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Signal issue - anyone call Verizon about it?

Peaser

Well-Known Member
Dec 5, 2009
103
8
Okay, the low signal issue is really driving me nuts. No matter where I am I NEVER get more than 2 bars and more often than not, there's only 1 bar!! Really!? I'm not convinced it is only cosmetic. I seem to get most of my calls, but occasionally they go through to voicemail even though I've got the phone right next to me. It is so frustrating to be in the house with no signal! I always had at least 3 signals in my house.

Has anyone contacted Verizon about this? It is the only thing bothering me from 2.1 upgrade. Other than that I find the phone is truly awesome, but it IS a phone! However, I'm afraid to call Verizon tech people who always seem to go through the basics without any real regard to your issue, and have the screw up the phone with some random setting they want to try.

Just curious if anyone else has called about this and what the response was.
 
What's your signal level? settings/about phone/network/signal strength

Mine is -88 to -95 at home. I see 1-2 bars typically. It's a little better at work but not much. My observation is that the radio was de-tuned a little by the 2.1 upgrade probably to save battery.


Signal strength is always between -82 and -86 at home with 1 bar.

I called Verizon yesterday and they said the update should have told me to do *228 option 2 at the end of the update to fix/reset the signal problem (she said it was the roaming signal). In any case, I did that and there is no change whatsoever.

It's very frustrating. You say above that you think they did it to save battery, it seems to do the opposite since it's always searching for a signal, thus the 50% without signal bug as I understand it.
 
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Signal strength is always between -82 and -86 at home with 1 bar.

I called Verizon yesterday and they said the update should have told me to do *228 option 2 at the end of the update to fix/reset the signal problem (she said it was the roaming signal).

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If your phone says Verizon Wireless then you are not roaming, technically.

settings/about phone/network/operator name

You may be using another carriers tower that has an agreement with Verizon but you aren't roaming. My BSometer goes off when I hear that kind of answer from a company.

It does bring up a good point. Did you perform a factory reset after the update? It's a very good idea to do it and it will clear out all the cache data that can cause post update issues.

After a factory reset the phone restarts and reprograms (*22899) automagically. Mine has done it the 3- times that I've reset to factory defaults.
 
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No, I'm not roaming, I knew it was a BS answer as well. I haven't done a factory reset. I don't want to reload everything and everything else is working well. I get most of my phone calls, but it's just annoying that it doesn't seem to work as well as a phone now.
 
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You get used to having fewer bars, actually i kind of like the meter the way it is, basically if you see "3g" on that phone you will be able to talk on it as the 3g signal is typically worse that the 1x needed to talk. I have had various phones that went to voicemail occasionally and alot of times its a network issue, what may also help is adjusting your "slot cycle". Search for that term and the instructions will pop up, turning it down to one will help, I know it did when I had my Eris. I wouldn't call verizon and complain about the "bars" those are just a representation, but if your missing calls in a good signal area that is something to gripe about!
 
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Do we need to re-write some code too. Does anyone else feel like a MS beta tester?

That is why I mentioned if they're missing calls complain.
I personally have never had a cell phone that you couldnt make just a little bit better with some tweaking. some people do it some don't....totally up to you! We chose android, which is pretty new and you have to expect some stuff to not be quite perfect. If you want rock solid get a BB.
 
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For anyone with the "50% time without signal" bug, did Verizon automatically offer the replacement phone, or did you have to argue your way to one? I didn't get insurance, and I did 2 factory resets after the OTA only to still have the bug.

Also, when they send the replacement, do you have to send yours back? I assume you probably do, but I've never had to do this before so I don't know the process.
 
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For anyone with the "50% time without signal" bug, did Verizon automatically offer the replacement phone, or did you have to argue your way to one? I didn't get insurance, and I did 2 factory resets after the OTA only to still have the bug.

Also, when they send the replacement, do you have to send yours back? I assume you probably do, but I've never had to do this before so I don't know the process.
You can fix that problem with the airplane mode trick. Reboot your phone and put it into airplane mode. Take it out of airplane mode and your 50% bug should be gone. Have to do it everytime you restart tho.
 
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Are your calls ok? Forgetting about bars, do your calls stay connected?

I was all set to agree with you and others that it was cosmetic and then I drove up to our lake house this weekend and got 4 bars! In the woods!!!! There is a cell tower clear across the lake and my phone worked better up there than it does in my living room! Very bazaar!

Lately I seem to have slightly more delay in the phone, but that seems to happen when I try to call or receive a call and the phone has been dormant for a bit, it comes on and then seems to sort of freak out while it figures out whether it is on wi-fi or 3G or what. Keyboard becomes unresponsive at that point until it sort of "wakes up." Not a big deal really.
 
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Generally, 1 bar is enough for me to get a decent speed for 3G. Although, one thing that is very confusing and misleading about Android is that it only shows one signal meter, when there really should be two; one for CDMA voice, and one for EVDO 3G. So when you phone is showing 1 to no bars and you have the 3G indicator, you shouldn't worry about it, because more often than not, your CDMA connection is still pretty strong. When you start a call, you bars should go up, since its switching the radio to CDMA.

I downloaded an app that shows your CDMA signal seperately from your 3G one, and while I was travelling, I had a really poor 3G signal, but had 3 bars for CDMA voice.
 
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I've been with Verizon for about four years now, and can vouch for their exemplary signal throughout the mountainous western US across no less than six different phones. Since I got my Eris, I have a low signal meter. I've seen three out of four bars a couple times when glimpsing down, but more often than not it's just one bar, maybe two, sometimes none (but not 50%).

Perhaps it IS just a discrepancy between what the signal is and what the graphic displays, but it doesn't appear to be. Considering the poor battery life reported by many (me included), I'm not so sure about that. Poor signal=antenna working harder=battery drain. That's always been the case with cellular phones, right? I don't miss phone calls that I know of, but that's not the point for me. Why does this phone have such poorer signal quality than the other six I've had with Verizon?
 
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I've been with Verizon for about four years now, and can vouch for their exemplary signal throughout the mountainous western US across no less than six different phones. Since I got my Eris, I have a low signal meter. I've seen three out of four bars a couple times when glimpsing down, but more often than not it's just one bar, maybe two, sometimes none (but not 50%).

Perhaps it IS just a discrepancy between what the signal is and what the graphic displays, but it doesn't appear to be. Considering the poor battery life reported by many (me included), I'm not so sure about that. Poor signal=antenna working harder=battery drain. That's always been the case with cellular phones, right? I don't miss phone calls that I know of, but that's not the point for me. Why does this phone have such poorer signal quality than the other six I've had with Verizon?

The signal for me is fine. I don't think that is the problem. I've left it in Airplane mode, which disables the cellular radio, and the battery life only got slightly better.

The battery life issue is rampant with the Hero (which is what the Eris is based off) line. The Sprint Hero has the same problem from what I've read and from what I can tell, the GSM Hero as well. The GSM Hero uses entirely different cellular technology.
 
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I think its a feature to save battery life.
Here is what I noticed:

With the phone on standby I normally see 1-2 bars regardless of where I am. I also have another verizon that will get all 4 bars with the two phones side by side. So it seems like the radio in the eris is being cut down to 50% power to save battery life.

HOWEVER, take a look at your signal strength while you are in the middle of a phone call. On my phone it automatically jumps to all 4 bars while Im making a call, and will drop down to two as soon as I press the hang up button.
 
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I called verizon tech support. They had me reset my phone, then they reset my account at their end and had me do the *228 option 1 4 times because they screwed up something. After is was done they asked me to try it for a while and see if it improved (better signal and bars), if not call them back and they will issue me a new phone under warranty. As is the case with everyone that calls them, they had never heard of any issues with the eris and/or 2.1 on the eris.

I used to get 3 to 4 bars always until 2.1 then I got none to 2 bars max and my call quality went to heck.
 
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I think its a feature to save battery life.
Here is what I noticed:

With the phone on standby I normally see 1-2 bars regardless of where I am. I also have another verizon that will get all 4 bars with the two phones side by side. So it seems like the radio in the eris is being cut down to 50% power to save battery life.

HOWEVER, take a look at your signal strength while you are in the middle of a phone call. On my phone it automatically jumps to all 4 bars while Im making a call, and will drop down to two as soon as I press the hang up button.
The signal meter is a bit misleading. When its idle, and its showing the 3G indicator, its your EVDO signal, not your CDMA 1X voice signal. When you make a call, the phone switches to 1X, and that's is usually a much stronger signal than EVDO, which is why your bars go up when you make a phone call.
 
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