Help Dropped Calls?

[GouxRoux]

I have never had dropped calls on Verizon but now that I switched to the Droid both my wife and I have had a number of these.

Anyone else have any issues? Any suggestions?

 

[Barbara]

No dropped calls yet. (Knock on wood!)

 

[bonniep]

i am having the same problem with most of my calls. it does not seem to happen to calls whose duration is shorter than 5 minutes. the call either is dropped and the screen will say several numbers and/or # sign or the person i am speaking with can no longer hear me although i can hear them. i cannot figure this out! the screen is definitely blacked out during my call because when i remove it from my face, i see it light up.

 

[mshest]

i've had a few. it worries me cuz i haven't had many at all before. i'll get one every other day ... one time it actually said "call lost" a few other times i just saw that the call was no longer happening and its listed in the log as normal. yeah... it is a cell phone... you can't expect it to be perfect... just sad that i'm getting more of these than on my LG flip that i had before. im in the DC metro area.

 

[Barbara]

I had my first dropped call last night but it was to another cell phone and the person I called was out of town. I'm pretty sure it was his phone that dropped the call and not mine.

 

[bonniep]

i made a long call last night using the speaker phone and this is the first call i have made that was not dropped/ended early. i think my issue must have something to do with the touch screen sensor.

 

[mastergunner99]

Once a day I will lose a call. It is not a dropped call due to the network, as I don't hear the dropped call tone that Verizon provides. The call simply disappears, which leads me to believe it's the phone and not the network.

 

[vdroid]

I am having the exact same problem as bonniep. I am on a call and then all of a sudden they cannot hear me but I can hear them. It is very frustrating. I plan on calling Verizon to troubleshoot. It seems to be a problem with the phone because before the Droid I never had any dropped calls (Las Vegas area). I think the screen may be very sensitive. Don't know if there is a way to adjust the sensitivity on the screen.

 

[Pamela]

Yes I am having this problem too and I noticed it on two Droids so far. This happened to me within the first two minutes of the phone calls. The person can't hear me and I can hear them and then the call drops or they hang up! I have never had dropped calls with Verizon before. I'm very worried about this issue being the fact that using it as a phone is a major must I would say this has happened with 50% of my calls so far in a few days.

 

[vdroid]

Contacted my business rep today and she is looking into the problem. If they can't offer some sort of fix I will probably switch to a blackberry. The phone is an absolute must and I had the same problem on every one of my calls today! The other person can't hear me but I can hear them and then they hang up. I end up calling them back. Frustrating to say the least!

 

[cem95z]

i am having the same problem with most of my calls. it does not seem to happen to calls whose duration is shorter than 5 minutes. the call either is dropped and the screen will say several numbers and/or # sign or the person i am speaking with can no longer hear me although i can hear them. i cannot figure this out! the screen is definitely blacked out during my call because when i remove it from my face, i see it light up.

This happened to me... at various points in the conversation on BOTH my second and third Droids. I finally ended up returning and going back to my old phone. Sad... cause I really loved all the fun stuff my droid did right, but I guess if you can't keep calls, you can't keep the phone.

 

[gthrift]

It sounds like some of your phones' sensors aren't picking up your face and your face is pressing buttons on the screen, such as mute, end, numbers, etc. It could be a problem with you proximity sensor or you're not holding it close enough to your ear.

 

[photoeditor]

I'm getting horrible performance from the phone when in 1x mode. The 3G reception is very impressive -- four bars all the time. But in 1x mode it's a very different story. Dropping down to zero or one bar while on a call is typical, as is signal strength of -95 to -102dbm when the phone is idling. By contrast, my Motorola z6c runs -77 to -85dbm. And not surprisingly, when the Droid is trying to hold such a weak signal, it warms up quickly on a call.

It's a bit difficult to catch the phone in the act of doing it as the bars display only 3G (unless there's no 3G signal, in which case it displays the 1x). But the signal strength and the performance during calls tells the real story.

Are there decent 1x phones out there? Going by the floor samples in the local store, they're all better than either of the ones I've had, and one of them is spectacularly better. I do think the Droid is influenced more than it should be by the position of your hand when holding the phone, but there's more to this story than simply how you're holding the phone.

 

[Pamela]

I'm starting to think that the previous poster that mentioned the proximity sensor is correct. I was not only having dropped calls again but I was pushing in buttons with my face and the screen was blacked out while this was going on (I was able to check this after it happened 5 times already so I quickly took the phone to look at it after i heard it again). So it might be that is the issue which is causing people to press mute and they can hear the caller but they can't hear them and the person hangs up and they think it's a dropped call, or they are pressing the end key with their face as well. I did notice that I never had dropped calls while on speakerphone. Now if it is the proximity sensor that is the issue is this hardware related and we are all stuck with broken phones or can a software update fix this? Thank you!

 

[colnago]

Contacted my business rep today and she is looking into the problem. If they can't offer some sort of fix I will probably switch to a blackberry. The phone is an absolute must and I had the same problem on every one of my calls today! The other person can't hear me but I can hear them and then they hang up. I end up calling them back. Frustrating to say the least!

The Dec. 11th update is supposed to address the "Far End Echo" issue, per the Verizon Bulletin that's surfaced, whose cause(s) may explain the 1-way audio and dropped calls. The phone switching from 3G to 1x seems to be a common problem, of course one's location being a big factor, but given the reports of "other Verizon phones" having "more bars/signal strength", I think there is an inherent design or parts issue with the antennas.

Would it be possibile for you to check with your rep if the Dec or Jan update will address the 3G-to-1x changes? I'm in a fairly well covered area in the Baltimore/DC corridor, 2 blocks from a Verizon CO, and 2mi from the Verizon store. While sitting on my home office 2nd floor desk, my phone has about -75dBm to -85dBm, and will fluctuate from (4) bars of 3G to none, then to (3) bars of 1x, and then back again, all throughout the day. Data rates are anywhere fro 1.5Mb to 130kb, again all from the same spot. I'd really like to keep the phone but I feel they suffer from reception...this being shown in my 2nd Droid.

 

[photoeditor]

Hopefully you can also check with your rep the issue of this phone's generally weird behavior on voice calls. I mentioned above the signal issues I've been having on 1x, but there's an important detail missing -- the EC/IO signal ratio statistic. On my phone, the primary tower site "strongest active pilot" always delivers some horrible figure like 50 or so which would explain the -100db or worse reception I'm getting. The "strongest neighbor pilot" usually shows zero, the best possible figure, although occasionally flakes out to something hopeless like 145 or so for just a second or two. Those occasional flake-outs appear to be associated with 3G signal drops, while the strongest active pilot appears to usually be the voice channel.

This EC/IO issue appears to me to be at the heart of the problem with this phone. For some reason, it's unable to consistently tune in on the real signal.

 

[badandy0014]

I'm starting to think that the previous poster that mentioned the proximity sensor is correct. I was not only having dropped calls again but I was pushing in buttons with my face and the screen was blacked out while this was going on (I was able to check this after it happened 5 times already so I quickly took the phone to look at it after i heard it again). So it might be that is the issue which is causing people to press mute and they can hear the caller but they can't hear them and the person hangs up and they think it's a dropped call, or they are pressing the end key with their face as well. I did notice that I never had dropped calls while on speakerphone. Now if it is the proximity sensor that is the issue is this hardware related and we are all stuck with broken phones or can a software update fix this? Thank you!

This! I was driving around today wondering why the heck I'm getting such frequent dropped calls and then the proximity sensor popped into my head, so I rushed home and found this thread. This is my 2nd Droid because I *thought* my first one had antenna problems but now I'm thinking it's the proximity sensor.
I noticed right off the bat that my second phone's auto brightness responded much more rapidly than my first, so maybe the sensor notices the slightest movements while holding the phone on a call and my face is pressing end/mute as well? Wonder if there's some way to adjust the sensor's sensitivity perhaps?

 

[Pamela]

This! I was driving around today wondering why the heck I'm getting such frequent dropped calls and then the proximity sensor popped into my head, so I rushed home and found this thread. This is my 2nd Droid because I *thought* my first one had antenna problems but now I'm thinking it's the proximity sensor.
I noticed right off the bat that my second phone's auto brightness responded much more rapidly than my first, so maybe the sensor notices the slightest movements while holding the phone on a call and my face is pressing end/mute as well? Wonder if there's some way to adjust the sensor's sensitivity perhaps?

Update on this one for me. I've noticed that I don't have this problem as badly if my hair is tucked behind my ear so that the phones earpiece goes directly to my ear, no hair touching the phone. I'm thinking this phones prox sensor is not that sensitive actually, opposite of what i thought before if it can't register hair is covering the prox, i mean there is a head/ear behind the hair after all. i prefer the mytouch3g way, where you have to press a physical button for the screen to come back on while on a call, less problems that way but unfortunately we have touch buttons so we can't do that. As for the sensitivity settings though there is no way to fix that in settings as far as I know.
So, for anyone with hair that goes past your ears, if you are having this problem make sure there is none of your hair under the earpiece/prox sensor when you start your call and stay like that until the call is over, so far the last two calls i've made since i realized this have worked out alright.

 

[sho95]

Sorry to hear all you guys having this issue with drop calls. As for me I haven't had a drop call yet and I do use my phone a lot for business and as my primary line.

 

[yaabi]

Update on this one for me. I've noticed that I don't have this problem as badly if my hair is tucked behind my ear so that the phones earpiece goes directly to my ear, no hair touching the phone. I'm thinking this phones prox sensor is not that sensitive actually, opposite of what i thought before if it can't register hair is covering the prox, i mean there is a head/ear behind the hair after all. i prefer the mytouch3g way, where you have to press a physical button for the screen to come back on while on a call, less problems that way but unfortunately we have touch buttons so we can't do that. As for the sensitivity settings though there is no way to fix that in settings as far as I know.
So, for anyone with hair that goes past your ears, if you are having this problem make sure there is none of your hair under the earpiece/prox sensor when you start your call and stay like that until the call is over, so far the last two calls i've made since i realized this have worked out alright.

Pamela, you got it spot on. This is a very frustrating problem. Something that Verizon/moto need to fix if they don't want people thinking that calls are being dropped on the device.

It is the issue with the proximity sensor. My wife has been cribbing about this issue since she got the phone. At one point she had to re-dial 8 times to finish a conversation because she accidentally ended the call with her cheek while the phone was pressed against her ear. I just could not reproduce the issue, cause I don't have long hair.

But I noticed that when she was speaking, with the phone held up against her ear, the screen would occasionally come on and she would accidentally mute or end the call.

We got a replacement phone and see the issue on that as well. Does anyone know how to report this so that they fix this issue? Looks like there aren't many people with long hair in Motorola's QA department.

 

[dw0095]

I have dropped calls while connected to my car's bluetooth so proximity sensor was definately not an issue. My crappy razr out performed this droid in voice quality and reliability. To be honest, i use the droid for so much more to worry about the calling...sad but true. Interested in a fix though

 

[kabz]

Pamela, you got it spot on. This is a very frustrating problem. Something that Verizon/moto need to fix if they don't want people thinking that calls are being dropped on the device.

It is the issue with the proximity sensor. My wife has been cribbing about this issue since she got the phone. At one point she had to re-dial 8 times to finish a conversation because she accidentally ended the call with her cheek while the phone was pressed against her ear. I just could not reproduce the issue, cause I don't have long hair.

But I noticed that when she was speaking, with the phone held up against her ear, the screen would occasionally come on and she would accidentally mute or end the call.

We got a replacement phone and see the issue on that as well. Does anyone know how to report this so that they fix this issue? Looks like there aren't many people with long hair in Motorola's QA department.

I am having this exact same problem. I returned one Droid for it and have the problem with the second. I have hair over my ears some times, but have tried tucking it back and talking after reading several threads like this, and still have the problem. It drives me crazy - I'll be on a call and as soon as the other person goes, "What? What? I can't hear you." I know then that I will have to call the person back.

EVEN WORSE - when I go to call log and hit the icon to call the person, the phone often calls a totally different person!

Please post any other fixes or ideas you have!

 

[hbaublit]

Not sure if everyone uses this. But dial *228 and choose option 2 to update roaming capabilities. It helps if you travel a lot.

 

[Devon]

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! I am sooooo tired of dropping calls and pressing buttons with my face during a call. I've tried everything there is to try and still the same issue. I am on my 5th Droid since 11/8!!!!! the people at my local Verizon are going to think I'm nuts if I swap out another. I don't want a different phone, I just want this one to work. So if anyone out there has any other suggestion I am more than happy to hear it. Thank you for listening to my rant

PS... Just got off the phone with Motorola Support and their suggestion: get a new one... GRR!!!

 

[bonniep]

i swapped my phone and have had better luck with the new one. i have to make sure that the keypad is disabled during the call and try to keep my face away from the "swap" key. there should be a way to disable the "swap" display like you can do for the dial pad. i inadvertently hit the add call key and then it takes me to a new screen while i can hear the person i was talking to but they can no longer hear me. i have to end the "new call" and go back to the other screen before they hang up! ugh!