Yeah. This is the signal issue that most, if not all, Galaxy Nexus have. I drop 4g and mobile network ALL the time so I keep my phone on 3g when I'm not using 4g. I'm really hoping that this problem is fixed via 4.0.5, the update due out sometime in April, but many are doubtful.

This is, by far, the biggest CON of this beautiful phone.

 

the 4.0.4 radios definitley heped big time. i had this problem when i was stock, but after flashing the new radios, not only do i get super fast 3g/4g handoffs, my 4g seems to be sticking around much better. rarely do i see my phone switch to 3g any more...before it was 50/50. and i would assume 4.0.5 will be even better than the 4.0.4 radios.

have faith. the Thunderbolt and the Charge ran into the same issues as this after release...and after some updates, they are pretty stable connection wise.

 

unfortunately it is a very well known issue. I suffer from it as well. I haven't bothered with the leaked radios. I've read too many conflicting reports. They help some people in certain areas but not others and visa versa.

 

I feel bad for folks like OP with this issue. Mine doesn't drop signal like this though 3G/4G hand off is a little sluggish and data is lost temporarily during hand off. But I rarely had to toggle airplane mode or reboot to recover signal. Seems like there are many with this kind of issue on forums like this, but in general user reviews like Verizon, Amazon, it looks like most of them work like one I have. But I also think this slow 3G/4G hand off and holding 4G indoors need to be fixed.

 

I've got the same / similar issue on my GNex - what I see is seemingly decent signal strength, but the bars show up in Grey, not Blue. Turning on airplane mode for a few seconds then turn it off fixes it, when I notice it. Once I had to do a battery pull (today.) Since this seems to be an issue and there is strong suspicion that the new update will fix it I'm going to do myself a favor and NOT call Verizon about it again. The suggestions I got were that I should do a Hard Reset and if that didn't work a new phone - I was pretty doubtful at the time that was a proper solution. Maybe we'll all get lucky and April 2nd will be the release of the great new updates! :O