phones because they worked their way out of my pockets. I also had trouble getting them out of my pockets in time. So, I decided to buy a used Droid Mini on ebay claiming to have been used for only a short period. I got it yesterday, and it looked in mint condition. Assembled about a month earlier in 2015 than my own phone. Got it swung over and activated on the Verizon, and still could not make or receive calls from my house. The representative transferred me to a tech, who checked everything he could, and said everything checked out fine. So, I walked back down the the strip mall, and started to get service again at about the same spot as I did on my own phone a week ago.

I am thinking of buying yet another used Droid Mini, but I wonder what the chances are of two phones with exactly the same problem. My landlord (also on Verizon) has not experienced any problems on his floor. Nor do I have any problems with the borrowed phone, potentially eliminating a interferrence or jamming issue.

Text and Internet seem to work sporardically from the house. I would send a batch of test text messages from the Droid Mini to the borrowed phone. Somewould go through right away, while others would stay stuck on "sending" for several minutes, arriving a long times after most messages were received on the borrowed phone.

Any other suggestions besides two bad Droid Minis?

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Re: Can't Make or Receive Calls on Two Droid Mini Phones
winswnewwqxr
Enthusiast - Level 2

Problem Solved. Long Story short, both phones were bad. I ordered a third phone off ebay again. That phone finally worked. It appears the transmitter in the first two phones is bad.

After trying to use the phone at various locations while noticing network signal levels, I found the calls always went through when I was receiving a strong signal. I eventually figured out the retail areas I was making these calls from had a small Verizon mini-cell site, including underground in the subway. I found  a spot in a public park outdoors where I could not make calls. So, I got a friend with a Verizon Wireless  phone to go with me and he could make calls but I could not.

So, I ordered a third phone off ebay and that one works. 

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Re: Can't Make or Receive Calls on Two Droid Mini Phones
winswnewwqxr
Enthusiast - Level 2

Five minute Edit limit got me. Typo fixes:

1. Change houseon to house on

2. Change could make to could not make

3. Change sporardically to sporadically

4. Change somewould to some would

6. Change times to time

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Re: Can't Make or Receive Calls on Two Droid Mini Phones
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

winswnewwqxr, we truly want to thank you for your time and effort with purchasing and troubleshooting your Droid Mini devices. Making sure you have the services you need at all times is vital. We would like the opportunity to take a closer look at the details of your concern. May we have your nearest intersection, City and zip code so we can accurately pinpoint your location? Can you please clarify if your service concern is only happening while you are indoors? How far do you have to travel from this location to receive a consistent connection? 

 

SylviaT_VZW

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Re: Can't Make or Receive Calls on Two Droid Mini Phones
winswnewwqxr
Enthusiast - Level 2

Problem Solved. Long Story short, both phones were bad. I ordered a third phone off ebay again. That phone finally worked. It appears the transmitter in the first two phones is bad.

After trying to use the phone at various locations while noticing network signal levels, I found the calls always went through when I was receiving a strong signal. I eventually figured out the retail areas I was making these calls from had a small Verizon mini-cell site, including underground in the subway. I found  a spot in a public park outdoors where I could not make calls. So, I got a friend with a Verizon Wireless  phone to go with me and he could make calls but I could not.

So, I ordered a third phone off ebay and that one works. 

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