Would an LTE-only phone work well on VZW?

[wifiengineer]

I have been waiting for a good non-Samsung, Android phone with a memory slot, and with the demise of Sony phones one your network, I think I will try the HTC A9, but there is no confirmation if it will indeed work on Verizon as HTC claims. What I am wondering is what would happen when I am out of LTE coverage, as that seems to happen frequently indoors. No calls? No emergency calls?

If the user experience is terrible, I might leave to another carrier, as I was already waiting a long time for the Z4v, and all the others I like have no memory expansion, which is the main reason I want to ditch the iPhone (A 64GB sdxc is $20!!). Thanks!

[Bigboss3rm]

I understand what you are saying I left IPhone to go with HTC m7 and m8. I am being told the same that with a software update it will work on their network but only the LTE . So in my area we depend on thee 2g and 3g side of Verizon which is CDMA. I love this phone but if I cant use it then its usleless. the only thing we can hope for is that Verizon releases a carrier specific HTC one A9. with the cdma radio. if they don't I will go back to iPhone but I don't want to.

[wifiengineer]

Apparently it's Verizon's plan to phase out CDMA support in favor of VoLTE, but I keep seeing my phone switch over to 3G indoors, and I am interpreting that as being SOL if I am LTE-only in that location. Is there anything that mitigates that situation, or would I be unreachable until I walk back out to my car?

[Weth]

There are several factors to consider here.

1) It needs to be more than an LTE phone. It must be an LTE phone that supports Verizon's specific frequency bands. For Verizon, the must have band is 13. Without that you will have a bad experience. The other band to look for is band 4. However, if you don't have band 13, forget it.

2) While Verizon is going to phase out CDMA, they have not yet, not have they even begun to phase out CDMA. It is not unusual for phones to drop back to 3G and 1x CDMA technologies. You would have more frequent loss of signal with band 13 LTE only phone

3) You may have a hard time getting voice service for an band 13 LTE only phone unless it is on Verizon's list as supporting voice of LTE (VoLTE). Since voice usually goes over CDMA, if you do not have a phone that supports VoLTE and is on the list that Verizon will turn on Advanced Calling for that line, you will not get voice.

4) It will not be a Verizon supported phone, so any problems you have, Verizon will not help and only tell you to get a Verizon capable phone.

Bottom line, unless you are prepared for pain, Verizon is not ready for an LTE only phone, if you could even get it to work. NOT ADVISED AT THIS TIME.

[vzw_customer_support]

Wifiengineer, you came to the right place and we certainly want to help you get the best signal possible on your device. I know how important it is to have reliable signal indoors. When did this issue start happening? Does this happen in every indoor location?

GersonG_VZW
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[Bigboss3rm]

The issue is the same every where not just one customer or one device Verizon wireless used cdma where the they don't have lte service. Its in most of my area here. My company has 7 phones 4 iphones I htc android and the rest are 3g compatible phones. the smartphones when they have full service (full signal) will drop calls going form 3g to 4glte.

It not a lack of signal at all it how Verizon doesn't do a good jpob of the handover  between the two signals. I have complained numorous time to my business repr. She even told me that the engineers didn't believe her because  she has the same issue with her own phone.

[wifiengineer]

It is not everywhere indoors, just some rooms at home and work. There's a reason there is a 3G fallback mechanism, right? I have no complaints with my iPhone service. I'm just looking forward to my next purchase, and I was hoping the HTC A9 would be a viable choice. Would it work well on Verizon?

[wifiengineer]

Good info, thanks. I see my iPhone 5 doesn't have Band 4. So, perhaps my LTE coverage would be better than what I'm used to.

[vzw_customer_support]

Wifiengineer, I appreciate you reaching back to us and we want to make sure that you have the right phone to get the best possible signal.  At this moment we are not able to activate the HTC A9 on our network, however that can change in the future. Is anyone else experiencing issues in those same locations? How many bars do you get outdoors? 

GersonG_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[Ann154]

It does appear the HTC One A9 has the proper LTE bands for Verizon Wireless. However it doesn't have the CDMA radios at all. For it to even work half way, the Advanced Calling feature would need to be enabled on the device. Advanced Calling might not be possible because it is an unlocked phone and might not have the correct software to enable that type of voice calls. If it works, the phone would only function in LTE network areas and would be a paperweight anywhere the LTE network doesn't reach since the phone doesn't have the CDMA network to fall back on.

http://m.androidcentral.com/htc-one-a9-specs