1xrtt data intermittent Verizon iPhone 4s

I don't have a Verizon phone, but I do have a Verizon 4G/LTE hotspot. I've noticed that as Verizon deploys its 4G network they are reducing 3G EVDO coverage, so if you can't get a 4G connection it falls back to 1xRTT. This may be what you are seeing, as the iPhone 4S does not support LTE.

Is this in all areas around Portland or just in one particular area? Before doing anything else try it in a location that you recall having a good signal several miles away from the current location. If you get the same result you will need to get the phone serviced.

I've always had mostly great coverage thoughout Portland and never 2G service. There's no specific area it occurs but it does seem when mostly around my home areas I don't seem to have an issue. What gets me is I've regularly used--and monitored--at least 7 different devices of different manufacturers around the whole Portland area over the last years and have always had great coverage and never 2G data. Still hesitant to say it is the phone because it does work lost of the time and there's just nothing that tells me it's hardware related.

If it works most of the time it is not the phone. As Lawrence pointed out above Verizon is busily updating their network. It may be a problem/work on a particular cell repeater that is causing the issue.

Here's a tip: Dial *228 to update your location. This will point you to the nearest cell tower and may fix your problem.