iPhone iOS 8.4, now iPhone 6 plus is impossible to use in Charlotte, NC

I'm posting this out of a month of frustration. I've had my iPhone 6 plus since the minute they were released and I've had no issues with it. Now, after iOS 8.3 and 8.4 my phone is basically useless. My calls are constantly being dropped, and I mean constantly...9 out of 10 calls. I cannot wait a video or even view a picture on Instagram. I live outside of Charlotte and work downtown and it doesn't matter where I am, the phone refuses to work and gets a poor signal.
I've tried resetting the phone and doing all of the software updates and at this point I'm at a loss. Is there anyone else out there with an idea of what's going on or living in the Charlotte, NC area and having similar issues? Please help! Thanks in advance.

Accepted answers

kaebfly

I've been lucky for the most part and haven't had the issues that I've seen pop up on here by many. I am in areas where I am successfully able to use Advanced Calling without encountering dropped calls due to LTE switching to 3G (only one "dead" spot I have encountered in my area that is literally only a few feet of issues and tend to drop a call...and actually that has not been the case for the last few weeks so that spot may have been addressed). I think a lot of people have the issue when they have Advanced Calling activated and their area(s) may not be the most stable for the feature right now. If you're having the issues with it activated you may possibly do better with the feature turned off in your trouble spots. It's yet another workaround but it was already known that the feature wasn't the most stable everywhere yet.

If you've troubleshooted with VZW to the point that they can't do anything (and you've attempted support with Apple to verify that the issue is not a device defect that can be fixed simply by replacing your device) then by all means you may need to consider switching providers. I'd make sure if you want to use an iPhone 6/6+ on the new provider that the issue doesn't exist with them to though. It seems difficult to pinpoint what the problem really is (device, iOS updates, and/or carrier updates) so I honestly don't know who to blame (carriers or Apple).

All comments

Verizon_Support

Hello Jamiek66. It's terrible to see how your experience with your iPhone 6 Plus has changed. I regret that you're having service issues. I'd like to help. I can see you're outside Charlotte, NC. Which zip code are you in? Have you had the chance to try service outside of that area? If so, did you see more reliable performance elsewhere? Has your iPhone 6 Plus been damaged in any way?

DionM_VZW

If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

Jamiek66

My iPhone 6 is in mint condition, I have a case on it and clean it weekly. My home zip code is 28079, my work zip code is 28202. My phone is at the point where it barely works when I'm downtown in the 28202 area. It is slightly better once I leave the city and head towards home but it is still terrible compared to how it was when I first got it. I never had drop calls or download issues. Now, I can't even load a webpage or picture on Instagram...and I won't even waste my time going on Facebook, I just get a network error message and it won't work.

Verizon_Support

Thanks for the details provided. It sounds like you take fine care of the device. Since we see the issue is following let's turn our attention to the device. What troubleshooting has been done so that we don't provide duplicates?

BobbyN_VZW Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

imrbrett

Good luck getting a fix. I have had the same problem and have spent countless hours (about 25 hours) of troubleshooting with VZ. Their final answer was sell me a network extender or let me out of my contract for another provider. Very terrible solutions if you ask me.

I have:

Reset network settings

Restored phone and tested before restoring the backup

Messed with data roaming and Voice and data LTE settings (per VZ)

Replaced SIM card

Returned device and got a new one

I live in Peoria AZ and work in Downtown Phoenix AZ Bad service both areas

Was in Denver CO for work with same issues.

I've spoken with about 6 tier one tech support with very little help, just basic steps ive done over and over.

Talked to maybe 3-4 tier 2 tech support and i swear it was pulling teeth to get them to send me a new device even after the last tier 2 said test for a day and call back if not better and well send a phone. Communication between employees is terrible and even worse with the customer.

I kept getting texts "were still working on your ticket please allow 24-48 hours for an update"

would get same text 2 days later. after that they send a text saying "were still working on the ticket well get back to you when its done."

10 days later I call like "where we at? they say, "your ticket was closed a week ago and they said it was a spotty coverage area"

That was extremely annoying because i gave them three address, in 3 cities, and 2 states yet they only look at one.

Calls seem a bit spotty

texts work

but playing video or loading pages are the worst. I seriously sit there for like 20 minutes trying to watch a 2 minute video (very frustrating)

Download speed tests are never over 2mbps. Usually they are in the range of 0.10 - 0.30 Mbps

These issues have been going on for close to 2 months now. I do think it either has something to do with iPhone 6 and/or 6+ OR Apple's 8.3+ software.

I have since upgraded to 8.4 with no resolution. It should be noted I used to get 20-45Mbps down.

Dont get me wrong I dont mind slow speeds here and there but unusable speeds are unacceptable. I also have a problem that Verizon isnt trying harder to replicate the issue and resolve it. They would rather lose me as a customer than deal with the issue. Based on this post and others I have seen on the VZ page I am not the only one with the issue nor just my state, It's nationwide. I dont believe I should be paying a full bill when my phone doesnt work the entire time im at work (no wifi). They offered me 15% off for a year.

I want VZ to recognize this is a problem and work on a resolution not just brush it off like nothing is happening.

Jamiek66

I've done the simple resets on my phone daily and I've done one full factory reset as well. I have no idea what's wrong with the phone. It used to run perfectly but it's been about a month, month in a half now and I can't even text a picture most of the time.

fastbagger

Jamie out of curiosity is your phone set to LTE "voice and data" and have HD Voice 1.0 turned on? If so when on a call and the phone switches from 4G to 3G the call will drop. When in this mode in addition to HD voice calls you can also talk and use the web/apps at same time, like a GSM phone. You can toggle the LTE from "voice and data" to just "data" which will fix the issue. Worked for me.

imrbrett

My comment was rejected by moderators. Why is that?