Interesting discussion reguarding the Droid Bionics data issues

RSC450

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With the current data loss for us East coast Bionic owners, I thought I would call Big red and see what was going on and of course this brought up the issue regarding the shotty 4G service (data drops 3g/4g im sure you know what im refering to and if you dont, consider yourself lucky) I have been having for the past 2 months since purchasing the bionic off contract. I was told by the supervisor that there has been numerous people calling regarding the issues they are having with the bionic and data drops and informed me that Verizon pushes the 14 day window return policy and if you are not satisfied to return the phone and go about your business. Basically pointing the finger at me for not returning the phone, which I can understand to an extent, but from what the reps were telling me at the VZW store I had no worries those issues would be fixed.

Also, he continued to inform me that my area was not 4GLTE but yet I have been in a 4GLTE area for the past 6 months. He then informs me that there is a notification on the computer that the 4G in my area is down (didn’t you just say I wasn’t in a 4G area). I continued to tell him I was not happy with my service because my 4G goes in and out numerous times a day and that I was paying for 4G service so I should be receiving 4G service. He then informed me in a smart manner that technically I am paying for "3g Internet" and made it very specific that Verizon does not guarantee in contract you will receive 4G services even though you are in a 4G area and purchasing one of their 4GLTE devices. He specified that just because you have a 4G device does not mean Verizon has to give you 4G service even if you are a 4G area because they advertise them as being backward compatible with 3g which is ultimately what you pay for each month. I continued to inform him that this was very shady and you do not see huge signs saying "Droid Bionic our new and most powerful 3G device/ capable of 4GLTE speeds device". No one ever informed me prior to purchasing the phone off contract that I was not guaranteed 4G service although my area is indeed 4G.

I never talked to someone before that was so quick at pointing the finger at another company (Moto) in my life. I understand that its part Motos fault as well, but the Bionic should have never been released if all the bugs were not worked out and for VZW to continue to push a device to the public with known issues seems very shady to me to say the least. I then asked him what if the data drop issue was not fixed by the OTA at the end of February what could I do. He then said to call back at that time and techs would be more than willing to go through trouble shooting steps or I have the option to resign and upgrade my phone as I am eligible for a new device. Needless to say,

I feel I have been burnt $546 by Verizon and I just wanted to inform others that are thinking of switching to Verizon specifically for their 4GLTE. Don’t expect you are entitled to solid 4G coverage because in contract you are paying for 3g internet but "Purchasing a phone with 4G capabilities" so there for you are not "Guaranteed" 4G coverage even if your area has 4G coverage. A quick way for VZW to cover their A** with small print, 7 years ago I never read the fine print nor do I remember as did they have smart phones so I suggest doing so prior. I feel for those bionic owners who bought this phone on contract and are stuck paying for shotty services that thought and intended on getting 4G services.
 
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LegalAmerican

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No offense cause I COMPLETELY agree that Verizon needs to step it up, but don't feel too bad for some of us because I personally absolutely LOVE my Bionic. IF the updates do not fix the problems, I will certainly make my voice heard, but for now I can deal with some of the issues and try to be patient. Thanks for the heads up though, that is definitely nice to know they view their customers that way. It helps when making future decisions.
 
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RSC450

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No offense cause I COMPLETELY agree that Verizon needs to step it up, but don't feel too bad for some of us because I personally absolutely LOVE my Bionic. IF the updates do not fix the problems, I will certainly make my voice heard, but for now I can deal with some of the issues and try to be patient. Thanks for the heads up though, that is definitely nice to know they view their customers that way. It helps when making future decisions.

Don't get me wrong, the bionic is a nice phone but there is nothing more annoying than zipping around with 4G then dropping to 3G. I guess its not an issue with some but others it is. For a company as large as Verizon, I do not feel its right to release a device with known issues and to continue doing so. The whole reason I bought a smartphone particularly this smartphone was for the speed, so not having it frustrates the hell out of me simply because I payed retail for it. I hope the OTA fixes it by the end of January.

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LegalAmerican

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I do agree with you. This is actually my very first smartphone, and I have had so many phone problems in the past that this time I bought the best Droid available, AND insurance. Then I get home and during my Honeymoon with the Phone, it starts having Data Drop issues. It sucks because you think you know a phone, and then shortly after you tie the knot you start to learn all their quirks. And I know people say not to try to change the phone, just accept the problems and love the phone anyway.........but it's just so hard! And then the problems seem to magnify the longer time goes on, then it gained weight when I got the Ext Battery, and it's just not the same phone that I fell in love with in the store. :( Hopefully hopefully the update fixes it.
 

rumblee1

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To be honest, im only having the dissapearing app issue if the app is on my sd card and u reboot. But having owned moto phones including the og droid, DROIDX, and now bionic, these bugs are normal and bug fixes usually work. Have faith. By the way, I love my bionic even if they don't fix this app issue.

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DF Smod

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there is nothing more annoying than zipping around with 4G then dropping to 3G.
Sure there is, dropping data all together - the 3G I can deal with but no data at all is a bit much :disappointed:
 

Fokkerdmr

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Why do we keep having the same bugs phone after phone after phone? If they (moto/verizon/google - whomever) fix it once, why do they keep having the problem? Call me crazy, but if you figure out how to fix the problem with apps disappearing, maybe you should bake that into the next build for the next phone too?

Sure, I get the fact that a smartphone image may have some bugs, and I'm ok with updating the phone to fix issues, but why do we have to get the same fixes for the same old bugs from one phone to the next? Should we really expect that our brand new Mac OSX Lion has the same bugs that were fixed in an update to Snow Leopard? Or should Windows 7 have the same bugs that were already fixed in Vista or Windows XP? Why are our phones any different? Seems just plain goofy.

-D
 

wseyller

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Tt is fine if the 4g early in this stage drops in and out every once in a while. The problem is switching of radios from 3g to 4g or vise versa. Sometimes the 4g to 3g does work or basically i get no data at all. Never does it switch 3g to 4g on its own. 3g to 4g requires to to restart the connections or even pull my sim card. Every once in a while there is trouble going from wifi to 3g/4g. At minimum I want an instant switch to 3g if 4g goes away. Not minutes or hours. Lately I have just set mine to 3g only which helps eliminate most of the data outages.
 

rdgxray

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I just use 3g....and my data drops all the time...never had 4g turned on....still have drops all the time

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Dave12308

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My Bionic doesn't have this issue. Most people in my immediate area with Bionics don't have this issue. I believe the issue IS Verizon, they own the cell sites, and it is obviously certain sites that are not functioning up to spec. Moto's LTE chipset just seems to be a bit more sensitive to the flakiness. Could be a driver issue on the device, but i'd more likely think it is something on VZW's end. I have a feeling that a firmware update for some piece of LTE equipment or the other was issued prior to the release of the Bionic, and a majority of the sites were updated (which accounts for people with no issues) but some were missed (accounting for the connectivity loss).

Heck, firmware mismatches can wreak havoc on wired network installations, the same thing holds true for cellular networks. I think VZW is blaming Motorola because VZW cannot figure out the issue, so they pretend it is not their issue.
 

ofiba

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I just use 3g....and my data drops all the time...never had 4g turned on....still have drops all the time

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Yep, same here. 4g turned off and data drops almost every day. Airplane toggle doesn't solve it, but reboot does.
 

saltrock

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Crazy... I was not aware their was a problem with other phones with disappearing apps. Just saying....

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