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Just realized that I forgot to enable LTE again after trying to force my Bionic over to 3G to keep a signal. Doh! Is there an app or widget that someone can recommend that I can use to switch between 3G and 4G profiles without having to go into the system settings each time? Ideally, I would like something like the power control widget, but haven't found anything good yet.
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Sep 20, 2011 04:50
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So I'm thinking of biting the bullet and switching over to Verizon from T-Mobile (I went from Sprint SERO to T-Mobile because Sprint service was gradually getting worse where I live/work). I've got a few questions... 1. Can I activate a second-hand device right now and save my new customer pricing for when the Droid Prime or whatever comes out? 2. Can I transfer someone else's legacy unlimited smartphone data plan into my name and have sweet sweet unlimited 3G/4G data? 3. Is it really worth it? Bay Area, if it matters. I'm paying $42.50 a month after employee discount for T-Mobile (500min/unl txt/2gb data) and Verizon is $66 for 450min/250 txt/2gb data after my employee discount. I use Google Voice so I'm ok with not having texting at all as well but would like to have some to play with.
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Sep 20, 2011 06:16
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I lost LTE coverage for a little bit around 4:30-5:00pst. Assumed it was related to the fact that I was in a sparsely populated part of the Portland area that might not have coverage, though the town I was headed to does and I wasn't that far off of I-5. Regardless, I think I'm going to return my Bionic and grab a Vigor or Prime (if that happens). I probably wouldn't have noticed if I didn't read this thread, but the display bugs me. If it wasn't a "flagship" type phone I'd deal with it, but at that price point it shouldn't have a noticeably worse display than my DX. I'm going to wait until my 14 days are almost up of course, I don't want to give up that sweet, sweet LTE coverage. I did a bandwidth test on Saturday AM and got 38mb down and 28mb up. It hasn't been that fast since, but the 18-20mb I'm hitting is real nice.
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Sep 20, 2011 06:56
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highme posted:I lost LTE coverage for a little bit around 4:30-5:00pst. Assumed it was related to the fact that I was in a sparsely populated part of the Portland area that might not have coverage, though the town I was headed to does and I wasn't that far off of I-5. What was your ping when you tested?
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Sep 20, 2011 09:15
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duffmensch posted:Just realized that I forgot to enable LTE again after trying to force my Bionic over to 3G to keep a signal. Doh! On my thunderbolt I used a program called LTE On/Off that worked well for me. It basically was a shortcut to bring up a hidden diagnostic menu that will let you toggle the radios.
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Sep 20, 2011 09:43
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Is it odd that my Bionic gets at least 12-14 hours of battery life a day? I think I'm seeing better battery life when I actually turned LTE on (I thought turning it off would save battery since I'm a nerd like that). The only thing I could possibly think of is that 3G was roaming often which drained the battery while LTE was roaming as often? Whatever, getting more battery life than my OG Droid. P.S. Use the Task Manager application on the phone. It's awesome for it's auto-end functions.
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Sep 20, 2011 12:10
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chocolateTHUNDER posted:What was your ping when you tested? I don't recall exactly. I want to say somewhere between 60 & 90ms though.
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Sep 20, 2011 14:44
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highme posted:I don't recall exactly. I want to say somewhere between 60 & 90ms though. Man LTE is loving awesome. That's good enough for FPS gameplay.
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Sep 20, 2011 14:46
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Yeah, I've usually been getting between 80 and 110 for a ping. LTE speeds at my house have jumped in the last week, when I first got my phone I was only getting about 12Mbps, now I seem to be able to pull down at least 18Mbps or so.
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Sep 20, 2011 15:24
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chocolateTHUNDER posted:Man LTE is loving awesome. That's good enough for FPS gameplay. I just did another test. Got 30mb down, 20mb up, with 62ms ping.
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Sep 20, 2011 15:51
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I am not happy with my Thunderbolt at this point and I'm thinking of selling it and switching to an iPhone 5 when it comes out. It sounds like the next iPhone supporting LTE is really kind of a Hail Mary play at this point, and that's fair. But will that jeopardize my unlimited data in any way to switch down to a 3G phone (and will it kill any chance for upgrading back to LTE later and keeping unlimited)?
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Sep 20, 2011 16:16
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At the moment, no. The future is uncertain though. Keep in mind as well that they've started throttling 3G customers under certain circumstances that have unlimited 3G data. No such throttling exists on LTE.
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Sep 20, 2011 16:21
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highme posted:I just did another test. Got 30mb down, 20mb up, with 62ms ping. It's simply amazing that this kind of speed and bandwidth can come through the loving air. The future is now. Now let's see if all these providers keep their promise they gave to the FCC that they would bring broadband to rural america at affordable prices...somehow im less optimistic about that than actual LTE speeds.
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Sep 20, 2011 16:22
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Hot on the heels of 26 new markets going live last week, Verizon is going to add 21+ more markets on Oct 21st. http://www.droid-life.com/2011/09/20/verizon-lights-up-4g-lte-in-21-new-markets-on-october-21/ The full list isn't out yet to see where the additions are, but this is seriously impressive how aggressive the rollout is.
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Sep 20, 2011 16:33
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Your post made me check the verizon wireless coverage map. Would love to have 4G with my bionic, but living in a smaller town I don't expect it. I was shocked to see that the 4g stops literally 5-10 minutes from my house. Is there a chance that will stretch, or am I just out of luck until they add more markets that are closer (which won't happen). Zip code: 45822 for those wanting to get a better understanding where i am coming from.
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Sep 20, 2011 16:50
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It's hard to say. OH was a big focus of expansion for last week's rollout, so it may be some time befor coverage increases again. I don't know if there is gradual coverage creep beyond official announcements or if coverage really only expands when they talk about it. It seems like they've been doing one major expansion a month, so it will probably be less than a year I would bet. Verizon is targeting their entire 3G footprint for LTE by the start of 2013.
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Sep 20, 2011 17:02
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My OG droid seems to be attempting to push me into getting the Bionic. Power button no longer recoils after being pressed, making it hard to tell when it is being pushed. Symptomatic of other button problems as well I think (keyboard is becoming nigh unusable due to keys not registering properly). I was really hoping it would last until the Prime is revealed/released, but who knows. At least from the way you guys describe it the Bionic is pretty good.
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Sep 20, 2011 17:24
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I get better LTE coverage than CDMA 3G coverage at home. I generally get 1-2 bars of 3G, but stay pretty consistently at 3-4 bars of LTE. At home, where apparently nobody has an LTE phone yet besides me and my wife, I can pull 10-15Mbit with 1-2 bars of LTE. If I go upstairs where I get 3-4 bars of LTE, I can pull 22Mbit+
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Sep 20, 2011 17:35
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bull3964 posted:Hot on the heels of 26 new markets going live last week, Verizon is going to add 21+ more markets on Oct 21st. Say what you will about the marketing guys over at Verizon, the people in charge of the network team are far and away the best in the business. AT&T has JUST started lighting up a few "test" cities. They are at least 3 years behind at this point, hell, MetroPCS has a more extensive LTE network than AT&T at the moment. I wonder how far the LTE buildout would be if Obama hadn't pushed back the DTV transition and Verizon would have had another 6 months head start. Mighty Horse fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Sep 20, 2011 |
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Sep 20, 2011 17:58
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Mighty Horse posted:Say what you will about the marketing guys over at Verizon, the people in charge of the network team are far and away the best in the business. Five cities! It's absolutely adorable 
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Sep 20, 2011 17:59
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Mark Larson posted:So I'm thinking of biting the bullet and switching over to Verizon from T-Mobile (I went from Sprint SERO to T-Mobile because Sprint service was gradually getting worse where I live/work). I've got a few questions... 1. Yes, just go to a Verizon corporate store with some Verizon-branded equipment (they won't activate anyone else's) and tell then you're doing your own equipment. If you need more information click the upside-down ? next to my name and read the responses to my first or second post by the OP in this thread. 2. No, the unlimited data won't survive the liability transfer. 3. Depends. When my wife lived in the Bay Area she got great coverage with VZ, but it will change depending on your location. Best bet is to ask coworkers or friends who have VZ to give you an honest assessment.
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Sep 20, 2011 18:12
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kitten smoothie posted:I am not happy with my Thunderbolt at this point and I'm thinking of selling it and switching to an iPhone 5 when it comes out. I went and returned my 2nd Bionic. The replacement unit had the same radio issues and I was experiencing random reboots which was probably more of an issue with the Android OS. I went from 4g to 3g and I still have unlimited data. I am probably done with Android phones for now. Probably make the jump to the next iPhone. Although from the rumor sites it look as though it will be more of an iPhone 4s upgrade and there might not be a 5 coming out this year. Who knows.
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Sep 20, 2011 18:58
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How is it that, other than DC's spillover, LTE is nowhere in Virginia? Somehow the twelfth most populous state has found itself in the No-LTE club along with population boomers Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Wyoming, and Montana. Baffling.
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Sep 20, 2011 20:07
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tismondo posted:How is it that, other than DC's spillover, LTE is nowhere in Virginia? Virginia has some crazy terrain, maybe they don't feel comfortable rolling it out in mountainous area's until they've done more testing/put up more towers?
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Sep 20, 2011 20:14
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Unlimited data won't survive the transfer? Huh. That sucks. Can anyone confirm this? From what I understand, AT&T allows unlimited data to survive the TOL. Also, will getting an employee discount force me to sign a 2yr contract even if I do a TOL or bring my own device? And then another 2yr contract when I finally get my new customer pricing?
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Sep 20, 2011 20:27
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tismondo posted:How is it that, other than DC's spillover, LTE is nowhere in Virginia? They're testing it in Newport News/Yorktown/Hampton/Norfolk so I would assume Richmond is getting rolled out near the same time unless my Verizon rep went to all the trouble of faking a screenshot just to show me her phone using LTE. No confirmed date or anything on a rollout but it is coming
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Sep 20, 2011 20:27
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chocolateTHUNDER posted:Virginia has some crazy terrain, maybe they don't feel comfortable rolling it out in mountainous area's until they've done more testing/put up more towers?
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Sep 20, 2011 20:34
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tismondo posted:The populous eastern half of the state is flat. But news (from the post above this one) that it's testing in the coastal part makes sense. It just seems so strange for a big state's rollout to be nonexistent and unannounced. Your not alone. New York state has pretty much NYC area and upstate new York with LTE. So far they've ignored long island (where I live) and pretty much anything below Albany that isn't the city 
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Sep 20, 2011 20:36
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My guess is simply population density. They are still tuning their network and are treading lightly where their subscriber base is densest.
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Sep 20, 2011 20:52
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Its partially that, but a lot of it has to do with where they have the updated backhaul in place. There are several towers already wired up and set to go, but they can't flick the switch because the backhaul to the tower is too drat slow. Getting the bandwidth to support multiple 12mpbs connections on top of all the voice and 3g data traffic can be difficult in some areas, and its not always the remote ones that are the difficult ones..
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Sep 20, 2011 21:22
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That's probably why Pittsburgh was a launch city. Just enough population and Verizon fiber is everywhere around here. I'm sure the infrastructure they put in place for the widespread FIOS rollouts probably pays dividends in providing backhaul to cell sites.
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Sep 20, 2011 21:27
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Reading about Verizon pumping out more LTE locations October has me hopeful. I live in Central/West NJ a little above Philly. Don't have a 4g device yet as I'm waiting to see how the Vigor and Prime pan out but there's a pretty strong presence around here already. Not exactly where I am but it's strong in Philly, and there's a couple other good coverage areas northeast / southeast of me. I figure they'll be filling in the gaps pretty soon. What was the red on the map in that Droidlife article? Is that just their current 3g coverage or something? Seems like a lot of gaps out west on it so I feel more inclined to say it's 3g but they also have all of NJ red on that map which I know 4g isn't quite everywhere here yet.
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Sep 20, 2011 21:52
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Yeah, that's their existing 3G footprint. I would love for someone to do a mashup of Verizon's LTE coverage and AT&Ts HSDPA+ coverage because just looking at my area, it appears there's more LTE coverage. In fact, LTE is getting very close in places to their MobileBroadband coverage map and that's simply 3G. I think it's especially damning since AT&T has only committed to rolling out LTE to existing HSDPA+ areas and they've only comitted to deploying HSDPA+ to existing HSDPA areas. Chances are if you are stuck on EDGE for AT&T, you are going to be stuck there for quite some time. Meanwhile, Verizon has committed to a total conversion to LTE. It's not just that the existing 3G footprint will be covered by 2013, they will start expanding LTE to non-3G areas after that. bull3964 fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Sep 20, 2011 |
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Sep 20, 2011 21:53
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bull3964 posted:That's probably why Pittsburgh was a launch city. Just enough population and Verizon fiber is everywhere around here. I'm sure the infrastructure they put in place for the widespread FIOS rollouts probably pays dividends in providing backhaul to cell sites. That and your drat football team is always a winning team 
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Sep 20, 2011 22:20
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tismondo posted:How is it that, other than DC's spillover, LTE is nowhere in Virginia? Eh, from what I've seen, there's good LTE coverage as far as Western Fairfax. Supposedly you should be able to get it as far as Ashburn/Leesburg in Loudon, however I seem to be in 3G when I'm out that way. Of course, you might consider that spillover so 
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Sep 20, 2011 22:32
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FYI to anyone who's experienced the headphone jack hiss issue (I actually haven't even plugged headphones into the phone yet), apparently the issue has been identified and a fix has already been made that's ready to roll into the next update.
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Sep 20, 2011 22:54
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tismondo posted:How is it that, other than DC's spillover, LTE is nowhere in Virginia? Lansing, Michigan chuckles at your lack of 4g. e: So does Grand Rapids and Flint.
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Sep 20, 2011 23:25
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tismondo posted:How is it that, other than DC's spillover, LTE is nowhere in Virginia? Edit: And lord knows if there is the backhaul. Although there are one or two local companies that are offering Gigabit Ethernet broadband in the state. waffle iron fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Sep 21, 2011 |
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Sep 21, 2011 00:35
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Full list of new and expansions are out. http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/20/verizon-continues-nationwide-lte-expansion-tour-edges-closer-to/ New Green Bay, WI Bloomington, IN Bedford, IN Mitchell, IN Evansville, IN Birmingham, AL Albuquerque, NM Santa Fe, NM Terre Haute, IN South Bend, IN Mishawaka, IN Elkhart, IN Goshen, IN Sioux City, IA Buffalo, NY Niagara, NY Modesto, CA Stockton, CA Expanded markets Greater Erie, PA Los Angeles, CA San Diego, CA
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Sep 21, 2011 01:07
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Great to hear. Their 3G network will also benefit from overlapping LTE coverage by spreading the load.chocolateTHUNDER posted:Man LTE is loving awesome. That's good enough for FPS gameplay. You can also get around 80ms ping on verizon's 3G, which is perfectly playable for something like a game of L4D2  As opposed to ATT's network where they route ALL of their connection through a terrible gateway somewhere far away and give you around 200~250ms ping no matter what, verizon seem to have a more localized setup so you reach the outside network fairly quickly.
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Sep 21, 2011 01:48
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