3G not available on ICS? How to roll back ICS to GB? D4 constantly dropping service

[Willin]

So I have been having major conectivity issues with my Droid 4 for the past 1.5 months or so. I read about other droid platform users that were experience the same issues on another forum. The 4G would be connected for ~30 minutes then drop service entirely for ~10 minutes, then regain conectivity, etc. This is extremely frustrating bordering on infuriating.

When I had GB I simply switched to 3G and my service didn't drop at all. I did this based on a suggestion I read on another forum. I upgraded to ICS hoping that it'd fix the problem. It hasn't and I still have 4G conectivity issues. I stopped by verizon last night and had them switch out the SIM card to see if it'd help. It hasn't.

Now the issue is that it seems that I can not switch the D4 connection to ONLY 3G on ICS? I am merely a novice at this but from what I read online shouldn't "GSM/UMTS" (under mobile network settings > preferred network mode) be the 3G? When I switch to that network type I get no connection whatsoever and it shows a red circle with a line across my network connection bars.

If I can't connect to 3G on ICS then is it possible to roll back this piece of s#!t ICS upgrade and return to GB which actually worked to a degree?

As it is now I am extremely frustrated and I'd appreciate it if someone could help me out. Considering the phone worked under GB/3G mode I suspect it's a verizon network issue and not some hardware issue on my end.

Thanks!

 

[outsid0r]

So I have been having major conectivity issues with my Droid 4 for the past 1.5 months or so. I read about other droid platform users that were experience the same issues on another forum. The 4G would be connected for ~30 minutes then drop service entirely for ~10 minutes, then regain conectivity, etc. This is extremely frustrating bordering on infuriating.

When I had GB I simply switched to 3G and my service didn't drop at all. I did this based on a suggestion I read on another forum. I upgraded to ICS hoping that it'd fix the problem. It hasn't and I still have 4G conectivity issues. I stopped by verizon last night and had them switch out the SIM card to see if it'd help. It hasn't.

Now the issue is that it seems that I can not switch the D4 connection to ONLY 3G on ICS? I am merely a novice at this but from what I read online shouldn't "GSM/UMTS" (under mobile network settings > preferred network mode) be the 3G? When I switch to that network type I get no connection whatsoever and it shows a red circle with a line across my network connection bars.

If I can't connect to 3G on ICS then is it possible to roll back this piece of s#!t ICS upgrade and return to GB which actually worked to a degree?

As it is now I am extremely frustrated and I'd appreciate it if someone could help me out. Considering the phone worked under GB/3G mode I suspect it's a verizon network issue and not some hardware issue on my end.

Thanks!

it is possible to connect to 3g but you need to use an app like phone info to get in and set it, also there is NO WAY to go back to GB from ICS, thank you and enjoy the ride!

 

[Willin]

Is no one else having these issues? I've spent at LEAST 50% of this whole morning with no service whatsoever. I'm nearly enraged from it. Is there any explanation from Verizon's end why this is? It's almost fraudulent that I paid hundreds on this phone for it to not work. I'm surprised this forum isn't loaded with posts detailing this problem.

Does phone info have a simple option in it to switch to 3G or do you need thorough knowledge of the D4 to switch it? I am trying to download it but of course... I have no service.

 

[outsid0r]

Is no one else having these issues? I've spent at LEAST 50% of this whole morning with no service whatsoever. I'm nearly enraged from it. Is there any explanation from Verizon's end why this is? It's almost fraudulent that I paid hundreds on this phone for it to not work. I'm surprised this forum isn't loaded with posts detailing this problem.

Does phone info have a simple option in it to switch to 3G or do you need thorough knowledge of the D4 to switch it? I am trying to download it but of course... I have no service.

GSM/UMTS is your real issue, that is the global GSM not the US, the US side has been blocked, 3G is actually CDMA so your prefered network mode should be LTE/CDMA, once thats done you could use the lte on/off app to set it to only 3g but must be on the correct radio mode. i am sorry for not going into a deeper explanation in the previous post.

 

[Willin]

No worries - thanks a ton for the help so far. I downloaded phone info and have been noodling around trying to figure out which setting is 3G only. I am not familiar with all of the 4G/3G initialisms, etc.

I am currently set on LT/CDMA/EvDo and it seems to still be going into 4G. I don't see an option for ONLY LTE/CDMA. I do however see LTE/WCDMA. Would this work?

Also could you clarify what radio mode I should be in to make this work? I only see a button under Phone Info that says "Turn off radio." Is there a spot where I can change the radio setting rather than toggle it on/off?

Sorry for all the questions from a newbie but your help is greatly appreciated to get this phone working normally again!

 

[Benton]

The reply from outsid0r above is correct, you must first be set to LTE/CDMA. Using the Global setting will enable all radios (CDMA/LTE/GSM) which is more or less a waste if you are staying in the US since only the CDMA/LTE signals will work for the reason mentioned in the post above. If your 4G signal is somewhat flakey for whatever reason you will at times lose your data connection while the system switches you between 4G and 3G. I travel a lot via the road and have noticed that generally Verizon manages the handoffs really well but there are areas and times when this is not the case. If you wish to force 3G you can download apps in the Play Store that will enable this function for you, I have not used these myself but a quick search for the app LTE Onoff mentioned in other posts regarding the forcing of 3G found it and a few others that you can use. Best of luck and please let us know how things worked out.

 

[Willin]

I just downloaded the "LTE OnOFF - HTC Thunderbolt" app which seems to do the same thing as "Phone Info". LTE OnOFF only amends the connection options and not the extras that Phone Info can be used to change. I think I learned the correct mode to enter which is "CDMA auto (PRL)" for the Droid 4. For the past 5 minutes it seems to be holding 3G only without switching to 4G. I will report back if this doesn't work and continues to drop service.

Thanks SO much for the help, guys. It's bizarre that 4G doesn't work for me since I am located in Manhattan and you'd think it'd be a prime location for good service? I can't imagine how many unknowledgable people are having issues with their connections. I don't know how Verizon hasn't addressed this glaring issue.

 

[snowman]

one of the main reasons to have the phone is the 4G for speed I had one that the 4G was bad like that and the store tried everything and then just
got a replacement the new (refurb) works great just get it replaced instad of running 3g all the time the phone is messed up it's under warranty.
I'm on my 4th phone now for various reasons mostly bad speaker when talking but one had bad 4G as said
these phones are junk thats all there is to it
now I will say the 4G was not so hot on this one after updasting to ICS it was squirley then someone recommended a hard reset and that fixed most all of my
ICS issues I guess it's like installing updating to windows 7 on a Windows 95 machine it's always best to do a fresh install forma=t erase everything and start fresh
it takes a couple days to get it all back again but it fixed mine????
just my thoughts