Over the past several months, I have noticed that signal strength has dropped significantly in much of my home area (Central Iowa - ZIP codes 50309, 50021). I didn't do anything about it, because I was coming due for a new phone, and figured it was a problem with the radio in my old Droid RAZR Maxx. I upgraded my phone a couple weeks ago to an LG G3, but I'm still seeing really poor signal strength both at home (50021) and at work (50309). I almost can't use 4G for data - I have to associate to my wifi at work and at home to do almost anything that requires data. My office is right next to downtown Des Moines, so I'd think there should be phenomenal signal, assuming Verizon has engineered this area to provide a higher density of towers/radios to accommodate the number of devices. I understand XLTE is here, or is supposed to be here very soon. Will the coverage be scrutinized to be sure issues are fixed alongside the upgrades? I have power-cycled my phone, initiated the "Check for new system update" process to check for configuration updates, to no avail. As I'm sitting here, my phone is fluctuating between 1 and 2 bars, currently at -97dBm for 4G, and -85dBm for 1X. This is consistent with what I've been experiencing over the past couple weeks. Are there any trouble tickets open in the area, or do we need to open one? My employer is currently evaluating carriers, so correcting this now could prove beneficial.
Thanks
jmcrabb,
Providing you with superior service is our number one priority! I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with your service lately but we will work to get this resolved for you. I have checked the area and I do not see any major issues happening that could be causing these problems. Are other Verizon customers having the same kinds of issues in these areas? Can you check your network mode to see what it is currently set to? It can be done by visiting Settings>More>Mobile networks>Network mode. It should be set to LTE/CDMA. Keep us posted.
CandiceH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter at @VZWSupport
I don't know if other customers are having the same issue. I will compare my wife's phone when I get home from work. I checked the network mode setting. It was set to Global, which should have been fine, since it includes all the bands, but I went ahead and changed it to LET/CDMA as you recommended. I have seen no improvement in the signal or speed, which is what I expected, because have seen the same issue with two completely different pieces of hardware (Moto Droid RAZR Maxx & LG G3). Current signal strength: 4G -98dBm (2/5 bars), 1X -85dBm (4/5 bars). I saw as low as -105dBm the other day on 4G.
Jim
jmcrabb,
Great, we would greatly appreciate additional information to ensure this service issue is addressed. Has your SIM Card been swapped out since the issues started? Please keep us posted.
KarenC_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
No, I believe the store moved my SIM from my old phone to the new one. Do I just need to stop in at a Verizon corporate store to swap it out? I did pull the battery yesterday and remove/replace the SIM with no change.
Jim
jmcrabb,
Oh okay, I am sure the same SIM Card was used. We would suggest swapping out your SIM Card at the store location to see if it helps with your 4G issues, or Customer Service can send one out as well. Please keep us posted on the status of this.
KarenC_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Ok, I've given it about a week since getting my SIM swapped out at the local Verizon store, and there has been no improvement.
To give some perspective on the change in signal strength, I used to be get the same strength LTE signal in my basement that I get on the main floor of my house now. Now in the basement, I usually only get 3G or 1 bar of LTE. I understand that I'm below ground, and I understand radio wave propagation, but that does not change the fact that the quality of service has decreased with no changes in surroundings or equipment (until my recent upgrade of my phone). No modifications have been made to my house or my neighbors' houses - no new chain-link fences, etc.. I think at this point, it would be appropriate to dispatch a signal tech in the area to survey coverage and adjust output power or positioning of elements on towers. Hopefully the number of towers in the area hasn't been reduced.
On a different topic, what is the roadmap for implementing XLTE in the Des Moines area? Des Moines is listed as a covered city.
Jim
One more note - I did check signal strength on my wife's phone sitting right next to mine, and it was the same. She has a Samsung Galaxy S3.
We are passionate about your wireless happiness jmcrabb and want to do everything we can to get this resolved for you. May I ask are you having the issue at the ground level with the new sim card? What about outside? If you can provide us with a few more details from your observation then we can discuss the next path.
Thank you…
ArnettH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Yes. The above readings are at ground level. No change going outside my house.
Thanks for doing that, jmcrabb. We appreciate all you have done so far. We are also concerned about the signal you have been experiencing. At this time, the next step is to file a resolution ticket. This will have an engineer go to the area to test the towers.
TamaraH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Jim,
You are not along, Verizon really needs to update there map. I work on Army post road and the service has continues to deteriorate since XLTE went in. my will switch to 3G, 1s, and even extended. Since it appears Verizon is doing nothing, as normal, I would recommend filing a complaint with the FTC at - FTC Complaint Assistant. Under mobile devices choose other. If you search the groups you will see that many areas of the metro area can even hardly get a phone call.
alone...
Not alone, I'm in Ames (50011) and have seen and reported a drastic decrease in quality of service. The majority of the time I can not even connect to the Internet and if I can, it's well below my previous experiences with Sprint. Seriously need to do something about this or let me out of my contract so I can find a provider who actually cares about central Iowa.
I've been having tons of problems here in State College 16801. This is a college town and during the day the students are all on campus and the tower(s) around campus are clogged so almost no data is getting through during portions of the day. Verizon has confirmed that the signal is fine in my area, but there's traffic spikes which degrade service.
Are you experiencing the problem during the whole day or only at certain times?
The only time data is usable is weekends and even then it's pretty terrible. Verizon has confirmed the towers are at capacity (think using during a major event like a football game, but all the time). However, because the towers are working as normal, but there are just too many people, there is nothing they can do.
Pretty terrible service and customer service, first time I've regretted leaving Sprint. Sprint's service was insanely slow, but slow is better than not working.
Over the past 2-3 months, I have also noticed significant decreases in signal strength for voice and LTE. I only came to this forum hoping that Verizon would acknowledge the issue instead of pointing fingers at users and/or handsets, so we can get an idea of when it might be improved. I manage the wireless service for my company and I'm getting plenty of complaints from employees driving around the DSM Metro area.
CecilBhawk,
Oh no, let's get your service back to where it should be! What's your zip code? What are the makes and models of your devices? Do you notice service issues indoors and outdoors? Has a resolution ticket been opened before for the service issues?
KarenC_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
I mostly use service in 50266,50265, 50309 and 50310, and that would apply to most of our employees. Most places I've used the service previously are now becoming very slow with LTE/3g data. There are certain locations that I used to never have an issue that I now constantly get 3g instead of LTE, and even the 3g is a low signal strength. My 1st thought was my phone having problems, but several employee/users report the same issues. I wouldn't say the problem was more indoor or outdoor...it's a problem for both.
Predominately, we use iPhone 4's and 5's.
CecilBhawk, thanks for this heads up. It appears that you're having issues with service in a few places. At this time, no outages have been reported in Iowa. Let's take a closer look at your iPhone devices. Have you powered your device off/on to soft reset yet? Try resetting the network in Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network. Keep us posted.
LasinaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
