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Cannot make or receive calls while inside our home

After almost 20 years, we are having service issues with Verizon. We cannot make or receive calls while inside our home. I have to go out into my yard to make a phone call. I haven’t had to do that since 2005.
I called yesterday and spoke to a very nice person who assured me the problem would be solved before I got off the phone. She said they were running a test, forcing a signal, and solving any connectivity issues. She told me even if it could be solved she was going to send a booster to me at no charge. she also said our internet providers signal could be interfering with Verizon’s signal.
we have lived in this exact location for over 20 years with no problems. Now it’s nothing but a problem and we are considering shopping for a new service provider. Of course I’ll have to go stand in my yard to call other providers…

Comments

SynthpopAddict

Do you use WiFi and WiFi Calling while at home, or is it that your cellular service suddenly disappeared while at home?

BethF1021

It’s the cellular service.

SynthpopAddict

That's strange that the problem only just started happening. Have you used the "check network status" link under "Get help from Verizon" to see if there are any outages in your area? If nothing comes up there, the only other things I can think of are:

-Potential network upgrades in your area bringing in new spectrum, where your phone isn't picking it up for some reason. Either your phone is old and doesn't like the new frequencies, or your account needs to be reprovisioned so your phone knows to use all the available spectrum.

-If your SIM/eSIM is old, get a new one.

-Do a network reset on your phone, and if you have an iPhone, update the carrier settings.

Verizon_Support

Hello and thank you for bringing this concern to our attention. It's always our priority that you are provided with the best possible service. Im sending you a PN to get more details on how to resolve your service issue in the home.

Verizon_Support

Thanks for clarifying. I know you mentioned this issue started recently, have you made any changes or home improvement? Any new construction recently in your community? Sometimes signals have a hard time penetrating through certain materials or can be interferred with by outside sources, which is why you get a better signal moving around outside.

-Jazzy

GuyGettingBadService

My phone does the same. When I’m outside of my apartment it works fine, but the minutes I go inside my calls are choppy and cutting in and out. They suggested using WiFi calling and I don’t think it works great either.

GuyGettingBadService

they provided me a new phone and it worked for two days and it’s doing the cutting out all over again.

SynthpopAddict

Hi, sorry to hear your service is subpar in your apartment. From what you're describing, the signal strength inside your home isn't very good. There are a lot of reasons for dead zones, but if you have the call quality issue only while inside your apartment and things are fine everywhere else, some potential causes are:

building materials of the unit blocking/absorbing cellular signal
a bad angle to the nearest towers (I also live in a apartment building, on the ground floor, and on a downside of a hill...Verizon has average signal strength, but another competitor I tried for a very brief period was a dead zone in same location despite having 2 towers within a mile - probably tower positioning)
something else in your home interfering with cellular reception: I've heard of certain WiFi routers actually blocking Verizon reception due to interference, and it's been my experience that anything producing a strong EMF blocks cellular reception. In an apartment building, it could even be one of your neighbors having something in their unit which is interfering with your service.

If WiFi Calling isn't working, you'd have to check for an IPv6 conflict, as Verizon still uses IPv4 for WiFi Calling based upon what I read in another thread. Or there's some technical tweaking you'd have to do to get WiFi Calling to work on IPv6. Depending on how you get home internet service, if you don't have a consistent broadband connection, that can factor in too.

The things you can try other than using WiFi while at home are:

Get a network extender from Verizon if you have a wired internet connection (preferably cable internet) to hook it up to. Customers in known weak signal strength areas are able to get an extender for free. Note that the Verizon extenders won't work at all with satellite or fixed wireless internet. Getting it to work with fiber internet can be a puzzle.
Invest in a 3rd party signal booster system compatible with Verizon. These systems run independently of an internet provider and work by amplifying weak cellular signal.
If your phone is unlocked and supports dual SIM/eSIM, do the free trials the other guys offer to see if they work better, or ask the neighbors who they use for feedback.

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