Dear Verizon Wireless...
Aug. 7th, 2012 07:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisAre we having some capacity difficulties these days?
I’ve noticed that nearly the entire time I was in the greater San Francisco area, my connectivity was iffy at best.
Where I live in DC, it’s a rare moment when I pick up my phone and don’t have constant 4GLTE access; at no point have I ever had a dropped call or absolutely no voice connectivity. Sure, I might get only three bars from time to time, but 95% of the time I get a full five and unless I’m in motion and drop into a dark spot somewhere, I’m in constant contact. Not so in the bay area!
I sat in my office in Foster City and my hotel next door, watching my phone occasionally latch onto a 4G signal for a few minutes, then lose the connection. This was especially frustrating when I was actively using the data services, either web browsing, composing email, reading Twitter or using my wifi hotspot functionality. I noticed the same behavior in my travels in Belmont, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Fremont and San Francisco Airport.
More than once, I was entirely blocked from making voice calls for lack of any connectivity. I wait 5-10 minutes without moving from my seat and suddenly I get all my bars back. A few minutes later, they’re all gone again. This shouldn’t happen.
It’s made even more aggravating because my Droid Bionic phone (purchased 10 months ago) is utterly useless when it attempts to lock onto a data signal. It freezes for approximately 60-90 seconds until the connection is established. Even if I have voice service, the Contacts function freezes so I can’t locate a telephone number in my directory even though I know it is resident in the phone’s memory. This phone works very well when it has a continuous connection but it is graceless and ungainly when dealing with an intermittent signal to the point it makes me wonder question the state of the technology.
BTW, your latest software update for the Droid Bionic was a huge mistake. As near as I can tell, it gained me nothing. The GPS now take several times longer to pinpoint my location. The user interface seems to stutter, acting as though some other operation was chewing up all memory & cpu power at unpredictable intervals. I wish I could figure out the pattern or determine which app might be offending the operating system but I haven’t had any luck yet and you don’t have any tools to help me or your store tech support figure it out.
The Bionic used to be a delight to use but I now sometimes regret retiring my old Blackberry Storm. If you’d finally let me have Ice Cream Sandwich, all would be forgiven, but you’re not going to do that any time soon, are you?
As I write this, I'm in my way back to Washington DC where my phone is typically much better behaved. If I start to see any similar issues at home, however, I will be looking for a different service. Just sayin'.
I’ve noticed that nearly the entire time I was in the greater San Francisco area, my connectivity was iffy at best.
Where I live in DC, it’s a rare moment when I pick up my phone and don’t have constant 4GLTE access; at no point have I ever had a dropped call or absolutely no voice connectivity. Sure, I might get only three bars from time to time, but 95% of the time I get a full five and unless I’m in motion and drop into a dark spot somewhere, I’m in constant contact. Not so in the bay area!
I sat in my office in Foster City and my hotel next door, watching my phone occasionally latch onto a 4G signal for a few minutes, then lose the connection. This was especially frustrating when I was actively using the data services, either web browsing, composing email, reading Twitter or using my wifi hotspot functionality. I noticed the same behavior in my travels in Belmont, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Fremont and San Francisco Airport.
More than once, I was entirely blocked from making voice calls for lack of any connectivity. I wait 5-10 minutes without moving from my seat and suddenly I get all my bars back. A few minutes later, they’re all gone again. This shouldn’t happen.
It’s made even more aggravating because my Droid Bionic phone (purchased 10 months ago) is utterly useless when it attempts to lock onto a data signal. It freezes for approximately 60-90 seconds until the connection is established. Even if I have voice service, the Contacts function freezes so I can’t locate a telephone number in my directory even though I know it is resident in the phone’s memory. This phone works very well when it has a continuous connection but it is graceless and ungainly when dealing with an intermittent signal to the point it makes me wonder question the state of the technology.
BTW, your latest software update for the Droid Bionic was a huge mistake. As near as I can tell, it gained me nothing. The GPS now take several times longer to pinpoint my location. The user interface seems to stutter, acting as though some other operation was chewing up all memory & cpu power at unpredictable intervals. I wish I could figure out the pattern or determine which app might be offending the operating system but I haven’t had any luck yet and you don’t have any tools to help me or your store tech support figure it out.
The Bionic used to be a delight to use but I now sometimes regret retiring my old Blackberry Storm. If you’d finally let me have Ice Cream Sandwich, all would be forgiven, but you’re not going to do that any time soon, are you?
As I write this, I'm in my way back to Washington DC where my phone is typically much better behaved. If I start to see any similar issues at home, however, I will be looking for a different service. Just sayin'.
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 01:31 am (UTC)I notice that even in Bellevue, east of Seattle where I work, I don't always have data available to check my email and both my Droid phone AND my old BB Storm got to where MSN wont self refresh like Yahoo does, what's up with that? I have to retype my password if not already in the MSN email portal, or I hit the refresh if I am or the system won't drop emails automatically as they come in like it should. Did for a while, but now it's stopped.
BTW, I'm on Verizon too but here, I DO get a 4G signal more often than not.
I do use WiFi whenever I can, but it sucks up battery life pretty quickly so I don't leave it on but when it's on and the connection is good, it's often better than 4G speed wise.
I don't use hotspot as it was considered an extra cost option at the time I upgraded, now, it may have changed.