Question about a 4G phone in 3G

[baldybill]

Is there any truth to the rumor that a 4G phone will do worse than a 3G phone in an area that is only 3G?

 

[Raw Dodge]

Based on my experience with Verizon 4g phones I'd say that's a fact as far as signal goes...as far as speed goes they are similar but the 4g phones will be faster on 3g if Verizon isn't throttling and they have strong signal.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[baldybill]

Ah, ok, thanks!

 

[jntdroid]

Yes, 100% truth. Verizon's LTE uses a "technology" called eHRPD - it helps the handoff between 3G and 4G move faster. But it's more of a clunky way to make both 3G and LTE work, honestly.

The problem is, if the LTE network is struggling (or down), eHRPD is somehow affected by this as well, causing 3G (only on 4G phones) to also struggle or go down. Honestly, that's one of the main reasons I've switched back to a 3G only phone for now, until they get it working better. If it switched to Verizon's normal EVDO Rev. A 3G network (which is still technically there, eHRPD is just "on top" of it) and stayed a consistent, reliable connection, that would be one thing. But, in my opinion, it takes away the #1 reason that I personally pay for Verizon - reliability.

 

[baldybill]

So, being in an area that only gets 3G, the 4G phone will be worse than a 3G phone?

 

[jntdroid]

So, being in an area that only gets 3G, the 4G phone will be worse than a 3G phone?

Yes - same 3G network, but eHRPD makes it less reliable. The HTC Rezound and HTC Thunderbolt can disable eHRPD and do good ol' EVDO Rev. A, but all the other LTE phones are stuck on eHRPD.

It's all personal preference. LTE is super fast and nice when it works, which is a majority of the time. But I'm anal about consistency and reliability. Obviously enough people are happy with it overall, but I'll take the slower speeds with Verizon's rock solid reliability over the super fast speeds any day.

 

[baldybill]

Hmm. I thought you could disable 4G on both the Razr and Nexus.

Being that there is no 3G in my area, I'll be happy if the 4G phone handles the 3G as good as my OG Droid. Any shance of that?

 

[jntdroid]

You can set them to do "CDMA Only", where it won't search for, or attempt to connect to, 4G. However, it's still 3G with eHRPD on top. That's why when LTE goes down, you'll see posts along the lines of, "LTE is down, but I have no 3G either, while my wife's Droid X [or iPhone or whatever 3G phone] still has full bars. What gives?!"

 

[jntdroid]

Being that there is no 3G in my area, I'll be happy if the 4G phone handles the 3G as good as my OG Droid. Any shance of that?

Yes, until LTE goes down

Depending on the phone you get, the radio should be better than the OG Droid, given the age difference. So overall performance over 3G could be better. And a majority of the time it'll probably be fine. Just know that if LTE goes down (which it has done twice in the last few months), your 3G could struggle (or go down) as well.

Eventually I'm sure it'll be much steadier and more reliable.

 

[PatG]

I currently have the OG Droid and was going to get the Razr. I do live in a 4g area, but was going to turn off 4g when I am not going to use it. So is it worth getting a 4g phone?

How often / long has the network been down? A couple of times for a few hours each over the last few months doesn't seem so bad. Unless you absolutely need connectivity at that time, of course.

 

[Raw Dodge]

It doesn't seem so bad because it didn't happen to you..and because data drops so often with 4g at first you dont realize its a problem and its not coming back ...because no data is normal for 4g phones it seems.Also with 4g devices you lose all data when 4g is down!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[baldybill]

Looking to replace my OG Droid. I'm still torn between the Razr and the Galaxy Nexus.

My OG has barely decent reception where I live. It's generally in the -88 to -98 range.

I compared my droid in a store with these two phones. Mind you the store had a repeater, so even my DROID got decent reception tHere. But the razr was actually about 5 or 10 better than mine aNd the gnex was about 5 or so worse.

So here is what I am looking at possibly
OG Droid -88 to -98
Razr -78 (at best) to -93
Gnex -93 to -105 (at worst?)

I love the fact that the Gnex is stock ICS, will be updated quicker, is easier to root/customize, seems to be supported by the droid community better.

But what are your thoughts on the reception?
Are these numbers decent enough to get the gnex? Or go safer with the razr?
Will these numbers improve with updates or anything?