I hate this Thunderbolt and I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Question

I'm a POWER phone user (but I don't root or jailbreak). If I want to watch a Youtube vid, it had better come up. If I want to sream a radio station, it had better buffer and play, when I want to check something out on a website, it had better come up for me. Otherwise, why not just buy a basic phone? I can do all this other stuff from home. But I don't have TIME at home. I only have time when I'm out and about. So...if my phone doesn't live up to the hype, It just makes me all the more angry. 
This Thunderbolt reboots all the time AND loses it's data connection, even after the update. I'm hoping Gingerbread OTA comes out today as planned.
But I have a theory as to why this is happening. 
I think It has something to do with the networks and Andriod and isn't specific to VZW or the Tbolt. My buddy now lives in a 4G market and never has any issues. He's with Sprint and has their Droid X equivilant. His phone will rarely and only reboot when he's in this area (Kokomo, IN) and he just got Gingerbread and says it really improved battery life. 
I drive 30miles one way to work. There are many routes I can take, but they are all rural. Kokomo is a hodge podge of crap networks. We're 3G, EV, 1x, etc. So nothing lasts long when driving as you'll drift in and out of the various networks all the time. And my phone will almost always reboot when I'm driving, and with no rhyme or reason, consistancy, etc. If it doesn't reboot (which I'm convinced isn't a heat issue either), it will at least lose it's data connectivity. Sometimes It comes back on, but most of the time I have to pull the battery. In the Driod forum, many others have said the same thing, and that a refurb replacement didn't help. So, I don't think it's the phone, but rather how Android handles networks.
I haven't checked... but do other Android phones reboot and lose data like mad? I was surprised when my non-VZW buddy told me his Droid X w/ Sprint rebooted yesterday. For a period of time after the last update, my data connection was fine, but rebooting startedh happening all the time. I don't think my phone rebooted once prior to the last update. My iPhone friends never talk about any of these issues... or any issues to be honest.
Which brings me to this... I was so excited to get this phone. It was my first Droid phone and I chose it over the iPhone only because I had plans on getting an iPad 2. I already have an iPod Touch. So I am stacked full of app's. If I'm in a 4G area, (which is hardly ever), the phone seem to peform fine. I came from a Blackberry Tour 9630, which I thought was the worst phone ever. But this one is JUST as bad, and one of the worst decisions I've made in a long time. I love many things about Andriod and this phone, but I spend more time in forums looking for solutions, (while holding back the desire to smash the phone to bits), than I do using it. I basically dream even using the phone anymore because it will always infuriate me at some point. One more ill-timed reboot is going to make me snap (It's not like my Blackberry, but not exaclty a fast booter either!).
And what stinks is that I'm stuck with it until the end of 2012! Plus, I've invested in an extended life battey and a skin. It's annoying how few aftermarket products are avail for this phone to be honest. Battery life is dreadful, so an extened battery is a must. God forbid Otterbox release a case that fits an ext life battery too. It's not going to happen. So, I'm stuck wiith skins, which is fine.
Also, the charge jack is located in the DUMBEST spot ever. Do you think I'll ever see a good cradle that allows me to watch movies or whatever in landscape mose while charging? I bet not. Yes, I know they make some, but none are any good. I quite simpley I hate this phone and regret buying it. I've been with Verizon for a LOOOONG time too. 
I went to the local store, and they are all really cool and nice, but acted like I was supposed to live w/ the reboots and loss of data. Someone there always grabs the phone and checks it out, making sure the settings are correct, and hands it back. I want a phone that works!!! God forbid they let me get a different phone. I'll even pay my insurance ded of $99 to get out of this phone.
If I call tech support, they are going to want to do my SECOND hard reset, which is a pain to get up and running again. My gmail addy book is dialed in, so I'm good there. But a hard reset won't work, because it doesn't work for anyone else. A refurb phone will do the same thing, and so will a new. Besides, I bet half of those refurbed phones are from rebooting problems anyway! If I march down to the VZW store, they'll tell me to wait till the OTA update hits to see if that works, which it might. But I've read that people who have rooted their phones and got the update say it's better, but still has some issues and quirks. I've been trying all day to get the update, but I bet that they haven't even released it. I need to check. Last time I got an OTA update, I had to get it in the middle of the night.
My point is.... i'm in cell h--- in this area. We are a 3G city, but if you go any direction out of the city, you start getting into to Centennial Wireless territory, and they are a giant thorn in the side to all major cell companies. They won't let go of a particular area and because of it, Kokomo will likely have ghetto 4G. At least for me, because I'll be far away from the tower. Plus, I live on the south edge of town. So, as I travel south to Indy, I'll have weak 4G, and then get into North Indy's weak 4G until I get closer to the city. Then it's FAST!! Good 4G service is unreal. I'm just regurgitating what a VZW rep told me. I'm just repeating it all back with some "hatred" mixed in.
So, I don't know what to do. Call Tech Support? Beg for a refurb that likely won't work? I could file an insurance claim since I have a legit reason. Sweat got under the display and won't go away. It's not bad, but it's not perfect. The people at the VZW store told me that I really need to get a Bluetooth headset, esp if I sweat a lot. I also put the phone in the crook of my neck a lot and talk while working. This almost always hangs up the call. Very irritating!!
They also told me at the store that if I go thru Insurance and pay my $99 ded, I MAY have a chance to talk them into letting me get a different phone of equal or more value but i'll have to really sell the idea. And if so, I'm going iPhone 4. Period. I don't think it's necc better than my Tbolt, but it's reliable, I have tons of app's for it already, and I'm a Mac user anyway. It just makes sense. Otherwise, there is NO CHANCE i'll be able to talk VZW into getting me out of this phone, even though none of these issues were present while I had the return policy. Only after did it start to do all of these weird things.
It sounds like I'm complaining about the Tbolt just to get the iPhone and I'm not. I'm upset because using my phone is a horrible experience as it's either slow, has a horrible connection most of the time when I'm driving, and is only useful on Wifi. Maybe a different phone will be no better and I'm just cursed to live in a bad market? VZW was supposed to the be the best though, so switching probl won't help me.
Not sure what to do exactly... so I will probl wait to see if anyone has any suggestions. I hate to be so negative, but I'm likely SOL, and that's really sad. VZW has been very good to me over the years, but i don't see how this will end well for me.
Jason

Answer 1

jpoprock1 wrote:
You know something ironic? I tried to respond to this using my Thunderbolt and the stock browser, and I couldn't type anything in this box! HA!! I'm doing this from the web.
Anyway, doing the *#*#4636#*#* thing did the trick. I'm now running CDMA (PRL), and only have had one reboot in two days. Usually I would have like 10. This totally confirms that it's something with the brains of the Tbolt that can't handle hand-off's on non-4G networks. In fact, in the past my phone would be in 3G mode, then when a 1x handoff needed to happen, my phone would either not hand off to 1x at all, or it would simply LOSE it's data connection. I watched my signal on my trip home yesterday, and it would easily switch in and out of 3G and 1X. As I said, I'm in "cell hell" here, so I bet I change from 1x to 3G at least 4 times in a 30 mile radius either direction.
So, for VZW store employees to tell people we'll be 4G before the end of year, is just a ploy to cell the new phones. Even if Kokomo goes 4G, it's only good if you never leave town! If half the state is still 1X, then what hope is there that most places will be 4G?
I don't understand, outside of sheer cost, what the problem is making 1x Towers 3G or 4G capable? Are these towers privately owned? Is it up to the owner to fork over the money? Why would they do that for the convenience of minority 4G users if 1X and 3G works "Ok"? It should be manditory. And there are towers ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, so I can only imagine the expense involved. But still, these companies have a responsibility to stay current. Otherwise, someone else will come along with a totally dialed in network and they'll lose business. I'm starting to think VZW is getting so big so fast that they can't keep up.
verizon has the largest network. they have the fastest network. what more can they do? yes, they focus on major markets, but that's because that is where they make money. they aren't a public utility. they are a for profit corporation. their coverage speaks for itself. they pay WAY more attention to the rural areas than any other carrier.....but it's just bad business to throw ten towers in a spread out rural area that will cover a few thousand people....when they can use 9 of those towers in an area that will cover 200,000 people. their LTE network is 10 times faster than sprint's "4g" and they are banking on domintaing the market with it, just like they did with 3g. keep in mind that they launched the first LTE areas only 6 months ago and this is still very new technology.
for the record though, i mostly keep mine in 3g right now, as it is much better on my battery. i switch it to 4g if i'm not near wifi and want to browse or download something. i'm in a strong LTE network and i do believe this LTE network will blow the other carriers out of the water. my 3g incredible speed tests at the same rate as my friends' EVO's on sprint's "4g" netowrk. (just under 2 mbps). no reboots, but i didn't install they update back in may.