Verizon to release Major update for S3

[Rdjr74]

Everyone here needs to realize that Verizon's LTE speeds have been getting worse for everyone, do to them having many more LTE subscribers since the network was initially put up, they are running out of spectrum, but of course will not let the public know about it. Hopefully when they employ their AWS spectrum later this year it will alleviate some of the strain their network is experiencing.

Speak for yourself. I had great 4G since release of this phone. Now after this update my signal has gotten so much worse and along with worse signal comes worse battery and a heated up phone. This is completely unacceptable any way you look at it. I spent and hour on the phone with Verizon on two calls, they confirmed the towers in my area are working fine and that I should be getting a good LTE signal. They said it was device related. They gave me two options. Factory reset or a new device. I said I wasn't interested in either because I am confident it's due to the update. They then advised me I could call Samsung a express my concerns. That was another hour long phone call that got me no where and was advised to call Google since they are the ones that make the updates. I will be calling them today and see where I get with that. So basically, call Google after you complain to Verizon, don't waste your time with Samsung.

 

[legalkill]

I been doing twitter support with verizon with no luck. I know its headed for them to tell me to do a factory reset.

Has anyone tried this with any luck to fix the radio signal issue? I don't want to if I don't have to.

 

[rushmore]

Do not waste your time. The issue appears to be the radio changes that a reset will not fix. Only a kernel update would. Between this and Verizon's arrogant non committal on a 32gb S4 and their poorly trained staff telling people apps can go on an sd card, they suck with vaccuum level efficiency.

 

[Puppa]

Disable the CallerID bloatware in apps and then restart the phone. Some have reported that this helps.

 

[legalkill]

Yeah i did this before i knew i was having radio problems. I guess had no effect.

 

[MasterCylinder]

Yeah i did this before i knew i was having radio problems. I guess had no effect.

Don't forget to pull the battery: it's surprising the number of problems this solves.

 

[Rdjr74]

do not waste your time. The issue appears to be the radio changes that a reset will not fix. Only a kernel update would. Between this and verizon's arrogant non committal on a 32gb s4 and their poorly trained staff telling people apps can go on an sd card, they suck with vaccuum level efficiency.

this people! And what i've been saying! The phone needs another update pushed to it. Yes i'm yelling!
(this was suppose to be in all caps btw)

 

[Rxpert83]

(this was suppose to be in all caps btw)

The forum software automatically corrects if you post in all caps

 

[stephen65]

I

Also, has anyone figured out how to get rid of the hand icon for Talkback that shows up every time I restart my phone? The only way I have been able to remove it is to click it in my notification panel, turn On Talkback, then turn it back off. Otherwise it doesn't go away. The funny thing is it says it's on, but when I go to the Accessibility page it's Off.

I'm hoping someone will find a way to get rid of it also. I don't want to look at the thing all the time.

I'm also noticing more battery use since this update plus it seems to take a lot longer to charge. Saturday it took three and a half hours to charge from 55% remaining. That's at least another full hour longer than before.

 

[Rdjr74]

The forum software automatically corrects if you post in all caps

i know!!! (all caps) haha! ; )

 

[Hask12]

I have had some bad update experiences, which is why now, I wait. Just for the record, and for whatever it's worth, about a year ago my Droid Incredible crashed after an update, and after several calls and visits to Verizon and the Verizon store, Verizon replaced it with a refurbished phone. When that received the update and crashed they replaced it with an Incredible 2. I have a bad hearing problem and told them that I couldn't hear at all on the incredible 2. They sent me another Incredible. (you really have to be patient with Verizon. When I complained about getting another Incredible they suggested that I pick out a different 3g phone. When I reminded them about my hearing problem and explained that I need to test the phone first they said go to the store and pick out a 3g phone. Went to the store and nobody had any more 3G phones in stock, everyone had switched over to 4G. Now Verizon has a policy where they have 3 chances to try to correct a problem. We were now past that. (and for those wondering how I carried on these phone conversations with verizon, my wife handled it). The rep on the phone then said what phone do you want. So here I am with the galaxy S3. And there were plenty of people on forums complaining about the bad update to the Droid Incredible. But to get to where I am now took months and a lot of aggravation and frustration.

 

[cybertec69]

They need to give the Cynogenmod team a call, maybe put them on their payroll, since Verizons software developers stink. Will flash the latest Verizon build and try to run it will the last VRBMB1 radios, the new radios are VRBMB3 "that might be causing the problems", see if this does the trick, will get back with the results. Thew new radios have had a few issues with the latest CM build, and had to be tweaked by the CM developers.

 

[Rxpert83]

Cyanogen was on Samsung's payroll...until recently

Although he wasn't directly involved in that

 

[legalkill]

In regards to the poor data/LTE, try going to settings-more settings-mobile networks-access points and select verizon. It was my only option but not selected (dotted)

My lte has been stable for 2 hours since. I have been losing data altogether.

Dunno if it did anything but worth a try to see if it helps.

UPDATE: nevermind mine just totally cut out data after 3 hours of consistently being on lte. vzwsupport on twitter finally ended up suggesting the factory reset which means they have no clue what is going on either.

 

[cybertec69]

This crazy thing just happened, went back and installed the Verizon stock OTA ROM "had made a backup with TWRP", have gone back and forth with my CM RC4 ROM quite a few times with no issues, well just a few minutes ago the stock ROM loaded fine, but once in the OS, Google Play store keeps crashing, every time I go to open it, it just crashes, and I get this google.apps error message, LOL, Verizon at it finest.

 

[quickaudi]

In regards to the poor data/LTE, try going to settings-more settings-mobile networks-access points and select verizon. It was my only option but not selected (dotted)


UPDATE: nevermind mine just totally cut out data after 3 hours of consistently being on lte. vzwsupport on twitter finally ended up suggesting the factory reset which means they have no clue what is going on either.

so, several people on the AOSP forums have been reporting bad LTE data on the new radios as well...
Flashing back to the MB1 radios seems to solve the issue.

 

[MasterCylinder]

so, several people on the AOSP forums have been reporting bad LTE data on the new radios as well...
Flashing back to the MB1 radios seems to solve the issue.

This seems like the obvious answer for those of us who are rooted and have the capacity to do such a thing. Others will be out of luck. Or, don't take the update.

However, I wonder if/how many people who have received the update in Verizon's entire SGS3 installed base are not having any problems?:dontknow:

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah.has anyone here NOT had a sudden drop in radio performance since the update??

 

[legalkill]

It seems to affect me when signal is 2 bars or below. Not sure what actual signal strength triggers whatever its doing. But before it would just hold lte at low signal and if it dropped come back. Now i either never get it to come back from 3g or 1x or no data at all.

 

[chicoatc]

I uploaded a video of how slow the new radio is compared to the old radio. Sorry for the amateur nature of the video (kids in the background/crumbs on the counter). I got so frustrated by my data that I made the video on a whim.

Poor data speed - YouTube

Full disclosure: the 4G data in my house isn't usually the best as evidenced by the GS3 on the right, but far better than the new radio one on the left.

 

[MasterCylinder]

I uploaded a video of how slow the new radio is compared to the old radio. Sorry for the amateur nature of the video (kids in the background/crumbs on the counter). I got so frustrated by my data that I made the video on a whim.

Poor data speed - YouTube

Full disclosure: the 4G data in my house isn't usually the best as evidenced by the GS3 on the right, but far better than the new radio one on the left.

Well, that seems completely nonfunctional. Have you used Speed Test before on that phone? If so, there will be previous results under the "Results" tab at the bottom. What do they say?

 

[Southernangel3]

This seems like the obvious answer for those of us who are rooted and have the capacity to do such a thing. Others will be out of luck. Or, don't take the update.

However, I wonder if/how many people who have received the update in Verizon's entire SGS3 installed base are not having any problems?:dontknow:

I don't seem to have a problem with the 4G but I have noticed my battery last 1/2 as long as it did before the update. I have only had my phone since April 25 and updated it either Thursday or Friday. (After reading posts about the issues, I disabled the Caller Name ID app. and changed the mobile network mode from Global to CDMA/LTE.)

My husband just got his S3 on Thursday and hasn't had any issues with the update.

Below is the screen shot of the test I did with 4G and with my Wifi.

 

[jmz768]

Since disabling this app, I have not dropped data one time and my battery life is back to normal. Others have reported that disabling this app also fixed some volume issues they were having.

If you go to the app and into its settings, if appears to give you the option to delete the app, that's not true, all it does is remove the app icon. Go into your application manager and disable the app.

Give it a try and see what happens.

 

[Rdjr74]

I think everyone is very aware of this based on all the repeated posts in the other Verizon update thread. This btw doesn't work to help with lte signal. It only removes the icon in the status bar when on wifi.

 

[jmz768]

It's worked for me and for others.