Moto Droid vs Eris - Mobile Network Disconnected

[Droidnought]

My wife and I recently changed to Verizon to get Droids, she opted for the Eris and I chose the MotoDroid. We are on a family plan. We knew we wouldn't get 3G at home because we are in a Verizon fringe area, but US Cellular has good 1xRTT coverage around here and the Verizon coverage map shows our area as "Extended Enhanced" data coverage. Supposedly they "partner" with US Cellular for seamless data roaming.

My MotoDroid seems to lose the network whenever it roams into Extended coverage, but her Eris does not. Sitting here in the house, both phones side by side show -89 dBm & 12 ASU for her Eris and -90 dBm & 0 ASU for my MotoDroid. The Eris has a 1x connection and the Moto shows "Mobile Network State: Disconnected".

I started noticing as signal strength (dBm) moves up and down on the Eris the ASU reading changes, but if I'm roaming, mine is always at 0 ASU no matter what the dBm reading is. Even when the signal moved up to -85dBm the Moto shows 0 ASU. Once in awhile I'll get a quick 1x symbol but it doesn't last, and I get notifications that I have "lost network connection because", but the line is truncated after "because" and I can't bring up the whole message to read the rest - it's as if it wasn't sent.

If I head towards town and get into native Verizon range I get 3G and things are fine. Today when I went to town it immediately pulled down the OTA update and went through the process with no problem. After it finished I did a *228 update, but when I got home I lost connectivity again. There seems to be no improvement in that.

Does it seem like my Droid is defective and should be swapped out? The Eris doesn't seem to have a problem connecting here at the house, but the Droid has lost the connection from day 1.

Voice calls are fine - my problems are strictly data network related.

Thanks,
Wally

 

[928Droid]

There is a check box to not use date when roaming that is off by default on the Droid.

Menu>Settings>Wireless & Networks>Mobile Networks then check the Data Roaming checkbox.

I haven't been able to get a proper answer if we are charged extra fees for data roaming on the unlimited plan so use with caution until you can confirm either way.

BTW, my wife's Eris doesn't seem to have that option (that I found yet) so maybe it is already set to use data when roaming, which would explain the issue you have exactly.

 

[Droidnought]

Thanks a ton!

Dave, thank's a ton for that, your tip solved the problem. I had been thinking it was just a fringe area problem until I did an actual comparison with the Eris. My wife doesn't use her Eris for data at home, so we hadn't noticed it was working when the Droid wasn't. For the Duh moment, I had actually started to change that setting when I first got the phone, but decided not to in case we get up near the Canadian border... completely forgetting that I am roaming at home. Of course, then I forgot about the setting.

As for extra charges, we'll keep an eye on the bill but my understanding is there are no domestic roaming charges for data. The following is from the Verizon Coverage Locater map:

These Coverage Locator depictions apply to the following calling plans:
Nationwide Calling Plans, America's Choice initiated (activated) on or after 2/21/2005, Mobile Broadband and INpulse.

Roaming charges apply in Canada Broadband and Canada Enhanced Services areas.


If you have a Nationwide Calling Plan: Picture/Video Messaging, Mobile Web and Mobile Email works in both the Enhanced Services and Extended Enhanced Services coverage area; Push to Talk, VZ Navigator and Family Locator work in only the Enhanced Services coverage area.

If you have an America’s Choice Calling Plan: Picture/Video Messaging, Mobile Web, Mobile Email, Push to Talk, VZ Navigator and Family Locator work in only the Enhanced Services coverage area.

I took the warning about roaming charges in Canada as meaning there are not charges within the US. A problem may occur if you are near the border and your phone locks on to a tower on the other side of the border.

Anyway, thank you very much for your answer.

Wally

 

[928Droid]

Wally,

Glad to help. Please let me know here or via PM if you do notice any extra charges. I had been hesitant to select that option, but drive thru a few areas occasionally where I am on the "extended network" and couldn't use data services on the Droid becuae I have this unchecked.

Have a great day,

Dave

 

[Droidnought]

Please let me know here or via PM if you do notice any extra charges.

This is kind of old news at this point, but I thought I would report back on this issue. Our first full month's bill is in and I can confirm that there were no data charges for roaming. Again, my home is in a US Cellular coverage area and whenever I use the Droid at home I am roaming on US Cellular's 1x network. Our home network is wired, not wifi, so my Droid data is definitely going over US Cellular's system.

Wally

 

[928Droid]

Wally,

Thanks for the update!