Verizon Confirms 4G Disconnect Issues with HTC Thunderbolt; Working On Fix

[dgstorm]

Apparently, there have been a flood of 4G disconnect issues for many users of the new HTC Thunderbolt. The issue is wide-spread as well, from Florida to California and everything in-between. Reports indicate that LTE disconnects randomly, and then reconnects 5-10 seconds later. Luckily, Verizon is aware of the problem and is working on an OTA update to deal with the issue. Sound off in the forums if you are one of the unlucky users that have experienced this issue.

Source: TalkAndroid

 

[teddyblair]

i rarely use 4G because of the battery drain, but when I do I haven't had any problems with it. Fast and stable.

This is definitely the kind of thing that is meant when we hear that skype is being delayed while Verizon works on the stability of 4G...

 

[edbdroid]

And where is the link supporting the "Verizon is aware of the problem and is working on an OTA update" claim?

Sadly, I remain skeptical. Not that the problem exists, necessarily, but that anyone has owned up to it.

 

[Beardface]

And where is the link supporting the "Verizon is aware of the problem and is working on an OTA update" claim?

Sadly, I remain skeptical. Not that the problem exists, necessarily, but that anyone has owned up to it.

I would say its common sense that Verizon is in panic mode to get an OTA out ASAP to fix this problem. Thunderbolt is the flagship LTE device for Verizon. The absolute last thing they would want is to develop a reputation for having an extremely unreliable network. That would completely ruin the good reputation they do have.

With that said, this helps to explain the battery drain on the devices. If the network continually drops and the phone is always searching for it, you're going to see the battery die quickly. I had the same problem on 3G with my original Droid when I was at the beach where I was on the fringes of 3G and the phone was constantly searching. And heck, from my own personal experience, I'm getting close to a full 24 hours per charge on my Thunderbolt in a non-4G area with moderate use. If this is true, once Verizon and HTC release a fix, we should see a drastic improvement in battery life on the device.

 

[UNC]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

 

[edbdroid]

And where is the link supporting the "Verizon is aware of the problem and is working on an OTA update" claim?

Sadly, I remain skeptical. Not that the problem exists, necessarily, but that anyone has owned up to it.

I would say its common sense that Verizon is in panic mode to get an OTA out ASAP to fix this problem. Thunderbolt is the flagship LTE device for Verizon. The absolute last thing they would want is to develop a reputation for having an extremely unreliable network. That would completely ruin the good reputation they do have.

With that said, this helps to explain the battery drain on the devices. If the network continually drops and the phone is always searching for it, you're going to see the battery die quickly. I had the same problem on 3G with my original Droid when I was at the beach where I was on the fringes of 3G and the phone was constantly searching. And heck, from my own personal experience, I'm getting close to a full 24 hours per charge on my Thunderbolt in a non-4G area with moderate use. If this is true, once Verizon and HTC release a fix, we should see a drastic improvement in battery life on the device.

And again, in case I wasn't clear, I thank you for putting a finer point on it.

I'm not saying the problem doesn't exist.

I never had the problem you mentioned with the OG Droid, but I don't doubt that you did.

I don't have the problem with my Thunderbolt, but I don't doubt other people do. Adding to the murkiness, I'm in a 3G area that's supposed to have LTE turned up this summer, so I haven't had the *opportunity* to experience this problem yet.

Again, what I am questioning is "Verizon is aware of the problem and is working on an OTA update". What's the source for this revelation? I traced it back from this blog to another blog to another blog, which to linked to a post in a vzw user forum. My cousin's cousin's cousin said they talked to Verizon and they said it's a known issue. Why isn't there a link to Verizon stating that it is, in fact, a known issue? If it is, there should be an official link, not a lot of hearsay. That's all I'm getting at.

 

[Beardface]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

How do you know this is a problem with the TBolt alone and not just a problem with how Verizon is trying to get their devices to hook up to the service?

The network is brand new. Had any other device been released on it first, we would likely be seeing the same problems with it that we are seeing with the Bolt. In fact, the biggest complaint (and in 99% of the cases, the only complaint I see) is that the battery life sucks. Well, if this report is true, we have figured out why it sucks. Once that is fixed, there is a very good chance that this problem is eliminated. I mean, everyone I speak with who only uses the TBolt on 3G gets somewhere between 20 and 30 hours per charge out of it. I don't see why 4G would drain the battery 3 or 4 times faster unless it was buggy and unreliable. It appears that is the case.

 

[Mustang02]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

Please name the "WAY too many flaws"? Other than the Battery issues people report. Every device has issues. I can't count how many there were on each BB device I owned, or even with my Droid X.

 

[JVince]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

I must be extremely lucky to get one of the ones with only one issue (10-12hr battery).

 

[hookbill]

And where is the link supporting the "Verizon is aware of the problem and is working on an OTA update" claim?

Sadly, I remain skeptical. Not that the problem exists, necessarily, but that anyone has owned up to it.

This is a good question. I followed every link that copied this story and all it did was take me to a discussion on the issue. I did not see anywhere that Verizon acknowledges the issue.

 

[Beardface]

Looking into it, I have to agree, does not appear that Verizon has confirmed anything (unless the initial report linked to the wrong site).

However, it also looks like the problem appears when people are trying to use the Mobile HotSpot that Verizon installed as bloatware for tethering. Deactivating it seems to have helped a few.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I don't think Verizon is going to do anything. Yeah, I've noticed now and then 4G disappearing and popping back in a few seconds later. Yes, it's annoying but livable. I don't know about others but my OG Droid with a gingerbread rom did that SO MUCH that it sometimes took 5 minutes to get data back. So maybe it doesn't affect me much because of that.

OTA? All I hear is OTA this, OTA that, <blank> we've had OTA promises since DAY 1 and there hasn't been anything. OTA for the Internal memory only being 4GB when advertised at 8. OTA for the video volume. I have 0 hopes for an OTA. Already, the rom I'm running fixes the Bluetooth audio problem I had (0 volume) so whatever. OTA my fat <blank>.

 

[drtechy]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

Ummm mine works fine, has since day one. I haven't had any issues. Look every company goes through this every time a new device comes out. No device can be perfect, its just impossible. To those of you who whine and complain about these small issues, that most likely will be fixed with an update eventually, try developing software sometime and then come back and tell me you can create a product with NO issues. Have fun with that, in the mean time I'm going to go enjoy my LTE speeds with my leaked skype app, and tether to all my friends because their dsl at home can't even keep up with it.

 

[UNC]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

Please name the "WAY too many flaws"? Other than the Battery issues people report. Every device has issues. I can't count how many there were on each BB device I owned, or even with my Droid X.

Data dropping, battery life, half the advertised on board memory, terrible call quality, no 4g toggle, no HTCsense.com, broken fast boot when in 3g coverage, GPS issues... Not to mention overpriced, and still incapable of properly charging without the bump charge.

I agree with the poster who questions Verizon saying they will fix this, Verizon would've tweeted it...

The TB won't be a 'flagship' device for long, the next 4g phone is actually marketed as a 'Droid' meaning it is seen by Verizon as a better and more important device than the TB... Droid Charge...

 

[drtechy]

Waiting for all the "my 4g works fine" posts...

The TB should've been aborted, it has WAY too many flaws.. I wonder if the "fix" will also fix the 3g dropping which happened to me when I had TB, and according to many forums, is happening to many other people as well....

Please name the "WAY too many flaws"? Other than the Battery issues people report. Every device has issues. I can't count how many there were on each BB device I owned, or even with my Droid X.

Data dropping, battery life, half the advertised on board memory, terrible call quality, no 4g toggle, no HTCsense.com, broken fast boot when in 3g coverage, GPS issues... Not to mention overpriced, and still incapable of properly charging without the bump charge.

I agree with the poster who questions Verizon saying they will fix this, Verizon would've tweeted it...

The TB won't be a 'flagship' device for long, the next 4g phone is actually marketed as a 'Droid' meaning it is seen by Verizon as a better and more important device than the TB... Droid Charge...

So let's tackle these one at a time:

Data dropping - only LTE and only in certain areas not everyone is effected, battery life - same as HTC EVO stop complaining and buy an extended battery
half the advertised on board memory - software glitch its there
terrible call quality - don't know what thunderbolt your using but mine has had perfect call quality
no 4g toggle - agreed that stinks but only because Verizon wants people using the new network instead of staying on the old technology
no HTCsense.com - WTF is that? Used to synchronize data I'm assuming? Get a gmail account its a google phone!!!
broken fast boot when in 3g coverage - no clue what that is either so for the typical user not an issue
GPS issues-none here
Not to mention overpriced - agree completely
still incapable of properly charging without the bump charge - never had to bump charge mine

So this is all just one person's view of course, but just goes to show you not everyone has the same experience, and don't forget the forum world only accounts for maybe 20-25% of the total amount of users, so that means the other 75% would be typical and would return it if they felt something was wrong. Guess what the returns have not been astronomical, and in fact they have not been close to what the returns were when Apple came out with the iPhone 4 and their signal issues.

Again please you try and develop something like this and tell me you won't have any issues out of the gate