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iPhone 5's dropping calls and unable to receive/send iMessages on one.

I recently upgraded 3 lines to iPhone 5 from iPhone 4. All three of them are dropping calls where the iPhone 4's did not. In one particular building, the iPhone 5 doesn't get a signal at all, where the iPhone 4 worked fine. Also having an issue where iMessage occasionally works on one of them, but most of the time does not. Is anyone else having these issues? I've reset network connections, restarted the phones, removed SIM cards. I'm at a loss. How can a phone with more antennas be worse? Never had issues before.

Comments

robertgl

In reference to the dropped, calls mine did that--worse than the previous iphone. The rep at the verizon store asked me to update the roaming (the dial code is *228) and it started working as good as the old one. I've now got a monthly reminder on the iphone calendar to update it. Hope this helps.

indyem

Same problem. Had the iphone 4 with very few dropped calls. Now we have two iphone 5's which are completely unusable in our house due to constant dropped calls and poor reception. Reception elsewhere can be sketchy. Reset network, restored the phones, called Verizon twice, went to Verizon, they finally set up a "trouble ticket." We'll see if that actually goes anywhere. Only have a few days before we can back out, not sure what to do.

diffchin

I'm having the same issues in my house (and other areas) the iphone 4 worked fine. The 5 does not. I'm sure how robertgl dialed *228; when I try that my phone says "This number is not allowed" and a tech told me the LTE network doesn't use *228. When I load a webpage in LTE it takes sometimes up to a minute to connect but once it does it flys. Sometimes text messages take a minute to send on LTE also. If the phone goes to sleep and then I unlock it, I have to start all over again.

In addition I often see the "O" next to Verizon. With my iphone 4 it almost always said 3G. Something is definitely wrong.

stockboss

Upgraded from another smart phone to iPhone5, endured a week of failed calls in my house, at the back of the grocery store, and other places where I'd never had a problem before. Dialed *228, went to the store, got a trouble ticket. No resolution. Was lucky to get the ATT iPhone5 2 days ago (online at 10pm each night for Apple store pickup); it has flawless performance. Verizon charged me the re-stock fee despite the fact I still have 3 lines (all within a month of end of contract) with them and have paid them thousands of dollars a year for more than 5 years. Diffchin is right, something is wrong. Buh-bye, Verizon.

FenderR

I am also having call dropping and data issues on LTE. Here's a post I just made on Apple's forums:

I live in the Berkshires in far Western MA. I found out that Verizon implemented 4G LTE in most of my county. I don't care about having LTE at home, but it is important for me to have this at work. Verizon's CDMA network is half the speed of AT&T's HSPA+ around here. I was using Straight Talk with an unlocked 4S and it worked wonders! I am finding myself with the same LTE issues as many are experiencing. I'm about to call Verizon. If they don't solve this shortly I will cancel my contract (without fees) due to bad service in my home area...

I've noticed that sometimes after I make a call, data ceases to be uploaded until I restart my phone. That HAS to be a carrier settings issue!

This is disappointing as I have an iPad with LTE on AT&T and it works flawlessly compared to Verizon. They may not have as much LTE infrastructure, but it seems like AT&T is doing it right. My theory is that the switch from GSM LTE to CDMA when using a Verizon iPhone (combined with Carrier firmware / iOS software) is the issue here. Since AT&T already use GSM for their 3G HSPA network, the radios don't have to completely switch.

Speed test (ookla) 1: Pittsfield, MA 01201 10-4-12 2:20PM

Ping: 56ms

Download: 9.12mbps

Upload: 1.47mbps

Speed test (xtreme labs) 2: Pittsfield, MA 01201 10-4-12 2:27PM

Ping: 81ms

Download: 8.099mbps

Upload: 0.524mbps

For a comparison, my iPhone 4S on AT&T's MVNO network (using straight talk; basically same speeds as AT&T customers)

Ping: 321ms

Download 2.78mbps

Upload: 0.455mbps

Verizon_Support

Hi LittleLBC,

Yay!!! Congratulations on your new IPhone 5's. The IPhone 5 is an awesome device, and I am sorry to hear that you are having reception issues. I know how important it is to have a working phone at all times. Let's get this resolved. Are the devices losing signal in one particular location/address? How frequently does this occur? Try removing any case on the device that may be blocking the signal. I am here to help. Keep me posted!

Thanks,

Pamelaf_vzw

Twitter us @vzwsupport

PeteBoston

Have you attempted a nano SIM swap?

indyem

Hmm, Verizon's overzealous response seems a bit like pandering to me...Lots of talk but nothing ever seems to get fixed. They must have a company line because every time I call they say exactly the same thing. So Verizon has finally decided that the signal strength in my neighborhood is just fine and therefore it must be a hardware issue. They are replacing the phones but I have to wait until they send them out on 10/26. Guess I should have just gone directly to the Apple store but it is an hour away. I'm not very hopeful, as I have been following PeteBoston's saga on the Apple discussion forum and he has gone through at least three phones thus far. I at least can survive with slower data speeds, but I really do need the phone to work as a phone. I can't use it at all in my house and people have complained that at times they can't hear me in other areas of town that I have never in the past had a problem with. Pete, very disappointed to hear about the poor coverage in NYC as I will be traveling there in a couple of months. I have turned off the LTE because when I do so I get another bar in signal strength, hoping that helps around town. Verizon doesn't seem all that concerned that I have been a customer for over fifteen years, so if the new phone doesn't fix the problem I will seriously consider AT&T.

Not too happy with Apple at this point, either.

PeteBoston

indyem- call Apple at 800-MY-APPLE and open a case. Because my phone never worked right, they were willing to waive the $29 non-Apple Care swap fee and they overnighted me my replacement. (Unfortunately as you pointed out from my other feedback, the replacement phone was no better than my two original iPhone 5s on VZW)

Re: NYC, the good news is that the phone worked in almost every place I used it, so you won't be without service from my experience in NYC, the bad news is that the "LTE" performance was not that much better than 3G is most locations while my AT&T Galaxy S III was flying faster than my home internet connection in the same locations.

I have also been a customer for equally as long and have been disappointed (horrified) by a total lack of concern over my serious problem reports. If there is anything for VZW to learn from this experience, it is that creating a customer service "script" and having no escalation process when customers are not happy != good customer service. While my experience has been consistent among representatives, not one has taken a genuine interest in actually resolving my problem, instead their interest appears to be in reading the script on their screen.

I am convinced at this point that VZW has a serious LTE Network problem at least in Metro Boston or NYC. This may be lack of towers in sufficient locations, but this seems doubtful given how many towers VZW has out here. Another logical conclusion is that their towers have a SW bug w/ LTE phones as my non-iPhone 5 phone performed just as poorly in the same locations (although it held LTE a little better and showed significantly improved upload speed in 1-2 LTE bar locations)

stockboss

I haven't had any problems with service since switching to ATT, and I really like the iPhone! Verizon has had superior customer service and a superior network for a long time, which helped to justify their higher plan prices. I think the tide has turned.

PeteBoston

Unfortunately, I think you're right. It's incomprehensible how VZW, which has been in the lead for so long, can have such a poor LTE network in Boston/NYC, while AT&T is flying. It's even more incomprehensible how nobody at VZW seems to take this problem seriously. I know people with AT&T iPhone 5s and none of them are unhappy, my Galaxy S III on AT&T works fine, yet my VZW iPhone 5 (2 that I own, plus one replacement) have all performed poorly on VZW's network in MA/NYC, low speeds, 3G all the time, low LTE signal strength, etc. I can also report that a Galaxy S III and Galaxy Nexus on VZW have also had spotty LTE service in Metro Boston in these same locations. While the GS III appears to hold a low-strength LTE signal better than the iPhone 5 and have better upload performance in 1-2 bar LTE areas, it seems there are more 1-2 bar LTE areas than 4-5 LTE areas out here, all of this while AT&T Galaxy S III is flying 20-40Mb/s+.

I have been an apostle for VZW since the Bell Atlantic Mobile days, referring hundreds of people to their network and now I must report that I am disgusted with VZW and this poor LTE experience.

VZW - Please show us that someone there actually cares. I have spoken with ^NN on the phone from Twitter, I have called Customer Service over a dozen times, I have been to my local stores, and in the end, I have swapped iPhone 5s and nano SIMs and yet the VZW LTE network here in Massachusetts is still a failure and is not meeting your advertisements and certainly not competing with AT&T.

PeteBoston

I also think that VZW has reached the point where they believe good customer service is answering the phone in a timely manner and being polite while I would much rather wait on hold 15m if it means that after I sit on hold, I actually reach someone who is motivated and capable of actually solving a problem.

DocWes

I have had Iphone5 for 2 months, still under warranty. Was working flawlessly no drops, good fidelity, no problems texting or anything. I was using os ver.6.0.1. Perfect in every way.

I do live in a hill area with marginally good Verizon reception, but this phone was the best.

Then on Dec 28 I got a notice that the phone should be upgraded to 6.0.2. Which I allowed. The next day every call I made dropped after 2 or 3 seconds of connection. I heard 3 beep tones then saw Call Failed on the screen.

I called Verizon, they sent a 3rd level ticket out and check my area said marginal reception (but everythings was ok before, right?) and others who have I phone 5 seem to get good reception. I called the Genius bar, the tec offered to give me a rebuilt phone. I took it. He said dont "restore from your backup" instead bring files and things back in from icloud. Restoring could bring the glitch back.

This new unit had the old ver. 6.0.1, I was happy. But when I got home the phone dropped the first 5 calls just like the last one.

I got a notice that the new phone should be updated to ver. 6.0.2, and under the circumstances, I plugged the phone into my Mac Pro and went to itunes, and allowed the update using a hard wire connection to the mac. It also showed a firmware update happening. After that the phone would make calls, not show Call Lost, but people I talked to said I was dropping out. So I am going back to apple today. I wouldn't fuss if I had not had a really good reception to begin with but I cannot abide by this poor call quality after never having it before with any Verizon phone, in my residence. I think it is an Apple problem, not Verizon, but working together each may affect the other!

pherrhus

Ok...this might be a reach but I think it is right. I just got a iphone 5 and my family still has 3 iphone 4's. Since I bought it, my house reception has been poor. The iphone 4 get 3 bars when I get one or no service.

I did all the troubleshooting with support and finally went to the store today to exchange, since it is new. A smart sales guy told me that bars refer to the signal of the data connection vs. the voice. Not sure if correct but my testing does seem to indicate that it is. Also he said that one tower might support voice and 3g and another maybe voice and 4 but...the phone will connect to the tower based on it being 3g vs. LTE. So I did a test. Turned off LTE on my iphone 5 and nothing changed. But then I switched to airplane mode then back and guess what..I am getting three bars!!! Now turning on and off lte (general settings) might be a pain but usually most people connect via wifi at home. So I am going to leave my phone set to LTE disabled except when I need high speed. Let's be honest, most people use 3g speeds for email and other small bandwidth communications so...

I hope this helps and I really want to hear if my theory is correct about the towers. It makes sense since the 3g network is older and more established with more towers so there is a better chance that your phone will connect to a closer tower if set for 3g.

I would be curious if anyone tests this and find the same result.

unknown

I didn't see this in the thread - did you reset the network settings at the location from where you are having trouble?

Go to: Settings>>General>>Reset>>"Reset Network Settings" (3rd choice from top).

I would also restart my phone if you reset your Network Settings.

*228 is not for the iPhone 5 - that is for CDMA updates only (and not phones that use LTE).
The equivalent to the former *288 update, is to simply turn the phone off periodically (I recommend once a week, on a Monday or Tuesday, if possible, since they often do updates over a weekend or holiday).