LTE Outage Tip - How to Get VZW Data Satisfaction for Galaxy Nexus, HTC ThunderBolt, Rezound, Droid RAZR, Bionic, Charge & More

The 4G LTE network of Verizon Wireless experienced problems in some cities, today. There could be data disconnections for devices such as the, Galaxy Nexus Droid Charge, Droid RAZR, Pantech Breakout, Samsung Stratosphere, HTC ThunderBolt, HTC Rezound, 4G tablets, and USB modems. If you are Verizon 4G LTE customer, don't panic. A few setting changes will enable 3G data access.

There are outages reported in New York City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Toledo, and Portland.

Update 12/39/2011: We've received word from Verizon spokesman Tom Pica, "4G LTE issue resolved overnight. 3G operated normally; calling, texting were unaffected."

Verizon said that it is only a 4G LTE problem and issued the following statement to media:

 “We are investigating reports of some customers experiencing trouble accessing the 4GLTE network. The network itself continues to operate and all customers continue to be able to make calls, send text messages and utilize data services. 3G devices are operating normally.”

We've tried to contact Verizon reps to find out when the network will be restored.

In Los Angeles, we we turned airplane mode on and off on a Pantech Breakout and then we were able to get a 3G data connection.

During previous outages, it helped to select "CDMA" only and then toggle to "airplane" mode in order to get 3G to work instead of 4G. Here's how to do it:

  • Go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Network Mode, choose CDMA Only. (This disables 4G which you'll need to turn back on when 4G works again in your area).
  • Then, if you still don't have 3G data, toggle airplane mode on/off for the 3G connection. Apparently, toggling Wi-Fi also works.

Users have reported that they received a $15 credit for the last outage after calling and contacting Verizon. Pressure from users may encourage Verizon to give some kind of freebie.

We noticed from comments on Twitter, that those with "rooted"4G LTE smartphones appear to be having the most problems.

By the end of 2011, the Verizon 4G LTE network includes 190 markets, 9 smartphones and a coverage of 200 million.

If you are shopping for 4G LTE smartphone or tablet, here are you choices:

  • Droid RAZR (in white or black) appears in many top ten best smartphones of 2011 lists. Reviewers of the DROID RAZR gave it Editors' Choice and was rated "well" for being the fastest and thinnest for now.
  • Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the latest release with the newest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Amazon Wireless sells it for $149.99 for new customers and $199.99 for renewing customers.
  • HTC Rezound with beats audio appears in many top ten best smartphones of 2011 lists.  WMNS Dare 2 Compare of the RAZR vs Rezound, revealed the RAZR winning one and losing the other comparison. HTC Rezound at Amazon sells for $199.99 for new customers and $219.99 for renewing customers.
  • Droid Xyboard tablets, the latest tablets from Motorola, have a special water splash-guard coating to protect from spills.
  • Samsung Stratsophere - announced today that the Samsung Stratosphere is the first QWERTY 4G LTE smartphone from Verizon Wireless.
  • Pantech Breakout is the 4G LTE smartphone with rounded corners and a lowest starting price from Verizon Wireless.
  • Droid Bionic by Motorola is the first dual-core smartphone on the network.
  • The price on the 4G LTE-enabled Motorola XOOM tablet (read review) recently dropped down to $299.
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 4G LTE (read review).
  • HTC ThunderBolt (read review).
  • Samsung Droid Charge (read review).
  • LG Revolution (read review and compare with first three Verizon 4G LTE smartphones).

1 thought on “LTE Outage Tip - How to Get VZW Data Satisfaction for Galaxy Nexus, HTC ThunderBolt, Rezound, Droid RAZR, Bionic, Charge & More”

  1. Thanks for the tip on fixing the hotspot issue. Airplane mode off then on worked on the Galaxy Nexus.

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