I am currently using the Tour and it's signal has always fluctuated more than my Curve but this is something different. I am missing calls. Thankfully, I use Youmail so I get text message notification of missed calls and emails.

You're right that voice and data is separate but I still have more dropped calls, slow text, lowered 3G quality and reception. Even though data has increased you have to consider the workload of the tower and backhaul. Increased use of any kind can effect lots of things.

I have no way of knowing if this is true for your area, but in my area, Verizon sent the past two years converting their entire backhaul to high bandwidth fiber optic.

This stuff you know about fiber optic being added to the backhaul where you live, is there anyway you can find out if fiber optics have been added to Las Vegas/Henderson/North
Las Vegas? I'm not feeling any difference if so.

I'll check. Usually the greater Vegas area gets upgrades before us. But who knows?

Considering Vegas is on the LTE list likely your right. Who knows, maybe its's my Droid, but I just don't sense any major improvements recently.

So you'll check tomorrow when you go into work?

Yes. I'll probably email someone who works in Network who would know.

Dumb question, but have you done a *228 lately? I've noticed that if I don't do it after Verizon releases new PRLs I have issues. Also, the towers in my area get adjusted all the time due to new towers being built, and my phone doesn't know that until I update the PRL with *228.

Yeah, Menno did a post about that on AC.

AC?

AC= Android Central

Oh, yeah. I used to go on there daily, but only after Crackberry. I don't really hit Crackberry any more, so I've forgotten about Android Central.

I've got the Android Central widget on one of my homescreens, so if there isn't any headlines in the widget that really grab my eye then I don't hit the site regularly.

It would be nice if Phone Scoop had a widget for Android.

There's a service that makes them for blogs. I've looked into it for my own site. Not very expensive to make.

Ok, so is there an iHeardDroid or Phonecan.com widget in the Android market?

Once I scratch together some money, there probably will be. I wish I could find a programmer to write the app instead of a business. I'm sure it takes an hour to put together (it's basically a feed reader) - maybe I could find someone who wants to make an easy $50.

Did you find out if fiber was added to the backhaul in Las Vegas/North Las Vegas and Henderson?

Still waiting to hear back.

Ok thanks for emailing the person. Your a very, very resourceful person to know.

Do you think there's anyway you could find out what the fastest speed that was achieved while testing LTE in Las Vegas? I'd be very curious to know.

1xRTT and EVDO use different carrier bands, but I think they share the same set of control channels- that's the administrative part of the network that makes the handsets communicate with the towers to decide what frequencies and encodings to use, etc.

If that's true (and I think it is) then increased smartphone traffic could have a significant indirect effect on the ability of a system to complete connections or handoffs. It would be much less noticeable then the GSM failures we've seen in UMTS areas, but not quite non-existent as previously thought.

I'll have to look into it a bit further and see how the trafficking is handled on EVDO.

That has happened to me as well. A supervisor called one morning to tell me where my post would be for the day but it only went to voicemail, never got the call. Something I didn't mention earlier is text messages have become a lot slower too. Worst case was it took almost a solid minute for a text to send, some don't send at all. These things don't happen all the time but this is unusual considering I've been a Verizon customer for several years.

Are you a security guard? I noticed you mentioned your supervisor calling you to tell you what post you'd be working at.

maybe military?

Yeah, I work at a prison. I work a post that sometimes has me at different locations.

Given that I sell more Droids for upgrades than I do new lines, I don't see how replacing a more basic phone with a Droid would suddenly cause a capacity issue. My phone before held the same connection to the network as my Droid would. You'd have to have a huge amount of growth around a particular tower to cause a capacity issue on that tower.

Hey Epik, did you ever get a response to your email asking about fiber optic backhaul in the Las Vegas/Henderson/North Las Vegas area?

at all.

Verizon does not use the same tower tech for voice as it does for data.

This is why, even WITH the iphone, voice data would not be changed.

Thanks Menno for confirming what I had said in an earlier post. I wasn't sure if I was 100% correct and someone questioned my statement.

Well according to CellStudent there might be some impact, he's looking into it. I'll defer to whatever he finds.
But even if it does have some impact, there would have to be a massive increase on that tower, not like what happens with GSM users.

Thanks Menno for the clarification.

Last time I had this conversation with a network engineer, they told me that some towers do share switching in the backend, but most do not. At least, that's how it's handled in my area. The towers in the busier populations typically have redundant switching systems, which operate separately unless there's an outage on one of them, or a sudden and overwhelming increase in voice calls. Towers in small towns out in the middle of nowhere, just might be handled collectively at the junction, even though they have separate radio systems at the antenna array.

Opps sorry for the italics and typo at the end. ('End the end' supposed to be 'in the end') It wasn't supposed to do that.

Bars aren't everything, from a technical standpoint. They represent an average measurement, which could fluctuate between carriers, device models, and even different handsets of the same model.

I spend most of my day with zero to two bars on my Incredible. No problems with reception. I receive everything that's sent to me, and in good time. I don't know why I only show two bars at most, but I know that two bars doesn't mean much.

How do you like your Incredible? I always said if I were to stay with Verizon I'd get either the DROID X or Incredible. I'm on the fence about which one is better. I tried them both out at the store and one seems better than the other on one thing or another and vice versa with the other. So it appears to break even, but in your tech opinion which is the better one.

I had the original DROID at one point and the updates pretty much made it garbage. I have flip phone now but looking at the market to get either the iPhone or a newer DROID, leaning more toward the iPhone 4. Network reception isn't an issue here, I'll have full service with either one.

I'm not the one you're asking but I'd say Droid X after using them both. I personally like the bigger screen and the batter life on the X is noticeably better than the Incredible.

Both phones are good, in my opinion. I bought the Incredible for my personal line, after having the Droid on my company line for six months (and now a year). I didn't see much need to buy the X, having just purchased the Incredible. If I hadn't bought the Incredible, I'm sure I would have picked up the X.

I like my Incredible for size. Speed is excellent. Phone holds up well with time, and after the last OS update, the battery life has gotten better. The screen size is just right for me.

I liked the size of both the X and Incredible. X for viewing and Incredible for practical size. I'm not too concerned about battery because I'd get an extended battery for either one. Function is my main question. Do they function about the same or are they different, like one works better than the other? Are any of them having problems with glitches or crappy software? Screen size and battery are important but function is my main thing. I used to have the original Droid so you can see why I'm on the fence here.

Again, I'm still leaning toward the iPhone 4. I just want to make sure before jumping ship. Thanks for any info. Anybody that answers please don't bring fanboy or carrier politics to the table. Both carriers can work for me and I ...
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If I ever come across as carrier political or fanboyish, PLEASE let me know. I work for Verizon, so I'm automatically biased in that direction (more because of knowledge than loyalty). There are a handful of us in the forum who do our best at not coming across as fanboys or loyal pawns.

As for your question. I agree with you on the Incredible for practical size. Function-wise, I haven't noticed much difference. If one seems a little faster in one way, the other is usually faster in a different way. Overall, for me, they average out. I've heard complaints from various people on both, and usually it's based on preferences.

I HAVE heard more complaints about bugginess on the DroidX, but not in an overwhelming amount.

I still hav...
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Thank you for the great info. Also, thank you for being honest and not fanboyish. In the end I may still get an iPhone because I've had an iPod touch for 2 years and like the experience and want it on a phone. If for some reason I hate the iPhone experience I'll go with the Droid X or Incredible. (assuming I switch back within 30 days)

What's nice is you CAN try out a phone for 30 days without porting your number until you're certain you're going to stick with it. So IF you wanted to, you could try the iPhone 4 for a bit, albeit with a different number, and if you decide to stick with that phone you can have AT&T request your number to replace the temporary one. The same goes with Verizon. Sometimes it's nice to test something without drastically effecting your normal use and needs.

Very nice.

How's the phone working out?