Making a call / surfing at the same time on Verizon

[SlowSpyder]

Hi guys,

I'm a cell phone newb, but just picked up a Droid about a month or so ago. So far I like it quite a bit even though I wish signal in my home was a bit better... so much for all that red they show on their map. But the device itself is great in my opinion.

So I saw the AT&T commercials that say that on Verizon you cannot place a call and surf at the same time. So, just out of curiosity I decided to try that to see what happens. It is something that for the most part would be completely useless for me, not something I'd need anyway, but I was just curious. I dialed my home phone number, answered the home phone, then on my Droid went back to the home/desktop screen and launched the browser. It seemed to work fine. I have wireless off, so as far as I can tell I was using just the Verizon network. So it appeared to me that I was indeed able to do both. :/

I read on a few phone forums that this shouldn't be possible due to the set up of Verizon's network. Anyway, if someone else has a Droid I'd be interested to see what happens if you try. I'm not trying to mislead, as far as I can tell I was able to do both. But, I just had the phone connected, I wasn't actively talking. Maybe it cuts out when speaking when the web page downloads or something? I really don't know.

I thought that was interesting so decided to post it. Anyone care to tell me why I'm imagining this or care to give it a try on their Droid?

 

[Demo24]

If I have something up that uses a data connection, like meebo im, it cuts it when I get a phone call. Never tried to browse the web though. Should work if you have wireless on though, sure it was turned off?

 

[Slick5150]

Did you actually do any browsing? In other words, not just pull up a page that was already in your cache?

In short, what you read is correct. You simply can't use data and voice on Verizon (or Sprint) at the same time. It's a limitation of CDMA (there's actually an update to CDMA that does allow simultaneous voice & data, but neither Verizon or Sprint is going to bother implementing it as they're moving on to their next gen networks)

 

[SlowSpyder]

Did you actually do any browsing? In other words, not just pull up a page that was already in your cache?

In short, what you read is correct. You simply can't use data and voice on Verizon (or Sprint) at the same time. It's a limitation of CDMA (there's actually an update to CDMA that does allow simultaneous voice & data, but neither Verizon or Sprint is going to bother implementing it as they're moving on to their next gen networks)

I think I went to cnn.com, but I have been there before. I'll try it again later with a site I know I haven't been to and see what happens.

 

[Slick5150]

My assumption would be that the browser detected your data connection was off (because the voice connection basically tells your phone to shut off the data connection) so it pulled up a cached version of cnn.com

 

[vshah]

try running the speedtest.net app or something, that will ensure that you're indeed getting a live data connection...

 

[Spoooon]

The 3G symbol goes away as soon as I make or receive a call.

I can see where it would be handy if you were tethering, but all other situations seem to be of little utility (to me).

 

[Lumathix]

I don't know how many times I've been on a call and needed the web, but I know it's alot. This is a pretty significant drawback with Verizon for me.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

As slick said its a technical limitation.

 

[sswingle]

I don't know how many times I've been on a call and needed the web, but I know it's alot. This is a pretty significant drawback with Verizon for me.

How often are you in range of wifi though?

 

[Lumathix]

How often are you in range of wifi though?

At home, and at office. But lately I'm in the field most of the day, with no wifi.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

The 3G symbol goes away as soon as I make or receive a call.

I can see where it would be handy if you were tethering, but all other situations seem to be of little utility (to me).

Outside of that situation, I see no need for being able to do both.

It's kind of like texting while driving, you *can* do both at once but you're going to suck at doing one of them.

Hell, go home and try talking on the phone while doing stuff online on a PC. You'll either block out the call, or not pay attention to the surfing. It's useless IMHO with the sole exception of tethering.

 

[hanoverphist]

It's kind of like texting while driving, you *can* do both at once but you're going to suck at doing both of them.

fixed for ya

 

[jaydee]

Outside of that situation, I see no need for being able to do both.

It's kind of like texting while driving, you *can* do both at once but you're going to suck at doing one of them.

Hell, go home and try talking on the phone while doing stuff online on a PC. You'll either block out the call, or not pay attention to the surfing. It's useless IMHO with the sole exception of tethering.

Phone call + gps navigation at the same time would be useful to me...

 

[Zenmervolt]

Phone call + gps navigation at the same time would be useful to me...

The GPS route is cached and a phone call doesn't stop the GPS receiver from working. A phone call won't disrupt your navigation unless it carries on long enough for the route cache to run out (which would be a very long time).

ZV

 

[Pr0d1gy]

I don't know how many times I've been on a call and needed the web, but I know it's alot. This is a pretty significant drawback with Verizon for me.

Same for me, that seems pretty weak. I can't imagine paying hundreds of dollars for a phone with net access, and then being handcuffed into not being able to multitask.

 

[Spoooon]

Same for me, that seems pretty weak. I can't imagine paying hundreds of dollars for a phone with net access, and then being handcuffed into not being able to multitask.

That's why we have options that we can exercise when choosing our device and carrier.

In my office (and area), Verizon is pretty much the only way to go if you want consistent service throughout town and inside the various buildings where I work. AT&T coverage here is spotty at best.

This has been said before, I'm sure that there are users that absolutely have to be able to do both. The majority of people are (probabably) not those users.

 

[Slick5150]

I use my phone (Palm Pre) for everything, but there are RARELY instances where I've wished I could be surfing & talking at the same time.

The point will be moot anyway once carriers switch to LTE/Wimax for data coverage as they will all be able to do voice/data at the same time.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

The point will be moot anyway once carriers switch to LTE/Wimax for data coverage as they will all be able to do voice/data at the same time.

Any idea when that is going to happen? Again, I can't see blowing several hundred dollars on a phone package and not being able to multitask with it....seems very lame.

 

[Slick5150]

Any idea when that is going to happen? Again, I can't see blowing several hundred dollars on a phone package and not being able to multitask with it....seems very lame.

Well, Sprint already has WiMax in a number of cities, but there aren't any phones yet (just USB modems). They stated this week that the first Wimax phone will be out this summer sometime (rumored to be the HTC Supersonic running Android), but I don't know when that is exactly. The other carriers haven't really started rolling out their LTE networks yet. Regardless, it'll be awhile yet before any carrier has it developed widely.

But seriously, it isn't a big issue. I can multi-task with my Pre just fine. I often am in my car and will have both Sprint Navigation and Pandora running (try doing that on an iPhone), and if a call comes in, Pandora pauses itself (which I'd want it to regardless) and the GPS maps continue to work because they've already been cached. When I hang up on the call, Pandora starts back up. Works just fine.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The GPS route is cached and a phone call doesn't stop the GPS receiver from working. A phone call won't disrupt your navigation unless it carries on long enough for the route cache to run out (which would be a very long time).

ZV

Depends what kinda GPS you're using? Standalone Tom Tom/Garmin on a phone will use no data and will be fine. Dunno how the Droid's Google nav works. Does it cache that much?

Shrug. Overall this is a pretty small downside for me. Not being able to go online while talking? Are you gonna put down your phone and then pull something up? If you're anywhere indoors, a computer would work better. It's a pretty clumsy process I imagine. If you're tethering, that's another thing though. While AT&T makes a valid point, their commercial showing the guy juggle around with 2 phones is probably just as bad because you'll be juggling using speakerphone, and browsing simultaneously and trying to make sure not everyone's hearing your convo....

 

[Spoooon]

Depends what kinda GPS you're using? Standalone Tom Tom/Garmin on a phone will use no data and will be fine. Dunno how the Droid's Google nav works. Does it cache that much?

Shrug. Overall this is a pretty small downside for me. Not being able to go online while talking? Are you gonna put down your phone and then pull something up? If you're anywhere indoors, a computer would work better. It's a pretty clumsy process I imagine. If you're tethering, that's another thing though. While AT&T makes a valid point, their commercial showing the guy juggle around with 2 phones is probably just as bad because you'll be juggling using speakerphone, and browsing simultaneously and trying to make sure not everyone's hearing your convo....

Hard to say. The longest drive that I've taken using the nav and had no service was around 50 miles or so. Nav worked there and back until I was back in service. I should have tried entering a new destination to see what would happen.

Ideally, they'd let you just download a map if need be. Oruxmaps will let you I think. I haven't gotten around to really messing with it yet.

edit: From the website...

Online map viewer (Google Maps)

Offline map viewer. There is an application that lets you create calibrated maps for OruxMaps (see Download and Manual page).

other stuff