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Major LTE Problems in D.C.

Is there an explanation for the significant LTE service disruptions in central D.C.?

For the past week LTE service has slowed to an absolute crawl near Metro Center, literally 3-4 blocks from the "Verizon Center" (which you'd think would get great LTE service).

Every day from about 11:30AM on the LTE becomes absolutely useless and remains so throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

This is NOT a problem with my phone as this problem has been occuring for every person with Verizon in my office. We have never had a problem with the LTE service in our building before this week and going outside does nothing to alleviate the problem.

The service is fine in the mornings but without fail right around 11:30 it absolutely dies. Phone says it is connected to LTE services but nothing that uses data will work.

Comments

Verizon_Support

Hello dfizzo,

You deserve the best wireless experience in the world and that's exactly what we will deliver to you my friend! It will be my pleasure to assist with the 4G connectivity in your area. Let's start with what zip code are you in? Also, what make and model device are you using? Once I have the zip code then I can check to see if there are ant network enhancements in the area that may affect the service. Also, if you can be so kind as to describe this area for me then that would be great. For example, it this a large metropolitan area or is it more of a remote area? Are there any major events that happens regularly in this area at 11:30? If so then the issue may be with the sudden increase of network traffic. In either case, once you have provided us with the requested info then we can investigate. I'm looking forward to your reply.

Thank you...

ArnettH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

dfizzo

The zip code is 20005, my phone is a Droid Incredible 4G LTE. This is downtown, urban DC, about 3 blocks from the Verizon Center arena.

A few things:

1) This is a recent problem occuring over the last week into today

2) The problem is affecting EVERYONE with Verizon service in my office, it is NOT limited to my phone only so it is clearly a service problem and not a phone problem.

3) The problem occurs whether inside or outside of the building.

4) I have run speedtests and I normally see around 1Mbps, however, starting around 11:00AM every day that drops down to 300kbps and remains there until around 4:30.

To summarize:

ALL Verizon 4g service in this area drops in speed by around 66% (1Mbps down to 300kbps) from approximately 11:00AM - 4:30PM Monday through Friday (the problem did NOT occur over the weekend). This problem happens regardless of location in or out of a building and occurs for ALL Verizon customers in my office. It is therefore NOT a phone problem but clearly a Verizon service problem.

This issue has been occuring for approximately 1 week now, prior to that there was no such issue. Clearly something has changed in the last week regarding Verizon service in this area.

BluntestJen

This is happening in Oxon Hill, MD and in Charlotte, NC - we have been having major issues with all of our verizon phones for WEEKS now! 2 of our lines/contracts are up in January and we are seriously thinking of going elsewhere...our other two lines do not go up until 2015 - boo! We pay over $350 a month for 3 cell phones and home internet and it BLOWS!

tdmne

Don't mean to hijack the thread but this is also happening in downtown DC near the Capital, zipcode 20416. My Galaxy Note 2 is unable or barely able to load webpages during the day.

dfizzo

No please, hopefully this will clue VZW into the fact that this is NOT an isolated problem and is likely affecting many customers. They seem blind tot he idea that there might be a problem in the area.

Even if it's just network congestion from some conference or event this kind of service disruption should be unacceptable to any reputable company.

Verizon, however, seems content to ignore the problem.

Verizon_Support

Thanks for the additional information dfizzo! I see a ticket that was submitted to our engineers for investigation that appears to be your ticket. I don't have your account information to confirm. Therefore, if you did not submit a resolution ticket please accept my follow request, follow me and send me a direct message with your mobile number. If you indeed already submitted a ticket please allow 3-5 business days for a resolution. Thank you.

TominqueBo_VZW

Please follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

Verizon_Support

Hello BluntestJen

I'm veryt sorry you've been having issues for weeks. Let's work together and get this resolved. We appreciate your years of loyal service. Which devices do you have? Does this happen outdoors as well? What zip code are you in?

I look forward to hearing from you and getting this addressed.

JoeL_VZW

Please follow us on twitter @vzwsupport

cdundee

my phone is completely out in Dupont Circle in DC. 20036

tdmne

Was there a resolution to the 4G problems in DC? I still have virtually no data throughput on my phone. I was trying to submit a ticket but couldn't find anything useful in the contact us page on your website.

Nitspatel

So finally I am not alone... here is link to my thread... https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/806838 I have been fighting with them over the slow LTE issue in Washington DC area.. I hope they have some explanation soon !

phositadc

Another unhappy customer weighing in. I'm right by metro center, but I have the problem throughout downtown DC. Almost anytime I try to use my Verizon LTE phone during the day in downtown DC, I get absolutely terrible download and upload speeds. Webpages barely even load (and frequently they do not load at all).

Unacceptable. As several other customers have noted, this happens regardless of which device I'm using, regardless of whether I've rebooted recently or not, and regardless of how old my SIM card is. It is unquestionably an issue with Verizon's LTE network in downtown DC during business hours. I've attached a link to a screenshot to show how bad the service is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2svjcvw962ke93o/verizonDC.jpg

And FYI, the bottom entry (20.19 mbps down, 4.62 mbps) was achieved in Arlington VA at 9:38pm. The top 3 entries (0.33 mbps, 0.27 mbps, and 1.20 mbps) are fully representative of my typical network speeds on Verizon, in downtown DC, during the day--i.e., terrible.

There is clearly an issue with LTE speeds in downtown DC. Network congestion. Call it what it is, recognize the problem, and please try to fix it.

Verizon_Support

We don't want any of our customers to be unhappy with service phositadc. Having the service ou pay for is very important to us. Did we also submit a ticket for you and your issues. Have we performed any trouble-shooting for your device? What phone do you have? We can tell you how to perform steps to get your issue resolved.

KinquanaH_VZW

Follow is on Twitter @vzwsupport

phositadc

This response is insulting. Have you even read the messages in this thread? This is not an issue with a device. It is not an issue with troubleshooting. It is an issue of network congestion.

Have a Verizon corporate representative in the downtown DC area (near Metro Center would be ideal, but numerous posts in this thread confirm it is throughout downtown DC) do some testing and it will unquestionably confirm everything posted in this thread.

I just ran a speedtest on my iphone 5s. Signal strenght is -77 dBm on LTE. I got a ping of 50 ms, which is good, but a download speed of a very choppy and intermittent 0.71 mbps, and an upload speed of 0.57 mbps.

ANYBODY ON VERIZON, WITH ANY PHONE, WILL GET SIMILAR RESULTS IN THIS AREA. IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THE NUMEROUS PEOPLE WHO HAVE POSTED IN THIS THREAD, SEND ONE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES TO THE AREA AND RUN A SPEED TEST.

And yes, poor speed tests DO equate to bad real world results. Webpages take forever to load. It takes forever to send or receive an email with an attachment. I can't download new apps. It is very poor quality.

Again, I'd be happy, and I'm sure many others in this thread would be happy, if Verizon would simply acknowledge the issue and tell us that it is working diligently to fix it.

And just to be clear, since this point does not seem to be getting across, the issue is NOT with a given user's phone, SIM card, etc. The issue is with Verizon's LTE network. It is simply too congested.

Nitspatel

It is definitely very insulting. Here are the representative who replied to my post for washington DC Metro area congestion issue but they are yet to open the ticket or offer any resolution.

: : :

And here is the link to my post: https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/806838

Verizon_Support

@phositadc

It is never our intent to insult you or any of our valued customers. I understand your point and want to do everything I can to resolve this issue for you.

Have you had a resolution ticket filed for the 4G problems in the area you mentioned? If not, please follow me here ( ) and send me a Direct Message including your name and wireless number so I can further assist. Thank you for your patience and your understanding!

MD76

I agree with all the expressions of frustration on this post. The VZW 4G network is clearly congested in downtown DC, but the CSRs apparently have not been empowered to even admit that there's a problem. I'd rather VZW acknowledge the issue and tell us what their plans are over the next 3-9 months to fix the problem. BTW, out in Northern Virginia I generally have a good experience with the network and, in a recent trip to Boston, it was excellent. VZW needs to build out capacity in DC.

phositadc

Yep, I live in Northern VA (literally like 2-3 miles from downtown DC), and I've never had the problems in Northern VA that I have in DC.

It's amazing to me that going a couple miles can totally change the quality of the service.

phositadc

Verizon has admitted what we've known for months: That it has some major congestion problems. See http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57612021-94/verizon-admits-network-faces-traffic-pressure-in-big-cities/.

Hopefully the customer service reps who respond to threads like this will now be able to acknowledge that. And hopefully Verizon's promise of getting it fixed quickly will actually happen.

billsblots

This is a colossal problem across cities nationwide for Verizon Wireless. I have been complaining to them for over a year about the non-performing LTE network in downtown Richmond, Virginia, with no solid feedback from VZW, even telling me that I was in a "marginal area" - I'm 1/4 mile from the state capital and overlook the intersection of I-95 and the main downtown street in Richmond.

Download speeds are typically less than 400 kbps (0.4 Mbps), although Verizon advertises their "blazing speeds" nationwide.

Complaining is finally having some effect. Verizon has admitted they have major problems with throughput in major cities and have promised to reengineer their network and add additional frequencies.

I have often had to shut off LTE and resort to their 3G network, which is slow and plodding but eventually will load a page.

Keep complaining until they deliver the "blazing speeds" that they've been promising !!!

"Verizon CFO Fran Shammo admitted that the carrier’s network quality has been compromised in some areas due to 4G LTE traffic, but a fix is on the way by the end of the year."

billsblots

Yes, at work all day long it's actually horrible, and I often turn off LTE because a page won't load or a narrow audio stream won't pass. Outside downtown 5 miles away at lunch it's not bad.

It's typically < 0.4 Mbps in Richmond, VA, but during a trip to Orange County, California the download speeds were typically 16+ Mbps, using the same web site to test download speeds.

At least they are finally admitting it, I've filed at least 15 complaints over the past year.

billsblots

how do you get the iphone to display the receive sig in dbm? I had this capability on an older Droid Bionic but haven't found this capability in my iphone5.

dfizzo

The CRO of Verizon Wireless acknowledged major slowdowns on LTE in major cities. So clearly all this discussion about our phones and other issues were lies and deceptions designed to convince us they weren't the problem.

So much money are we owed on our bills? I'm sure someone can quantify the value of lost service.

phositadc

So Verizon supposedly turned the switch on something that will increase speeds significant in Washington DC today. http://gizmodo.com/verizons-lte-just-three-times-faster-in-a-bunch-of-big-1477818374. Can anybody confirm improved speeds? I stopped using my Verizon phone because the service was so bad, but maybe this will bring me back if it actually fixes the problem.

Trish672

I can confirm that Verizon LTE speeds are still terrible here in downtown DC. Did a test run with my Ipad Air. When it connects (which isn't all that often) it usually tops out at 0.25 mb/s. Tmobile has really stepped up it's game though. As of this week I'm getting around 25 mb/s consistently. If things don't change within the next couple of months I'll be cutting ties with Verizon completely.

redwood02

Me as well 2 blocks south of dupont - even with 3 bars speeds are very slow or connections time out entirely

phositadc

Pitiful. Why would Verizon tell the press that it is speeding things up in DC and then not do it? Hopefully it's on the way, but these months we've had with sub-3g speeds on LTE are just ridiculous, and the delay in fixing it just unacceptable.

GPSJay

I just want to add my voice to these complaints. Zip code 20591. I've been tracking this for months on my own. I am so relieved to see others have the same problem. I have been clocking LTE speeds of around 15 Mbps at 6:45 am every morning. In exactly the same spot, between 11:30 am and noon, speeds drop to between 2 and .9. It happens indoors and outside. I mean, right in the heart of DC.

I use a Droid Razr. The tech support folks for my office were using Verizon hotspots for some of their work, but had to switch to AT&T because they couldn't maintain LTE signals on Verizon inside our building.

My contract is up in exactly two weeks. After at least 15 years with VZW, I am probably going to jump to AT&T or one of their alter-ego providers just to get decent LTE speeds at the time of day when it matters most. This also happens in zip 20191 and also when I am out and about in Northern Virginia, e.g., Leesburg, VA.

Verizon_Support

GPSJay,

Thank you for providing us that information. I have looked in your areas that you have provided and I do not see any network issues reported in our system. We would want to open a network ticket to have our engineers take a look at this issue. If you could follow us and then direct message us your information so we could take a look at your account.

Thank you,

RobinD_VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

tikibar1

and

GPSJay

I tried to sign up to direct message you, but never got the confirmation. I bought an iPhone5S (unlocked) full price so that I could switch to another carrier if necessary. I found that, initially, my speeds on Speedtest.net did go up on Verizon, but it turns out to be low network congestion during the holidays. Now that the holidays are over, I am back to getting as much as 35 mbps early am but only about 1 to 2 mbps around noon. Obviously, a congestion issue. I always test within about 5 feet of the same location, so it is not a matter of changing my position relative to buildings, etc. My contract is up, so I am shopping for alternatives.

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