Bad Reception?
mbphillips2
Newbie

I've had a DROID Bionic since Sept. 15th and recently I've had reason to suspect that my Bionic has reception issues. At work I mostly end up on 3G, getting 4G occasionally. I didn't think much of this at first, thinking that perhaps the 4G signal in the area wasn't that strong. I now think otherwise.

Since I got my Bionic, three other employees at my work all got Verizon 4G phones. Two of them have the Thunderbolt and one has the DROID Charge. From asking them and looking at their phones, they seem to have a 4G connection the majority of the time while my Bionic is stuck on 3G. They get consistent, steady 4G while my phone switches back and forth between 3G and 4G, mostly ending up on 3G.

This discovery prompted me to check Verizon's coverage map. According to it, my work is very, VERY clearly in a Verizon 4G LTE coverage area (not the LTE extended coverage, but full LTE coverage). That seems confirmed by the fact that the Thunderbolts and the Charge here are almost always on 4G. This has me worried that my poor little Bionic is having some issues.

Anyway, to cut the exposition here and get to the point, I was wondering if anyone else has noticed poor 4G reception on the Bionic. I'm curious to see if perhaps I just have a bad phone or if the Bionic, in general, is poor in the reception department. I have tried toggling airplane modes and rebooting the phone. That helps me get back on 4G momentarily, but I end up back on 3G shortly thereafter.

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
crangus
Newbie

I just sold my droid bionic today for that very reason.  I previously owned the Thunderbolt and the Charge, both of these phones had no trouble getting 4G reception at my workplace.   The Droid Bionic not only had trouble getting 4G, it also failed to get a voice signal.   I have been a Verizon customer for many years and I never had trouble receiving calls or data at work until I got the Bionic.  I am very disappointed with Motorola.  I really like the Droid X and the Droid X2 and both of these phones work perfectly at work for both voice and data.   The Droid Bionic  is a piece of crap.  I know this isn't unique to my phone because a co-worker's Bionic behaves the exact same way as mine  when he is in my office.  I am currently using a Droid X2 and have no issues with reception.

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
ajnevares1
Specialist - Level 1

Same problem here....Ive been in Santa Barbara, Buellton, LA and Phoenix (all 4G towns) since purchasing the Bionic and regardless of where I am, data drops off, or on 3G despite being in a 4G area.

 

I am currently working with Verizon to do an early upgrade on another line so I can go back to a 3G phone since having a 4G phone in a 4G area(s) doesnt work, and when I want to actually use the phone consistently, I just leave it on CDMA.

 

Wanted to share last nights call with Verizon tech support regarding this issue...customer service insisted I speak with tech support before going to another phone...spoke with a gentleman there, very nice guy but he may have shot himself in the foot by admitting the 4G is NOT completely implemented and it will be a while before 4G is going to perform the way its suppose to? Really? I asked why release 4G phones then? No response. I take responsibility for taking the risk in purchasing this device immediately after its initial release without any research, but have been misled into thinking the performance would improve, but only to see it dramatically drop. He offered to send me a replacement Bionic, I refused and insisted on the nearest equivilent in the form of a 3G device.

 

He did mention there was a significant update/enhancement done to the 4G data distribution a couple of days ago and, him personally, has experience much better performance on his 4G device (didnt say which one he had) which is probably more **bleep** to keep my hopes up haha.

 

Outside the data retrieval, I LOVE everything about this phone, the size, the speed, memory storage, display, battery life (by comparison to previous Android devices) call clarity, sound (outside the high pitching sound) but this data dilemma is just frustrating! Sure, keeping it on 3G keeps the data going, but whats the point of having a 4G device when you cannot use its 'blazing' LTE network? Yet, I remain hopefully there will be a fix in the immediate future.....

 

I miss my Incredible 2 :smileysad:

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
tfeeney
Newbie

My bionic loses 4G quite frequently. Sometimes it drops to 3G, but sometimes I lose data completely. It doesn't seem to matter where I'm at(some days at work it's fine, other days not) It does it pretty regularly while I'm using an app. It usually comes back, but it's very frustrating with how frequently it drops. Just tonight, my 4G dropped, and the 3G symbol went white and stayed that way for about an hour. So I had no network, couldn't use apps, etc. I was away from the phone for about 15 minutes right around the hour mark, and when I came back to it, it was frozen. I had to pull the battery and restart it. This is also a common occurrence. I can't even tell you how many times I've had to soft-reset this phone! I was recently at the Verizon store trying to find a solution to this problem, but all they did for me was "put a note on my account" that I lose 4G sometimes. Useless! I had a DROID X prior to this phone and NEVER had these kind of problems. Wish I'd never upgraded.

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
BONACHER
Newbie

I am in an area where I can only get 3G.  I still loose service.  I also own a Verizon 3G mobile broadband (Verizon Wireless Hotspot) that I use with my laptop.  When I lost service on my Droid, I set both these devices side by side and had no problem with the mobile broadband.

Another problem is that my Droid will turn itself back on after I've turned it off.

Does anyone from Verizon read these comments.

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
ChristinaB_VZW
Verizon Employee

Hi BONACHER,

 

I completely understand how losing your data connection can be upsetting. 

 

This issue has been lifted to Motorola by our Product Support Team, and an update will be coming from Motorola. In the meantime, here is a workaround for you. 

 

Menu

Settings

Battery and Data Manager

Data Delivery

 

Make sure that "Background Data" and "Data Enabled" are checked. 

 

Please try this and post back with your results. 

 

Thanks very much, 

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
jsingleton
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have tried all things found online to improve the reception of my Bioinc.  The service is TERRIBLE!!  for the last two hours I have had NO data service.  Tried removing battery,  even stood outside and restarted.  Barely has enough signal to send a text!  Will NOT send a picture text..  Not sure about everyone else out there with a Droid, but at what point does a class action law suit need to take place for breech of contract!  We are paying for a service that is not working!!  My family and I have been Verizon customers for a VERY longtime, but are on the verge of leaving....  This is very disapointing!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Bad Reception?
cinderbloke
Contributor - Level 1

jsingleton wrote:

I have tried all things found online to improve the reception of my Bioinc.  The service is TERRIBLE!!  for the last two hours I have had NO data service.  Tried removing battery,  even stood outside and restarted.  Barely has enough signal to send a text!  Will NOT send a picture text..  Not sure about everyone else out there with a Droid, but at what point does a class action law suit need to take place for breech of contract!  We are paying for a service that is not working!!  My family and I have been Verizon customers for a VERY longtime, but are on the verge of leaving....  This is very disapointing!!!!!!!!!!!


Just confirmed with VZW - they are experiencing another nationwide 4G network outage. My Bionic and Thunderbolt are both having some difficulty holding on to a 3G data connection at the moment as well. No ETR at this point.

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
Profwill48
Newbie

There is indeed a current nationwide 4g and 3g outage for 4glte units.

 

My reception for both 4 and 3 has worsened since the 5.5983 op sys upgrade.  Many times only one short white bar where had multiple blue ones for 4 and 3.  Worse yet has been battery usage.  Could go 6am till 11pm most days using email and some browsing - now a standard battery lasts about 1/2 the day.  This is getting unacceptable for a $300 smartphone and a 15-year Verizon vet.

0 Likes
Re: Bad Reception?
msmartin
Newbie

Horrible reception. Really a crap-shoot.

I usually get better reception when I "reboot" my Bionic. I am losing patience with this phone and am seriously considering replacing my not-so-smart phone with a flip phone, as was my original choice!

By the way, I just got the phone in September. Is it possible to return the phone and get some kind of replacement which gets consistent reception?

0 Likes