Samsung Galaxy S3 owners on Verizon were happy to get a new update for their devices, but some 4G LTE issues reportedly mar the experience.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is still a popular smartphone despite the launch of the newest Galaxy S4 flagship. The Verizon handset recently got an update, but apparently things didn't go as smooth for everyone.

Verizon Wireless pushed out quite a massive update for the Samsung Galaxy S3 on Wednesday, May 29. While the update didn't bring the firmware to the latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, it did add a host of improvements and new features.

According to Android Community, however, the update also killed or dramatically weakened 4G LTE for many users, while also severely slowing down data speeds. The build appears as VRBMD3 and started rolling out on Wednesday evening for many Verizon users of the Samsung Galaxy S3. It's still Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and many users reportedly complain about the new radio causing issues with data speeds and 4G LTE connectivity.

First off, let's start with the good news. The update brings multi-screen, multi-window, best-shot camera features, better Wi-Fi hotspots and many other neat additions. A full list of improvements is available on Verizon's support page (PDF). The bad news is that those new features apparently come at the expense of 4G LTE.

Samsung Galaxy S3 users on Verizon are now barely getting 1-2 bars of LTE after the update, and even when they do get a signal the speeds are either very slow or randomly fast, with no stability whatsoever. Others, meanwhile, complain they no longer have 4G LTE at all, which means their Galaxy S3s are stuck on 3G all the time. Rebooting, tweaking with airplane mode or even factory data resets reportedly failed to fix the problem for many.

On the other hand, Android Community also notes getting good reports from users, with many praising the update and mentioning no issues. Consequently, it seems the update may cause hassling issues for some, while leaving others completely unaffected. It's also worth noting that most U.S. devices are set at LTE/ CDMA initially, but the latest update sets the network mode settings to Global by default. Global support was previously available, but not enabled by default.

Many Verizon users facing 4G LTE issues after updating their Samsung Galaxy S3 reportedly managed to fix the glitch after going into Settings > More networks > Mobile networks and changing the "network mode" from global to LTE/ CDMA. While this brought 4G LTE back for many, it didn't fix the issue for all users.

Did your Samsung Galaxy S3 face the same issues with 4G LTE and data speeds after receiving the Verizon update? If so, did you manage to fix it somehow or is it a lingering issue still?