Let me tell you my story. It's a lovely one full of excitement. ">
My neighbor has a network extender. I do not. I do not need a network extender, nor do I want to be connected to one. My service is great without it. I have low decibels, but I get great speeds. When the network extender icon appears above the signal bars and alongside the 4G up/down indicator icon, my entire online life comes to a halt. I can't make or receive calls, can't send or receive texts, can't use my mobile data, and my personal hotspot also bottoms out. It's a shame when I'm gaming with friends or watching a movie with my family. "Sorry, guys, network issue" every 3 minutes. SMH. This will happen, oh, idk, 20 to 50 times per hour if I'm ready to toggle airplane mode to make it stop. If I let it ride, I stay connected and lose all function of my mobile network indefinitely.
So, what do I do? I call Verizon hoping that since my neighbor is apparently a Verizon customer with Verizon equipment and is severely disrupting the services of another Verizon customer (me), it would make sense that they would have some sort of network extender usage policy or solution worked out to prevent this situation. That would be the logical and ethical thing to do, right? I mean, I managed to get a call to #48 out, which took hundreds of attempts, and I got his network extender ID and everything. You can help me, right?
Well, that's a big nope. What's their solution for me? Go ignore the "trespassers will be shot" and "beware of the dog" signs, open the gate across the way, and confront my gun toting hermit of a neighbor whom I'm never met in the middle of a global pandemic.
Hey, what a great idea, Verizon! But, do you possibly have any other ideas? Oh, troubleshooting? How about twice a week for two months. Chat, in-store, by phone, Tech Tier 2, been there, done that. What else? Advanced calling? Not even a feature on my phone as you have removed it. Toggle wifi calling? Didn't work! I don't have wifi because I have two very expensive lines through Verizon with hotspots!
So, I ventured off to a Verizon store and picked up a brand spankin' new 5G phone and even updated my plan to a more expensive 5G service just to say I love you and PLEASE GOD HELP. Well, the love wasn't reciprocated. The rep was confused and just wanted to sell me stuff. My shiny new toy couldn't help itself either. When I got home, the 116dB from the tower near my home was still just so Brad and my VZW service loves Jaden now, even though he's totally useless.
So... c'mon Verizon, anything else? Oh, you'll give me a free network extender of my own? How about... no, I will not subscribe to and pay for a new installation of contractual home wifi services so that you can more effectively deliver me cellular services that I already pay you to provide. Pay twice! Pay more! Will it even fix the problem? Ehh?! IDK! FYI, it has to be hardwired to your home router with an ethernet cable, requires 20MB down and 10MB up, and has "limited range" so good luck if that's your fix.
So I had a little idea. How about I put some aluminum foil in the back of my case and try to keep my phone facing away from the neighbor's? It should work, right? Picking up the general signal vibes all around from the tower instead of the focused signal coming from a singular point kinda made sense to me, so I gave it a shot. WOW, it... um... kind of worked? Yeah, it helped. But now when it tries to connect to the neighbor's extender, about only 10 times an hour now, the icon pops up for 2 seconds and then my signal bars turn into a big old X. Yep, my connection to the network extender as well as the Verizon tower is lost completely and will not automatically reconnect. Toggle airplane mode a few times, change the network from manual to automatic a few times and hey, I'm back where I started.
I want to clarify one thing. I am loyal to Samsung and my partner is loyal to Apple. I have this problem, she does not. Whatever Apple is doing, Samsung better get some.
I have done EVERYTHING to try to solve this problem aside from confronting my neighbor, moving away, and paying more for home wifi to help Verizon provide me their own service just so I could inform you here today that VERIZON WILL NOT HELP YOU with this issue. Forget their chat, those people are... bound. They will refer you to the 800-number to talk to Tech 2. And just forget Tech Tier 2. You have to yet again explain your situation to a regular rep first and then all over again to Tech 2 just so they can say they can't do anything and it's your responsibility to enforce your neighbor's proper usage of VZW equipment. Forget getting a new device or plan and forget troubleshooting. It's all USELESS.
Unless you plan on confronting your neighbor, moving, or getting your own network extender, there is no hope for you. Just give up.
Verizon, I hope you do the right thing. Get on this problem and find a fix. I love you and your service has been fantastic for over a decade but now you are ruining my life.
