Bad network signal? Try a new 4G sim card.

kxs783kms

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I have tried everything in the world to get my wife's Thunderbolt on par with mine. Out of the box, mine has worked like a champ, while she's on her 2nd phone. (Bad power button and 0-1 bars constantly.) Anyway, after getting home and looking at her replacement phone, I noticed the same issue, 0-1 bars. I thought to myself that there has to be more to this. I put her phone next to mine and I had 3-4 bars, while she had her usual 0-1 bars (74% time without a signal.) I thought to check the phones info under settings and bam, I found my problem. Software and everything was exactly the same, except our PRL's. Mine is 13004 and hers is 15008. So I immediately jumped online and Googled how to updated the PRL on the Thunderbolt. Apparently the PRL files are stored on the 4G sim card, and since *228 no longer works on our phones, the only option to get a different PRL is to get a new sim card. I checked the sim card that came with her phone and the date reads.....102810. I then checked the date on my sim card and it read....020411. So I will be going to Verizon tomorrow morning and requesting a sim that was made on or at least near the date that mine was produced and hopefully this will fix our problem. I will update this thread once I know for sure. So if you did this and it helped, please feel free to post your results. Also, when we swapped the phones out, we didn't get a new sim card since each card is tied to that specific number. The rep just put the old sim and sdcard in the new phone incase anyone was wondering. Hope this helps.

Update: Just left my Verizon store and as of right now, I didn't have to swap out my sim card. The rep checked and he said it showed that my wife's phone was under the regular nationwide network, while my phone was under the hybrid network.(Whatever that is.) So he sent out an network update to my wife's phone that should bring hers on par with mine. He told me not to turn off my phone because it may take a couple of hours to push through, but once it does, our prls or signal strength in our area should be the same. Once the update pushes through, I'll post the results.

Update to the update:
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After letting the phone stay on for 8 hours, got home, pulled the sim and battery out for 30 seconds, popped them back in and bam!!!!!! 3-4 bars of constant signal strength. Didn't have to change the sim card, but the PRL number did change from 15008 to 13006. (Which 13xxx means you're on the Hybrid Network.) If you're have a low to bad network signal, I would highly suggest you call Verizon or go into a store and have them make sure you're on the Hybrid network and not the Regular Nationwide Network. Have them send an PRL update/upgrade to your line and see if it helps. Worked like a miracle for my wife's phone.
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pandabear

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I was having similar issues, have same PRL number as your wife (15008). Called up verizon tech support an hour ago and was informed that this is a known issue. I was instructed to dial ##778## and hit send, then a menu would ask to choose between view mode and edit mode, I was instructed to choosed edit mode and pick modem settings from the following menu. In the modem settings I needed to change the Rev A setting to enable.
Apparently this fixes the bug, but I haven't been able to test if my connectivity is fixed, I also asked them to update my PRL and was told not to turn off my device for 24 hours.
Hope that helps anyone having similar issues.
 

jawa6969

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I am sitting with 15008 as well. I wonder if this is related to the 4G dropping in and out?

So, does a call need to be made to customer support to get the PRL push or did changing the setting to Rev A initiate the update?
 

pandabear

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No, you'd need to call tech support if you want to update your prl. Theyll then push it to your phone within 24 hours
 

jawa6969

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No, you'd need to call tech support if you want to update your prl. Theyll then push it to your phone within 24 hours

Were you having the 4g drop in and out issue or just over-all signal issues?

I was thinking it was the location of my house that was causing the 4g in and out because I would drive around and it would lock on but now reading this thread, I wonder if its something else (PRL).

Hmmmm.
 
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pandabear

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I was having all around problems. I don't have 4g yet so I can't speak to those issues. who knows, it might help?
 

jawa6969

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OK. That was a waisted 15 minute phone call. LOL. They want me to play the whole 1st level tech support game. I asked her twice to push a PRL update to my phone and she said we have to do other tech support. LOL. I guess I will wait a bit and call back and get to "level 2" tech support. I did root this puppy so when she started asking me about software versions, I played dumb cause honestly, not sure what version they "want me to have". LOL.
 

pandabear

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Yeah, first time I called I had a rep who didn't know what I was talking about. Second time I called, told another rep I had signal issues, mentioned my prl number and she told me exactly what to do and agreed to update my prl (though she said the prl wasn't the problem, she still agreed to push the update to my phone)
 

Peschon

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I also called in to update the PLR Mine was 15008. As far as my Tech said the PLR number is your plan ID I.E. 15008 = Nationwide and 1300X = Hybrid. My PLR changed with in a few mins to 13006, but with no change in 4G coverage.
 

jawa6969

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I also called in to update the PLR Mine was 15008. As far as my Tech said the PLR number is your plan ID I.E. 15008 = Nationwide and 1300X = Hybrid. My PLR changed with in a few mins to 13006, but with no change in 4G coverage.

So after the PRL update your 4g still keeps going in and out?
 

Peschon

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I also called in to update the PLR Mine was 15008. As far as my Tech said the PLR number is your plan ID I.E. 15008 = Nationwide and 1300X = Hybrid. My PLR changed with in a few mins to 13006, but with no change in 4G coverage.

So after the PRL update your 4g still keeps going in and out?

Yes it still going in and out. FYI, Kinda weird I had my tb plugged into a set of cheap powered computer speakers with no music playing. When 4g kicks in I heard buzzing coming from speakers then it drops to 3g and it goes away. So now I know when I get 4G just listen to the buzz. Happens every 2 mins or so
 

jawa6969

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I also called in to update the PLR Mine was 15008. As far as my Tech said the PLR number is your plan ID I.E. 15008 = Nationwide and 1300X = Hybrid. My PLR changed with in a few mins to 13006, but with no change in 4G coverage.

So after the PRL update your 4g still keeps going in and out?

Yes it still going in and out. FYI, Kinda weird I had my tb plugged into a set of cheap powered computer speakers with no music playing. When 4g kicks in I heard buzzing coming from speakers then it drops to 3g and it goes away. So now I know when I get 4G just listen to the buzz. Happens every 2 mins or so

Damn that sucks the PRL push has not cleared up your signal issue. Some folks were told to wait 24 hours. Hopefully things will get better in the next day for you.

I have experienced similar buzz sounds in relations to cell phones and speaker. I used to know when I was going to get a text or call with some old speakers I had when the phone was close by. LOL.
 

k0nahbear

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i was having similar issues. just got my tb on friday, had intermittent data problems over the weekend, then today rebooted by itself after losing data connectivity at around 1100MST. final straw, so i called vzn support, spoke to a customer service person who quickly pushed me to technical support. there is a known ticket opened internally with vzn regarding this issue with ALL tb devices. their fix was not to touch the PRL but rather a hard factory reset -> settings | sd & phone storage | factory data reset. took about 3 minutes to reset, reboot and another 3 to configure gmail and exchange. cloud apps from market and contacts all restored flawlessly after a few minutes. I dont have 4G in my area but 3G is working as expected now. Technician recommended to NOT change the PRL number as that relates to the Alltel acquisition and is used in areas Alltel wireless towers are used for vzn coverage (hence the hybrid term)

htc thunderbolt - upgrade from OG moto droid |>liquid frozen yogurt<|
 
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