HTC Titan II drops cellular data connection randomly

[DrDon995]

Curious issue with my Titan II. Cellular data connection just fails at random intervals. Cycling airplane mode or rebooting the phone is the only way to get it back. HTC blames it on AT&T and AT&T blames it on HTC. I've spent hours on the phone with each. Even got a new Titan II from AT&T, but it went into this constant reboot loop, so I went back to the first unit.

Now comes the interesting part: I live in Detroit and have been traveling to FL quite a bit, this year.. and the issue DOES NOT HAPPEN IN TAMPA. Phone runs perfectly well, there. Here in Detroit, cellular data "up" time ranges from 5 minutes to 14 hours when static. 2 minutes to 20 minutes when driving around town. Drops are less frequent when streaming something.

HTC Titan II stock (FW: 2180.0400.118011.502)
Windows Phone 7.5 (7.10.8112.7)
4G SIM card (3rd one)
Appropriate data plan


Serious thanks for any ideas anyone has. Do I add an APN, throw the phone against the wall, or what? Please do not suggest I change to a different phone as that is not an option.

 

[Mik83]

Curious issue with my Titan II. Cellular data connection just fails at random intervals. Cycling airplane mode or rebooting the phone is the only way to get it back. HTC blames it on AT&T and AT&T blames it on HTC. I've spent hours on the phone with each. Even got a new Titan II from AT&T, but it went into this constant reboot loop, so I went back to the first unit.

Now comes the interesting part: I live in Detroit and have been traveling to FL quite a bit, this year.. and the issue DOES NOT HAPPEN IN TAMPA. Phone runs perfectly well, there. Here in Detroit, cellular data "up" time ranges from 5 minutes to 14 hours when static. 2 minutes to 20 minutes when driving around town. Drops are less frequent when streaming something.

HTC Titan II stock (FW: 2180.0400.118011.502)
Windows Phone 7.5 (7.10.8112.7)
4G SIM card (3rd one)
Appropriate data plan


Serious thanks for any ideas anyone has. Do I add an APN, throw the phone against the wall, or what? Please do not suggest I change to a different phone as that is not an option.

Yes, I'm facing the same issue.
It seems something related to wifi sleeping when the phone goes stand by and the solution could be keeping it alive in some way....like streaming..

I hope this will be fixed with AT&T Tango 8773 Update (Once it finally come....)

 

[drupad2drupad]

Curious issue with my Titan II. Cellular data connection just fails at random intervals. Cycling airplane mode or rebooting the phone is the only way to get it back. HTC blames it on AT&T and AT&T blames it on HTC. I've spent hours on the phone with each. Even got a new Titan II from AT&T, but it went into this constant reboot loop, so I went back to the first unit.

Now comes the interesting part: I live in Detroit and have been traveling to FL quite a bit, this year.. and the issue DOES NOT HAPPEN IN TAMPA. Phone runs perfectly well, there. Here in Detroit, cellular data "up" time ranges from 5 minutes to 14 hours when static. 2 minutes to 20 minutes when driving around town. Drops are less frequent when streaming something.

HTC Titan II stock (FW: 2180.0400.118011.502)
Windows Phone 7.5 (7.10.8112.7)
4G SIM card (3rd one)
Appropriate data plan


Serious thanks for any ideas anyone has. Do I add an APN, throw the phone against the wall, or what? Please do not suggest I change to a different phone as that is not an option.

Are you sure you aren't hitting "black spots" on your network? If you have random connection drops in only particular area it is likely the masts and AT&T issue. I've swapped my provider from the one which did 2G/3G signals to 3G only provider. 3G only has better coverage and lesser black spots on the network and hence I hardly see any drops in connectivity. Don't hard reset or anything, it will only make you re-do the whole phone, won't help the cause.

Have you checked if two golden pins on the back cover are making good contact with phone?

 

[DrDon995]

Are you sure you aren't hitting "black spots" on your network? If you have random connection drops in only particular area it is likely the masts and AT&T issue. I've swapped my provider from the one which did 2G/3G signals to 3G only provider. 3G only has better coverage and lesser black spots on the network and hence I hardly see any drops in connectivity. Don't hard reset or anything, it will only make you re-do the whole phone, won't help the cause.

Have you checked if two golden pins on the back cover are making good contact with phone?

Have to rule all of that out as it doesn't happen at all in Tampa. I can drive from Ybor City to Clearwater and back and never need to reset the phone. Here at home, I have four bars and will lose cellular data with the phone in a static location. Driving around in Detroit is guaranteed to make it drop cellular data even with the phone lit up and active. I can have Navigator running and it'll just quit loading maps and giving directions until I cycle Airplane Mode. In Tampa, this doesn't happen.

In Tampa, I've gone the whole week without any need to reset the phone. I can't walk from the gate to baggage claim in Detroit before it loses its data connection.

 

[DrDon995]

Have to rule all of that out as it doesn't happen at all in Tampa. I can drive from Ybor City to Clearwater and back and never need to reset the phone. Here at home, I have four bars and will lose cellular data with the phone in a static location. Driving around in Detroit is guaranteed to make it drop cellular data even with the phone lit up and active. I can have Navigator running and it'll just quit loading maps and giving directions until I cycle Airplane Mode. In Tampa, this doesn't happen.

In Tampa, I've gone the whole week without any need to reset the phone. I can't walk from the gate to baggage claim in Detroit before it loses its data connection.

UPDATE: Cellular data connection is a little better with WiFi turned off. It won't lose it as quickly in a static location, but still loses it as I move between towers. Also had to reinstall a couple of apps that had stopped launching.

Is forcing Tango an option?

 

[jjmorgan64]

I have the same problem,
I live north of detroit.

my phone has been in to htc repair 3 times, i think they have replaced every part in it, the last time i got it back it held connectivity for 11 minutes.

this is on my home tower as well as several towers around me.

Normally all testing was done with wifi off, on towers where the lumia 900 and my wifes iphone have never lost data.

i have been waiting a week for a htc level 2 rep to call me.
we shall see

 

[DrDon995]

Keep me posted. Last time I spent time with HTC, they decided that - since the issue only happens in Detroit - that it was AT&T's problem. AT&T, naturally, claims that the problem doesn't appear on any other device, so it must be the device.

Can't wait for Windows 8 phones. I'm getting one.. ANY one.. the first day they go on sale.

 

[jjmorgan64]

Well I just got off of the phone with a level 2 rep from HTC, who seemed pretty confident that the problem is the rear cover. He is sending one out, and says if that doesn't fix it then it will be a phone replacement.

 

[DrDon995]

Well I just got off of the phone with a level 2 rep from HTC, who seemed pretty confident that the problem is the rear cover. He is sending one out, and says if that doesn't fix it then it will be a phone replacement.

While entirely skeptical, I certainly hope it works. PLEASE post your results.

 

[jjmorgan64]

While entirely skeptical, I certainly hope it works. PLEASE post your results.

I'm more skeptical than you, trust me, but it would explain how so many people get the same problem with replacement handsets, as that piece is often not replaced

 

[DrDon995]

So, I'm in Florida for the week and noticed something.

In Detroit, the status bar says "4G"
In Tampa, the status bar says "LTE"

As before, I have not lost cellular data connection since I landed in FL. Kind of rules out the battery cover as the issue is gone, here. It appears the issue goes away in LTE areas while it's present in areas yet to get LTE. Detroit's LTE rollout hasn't happened, yet. So, it appears I've got another month of suffering before the problem is rectified.

One other note. With Internet Sharing set to ON...
In Detroit, my wife's laptop connects to the phone and can get internet.
In Tampa, my wife's laptop connects to the phone, but cannot get internet. It gets the error msg: "your computer is trying to use a dns server that is incorrect or doesn't exist"

My laptop works flawlessly connecting to the phone's Internet Sharing both in Detroit and Tampa. For the life of me, I can't find anything different in her settings over mine. Both are Win7. Hers upgraded from Vista, mine x64 and new this fall. Also, two internet-capable televisions connect to the phone and get to the internet flawlessly. But something with LTE doesn't like my wife's computer. Odd.

Honestly, I adore everything about this phone except for the data connection issue in Detroit (and a few other areas, it seems).

There HAS to be a setting or SOMEthing I can tweak to get this thing to work in Detroit.

 

[kj_xda]

Check battery cover, radio negotiation, firmware of radio

So, I'm in Florida for the week and noticed something.

In Detroit, the status bar says "4G"
In Tampa, the status bar says "LTE"

As before, I have not lost cellular data connection since I landed in FL. Kind of rules out the battery cover as the issue is gone, here. It appears the issue goes away in LTE areas while it's present in areas yet to get LTE. Detroit's LTE rollout hasn't happened, yet. So, it appears I've got another month of suffering before the problem is rectified.

One other note. With Internet Sharing set to ON...
In Detroit, my wife's laptop connects to the phone and can get internet.
In Tampa, my wife's laptop connects to the phone, but cannot get internet. It gets the error msg: "your computer is trying to use a dns server that is incorrect or doesn't exist"

My laptop works flawlessly connecting to the phone's Internet Sharing both in Detroit and Tampa. For the life of me, I can't find anything different in her settings over mine. Both are Win7. Hers upgraded from Vista, mine x64 and new this fall. Also, two internet-capable televisions connect to the phone and get to the internet flawlessly. But something with LTE doesn't like my wife's computer. Odd.

Honestly, I adore everything about this phone except for the data connection issue in Detroit (and a few other areas, it seems).

There HAS to be a setting or SOMEthing I can tweak to get this thing to work in Detroit.

Hum.. that's curious. I had the original titan with similar issues.

I disabled wifi when not connected. I replaced battery cover also. The titan2 supposedly fixed that issue with the battery cover because it was a design flaw.

The radio supports 2G, 3G/4G/H and LTE. You may want to check it. You can set the radio it uses and not let the firmware decide which radio to use. You can check the service menu, I forgot the code. Just search for it.

If you use 2G, data and voice are not supported simultaneously. Check and make sure the contacts on the battery cover and on the phone are clear of debris. Use a solution to clean the contacts on the phone.

In the past I manually set the radio to 3G (HSPA and HSPA+) [HTC Pure, HTC HD2 on at&t]. The 3G radio is mature and should have less issues with the radio negotiation.

BTW, there is a keep alive wifi app also.

 

[DrDon995]

Thanks. I'll have to look for the codes. It's pretty obvious after going back and forth so much that the Titan II has a flaw with the way it handles AT&T's 4G. Scanning the maps from others who have had problems all show that they're in areas with 4G but without LTE.

Yeah, if I could force this thing to do LTE or 3G I think we'd be fine. It's the Best Phone Ever so long as it gets LTE, 3G or Edge. Anything else and it's crap.

Yes, back connector is okay and I've done this every way one can think of and kept notes. WiFi doesn't matter. On or off, the T2 will lose cellular data connection randomly in 4G areas. NOT in LTE areas. I'm only unable to test it on other carriers.

 

[bitbrat]

Similar problem with data

So I have had a similar problem -

I had a Samsung Focus, great phone, but I wore out the USB port - wouldn't charge consistently or sync. I figured I might as well use the insurance I had been paying. They sent me a Titan I - it had the bad microphone issue. So after some messing around they sent me a Titan II.

It has never had consistent data connection. I am in an area where I get the 4G icon (not LTE).

My experience tells me that if I move around and change cell, or lose signal in the cell I am in for any reason, then the phone will NOT connect back to data. It can (almost always) still get phone calls and send/receive texts and so on, but no data. Toggle airplane mode always fixes the problem, until the next time.

Originally HTC wanted to send me a new back cover - AT&T have been completely useless, they have no idea. Eventually after messing around with factory resets, powering on and off continuously, another new SIM card, HTC decided they want the phone repaired or replaced (level 2).

It is still inside the 30 day limit for exchanges from Assurion (AT&Ts insurance carrier) so it's getting replaced. I'll let you know if it fixes the issue, but I haven't been in an LTE area so I can't check that.

Personally I think it is a problem with handing off/reconnecting to 4G tower service - we'll see......

 

[shawnl01]

Anyone have the radio codes?

I've had the same problem since I got the device as well; but have noticed that it doesn't happen in all areas around me. My house is one of those areas though that I always lose connections. I've tried every APN / idea I've found on the internet with no luck. It's clearly something to do with AT&T towers. The only think I've not been able to try is a different SIM card in the same phone since it requires a '4G' sim card to even work at all. However the same SIM does work fine in '3G' only phones.

Going with the radio idea, does anyone have the codes to turn off the LTE radio? I just saw the list saying this phone will be long gone before AT&T ever gets LTE in Colorado so maybe just turning it off would help. Every code i found was for the T1 though and it didn't work on my phone.

 

[DrDon995]

I'm more skeptical than you, trust me, but it would explain how so many people get the same problem with replacement handsets, as that piece is often not replaced

UPDATE: HTC insisted on sending me a new SIM card cover (since it contains the radio's antenna). Despite my argument that the fact it works in Florida negates antenna as a suspect, they sent it along, anyhow. Naturally, there is no change. It still randomly drops cellular data. And now, I've picked up another spot on the freeway where my calls get dropped. Granted, it happened ONCE, so that could be any number of things. Long story short, it's not the antenna.

Next idea?

 

[DrDon995]

Well, I'm in Florida and found a spot where the phone fell back to 4G from LTE. Data issue returned. So, that takes geography out of the equation. The phone can't hold a data connection when using 4G. So, should I go for a fourth unit?

 

[N!njaDuck]

My addition:

AT&T recently rolled out LTE to my area in CT. I never had the problem before on straight 4G. Now, when I go from LTE to 4G (my drive every morning) data just stops working. I push it in to airplane mode and back out again and it works.

BTW - I am running Tango, so that is not likely to be a fix unless a radio update is released with it.

 

[DrDon995]

My addition:

AT&T recently rolled out LTE to my area in CT. I never had the problem before on straight 4G. Now, when I go from LTE to 4G (my drive every morning) data just stops working. I push it in to airplane mode and back out again and it works.

BTW - I am running Tango, so that is not likely to be a fix unless a radio update is released with it.

AT&T just switched on LTE metro-wide, last night. Now, the Titan 2 performs just as it does when I'm in Florida. It's nice having a data connection that'll stay good all over town, again.

 

[bitbrat]

I have spent some time discussing this with HTC and AT&T. Actually just got off the phone with HTC level 2.

I too have gone through all the options - new phone, new cover, new SIM card (you can just go into AT&T and ask for one, no charge), hard reset, everything.

From the information in this thread, and elsewhere I can say that the phone drops data on one of two things happening:-

- connection to tower is interrupted in current cell, but is re-acquired
- connection is handed off to adjacent tower as you travel to a new cell

Both these things will drop data IN 4G AREAS ONLY. If you are lucky enough to have consistent LTE in your area, you shouldn't have any problems.

Right now I'm working on getting the service menu codes so we can play with the radio settings. It sounds like HTC support reps have been forbidden to give these to end users on windows phone devices (I wonder why??!!).

If I get this information and it provides a fix for this issue, I will (obviously) post it, and I imagine HTC will as well. Here's hoping.....

Andy