I learned a new trick yesterday. Apparently if you dial *228, you can update the software on your phone (option 1?). I’ve seen people advocate doing this update every month to keep up with the latest changes. I don’t know if this is unique to Verizon, but this is the first I’ve heard of it. I’ve had a LG VX4500 since 3/2005 and have been very unhappy with the network coverage. Maybe if I had known about this I could have updated the software and maybe it would have helped. But now it’s too late to tell. I dropped the phone in the lake a couple weeks ago and it hasn’t worked since. It fell off my belt (clip and all) into 2 inches of water. It was only there a few seconds, and I pulled it out in time to see it’s dying words before the screen faded. I tried to resuscitate it, but to no avail. I took it apart, without undoing any screws, and let it dry out for a few days; I even tried charging the battery after that but it never came back to life. I’m currently researching to find out how to replace it. The most likely candidates at this point are the Samsung i730 and Verizon XV6700 (made by HTC).
Here is a story about another feature of *228 that might help as well — updating the roaming information on the handset that should be done regularly.
On their FAQ, Verizon suggests doing the “Preferred Roaming List” update every three months or whenever you change pricing plans
