Boise Idaho 4g LTE just gets slower and slower

[h2ridaho]

I have been a Verizon customer for about a year now.   Sitting at the same desk in the same office location, I started out getting 3mg to 4mg download speeds (verified with speedtest.net).  Over the past year, my speeds have gotten slower and slower.   I am now down to getting .76 download speeds (yes that is point 76.  Not even 1mb.  That is not even close to meeting the contractual agreed upon speeds. 

To answer some questions, not it is not just my phone or things running on my phone, as I have two different phones (both on Verizon), and both are getting the same very slow speeds.  I am an I.T. person, and I understand ping rates and download speeds. 

Yes I have removed the batteries from my phones and retested getting the same results.   Yes I have made sure that I don't have background processes running which might affect the speeds.     What is worse, is that I just had a sales guy from Tmobile try to talk me into switching.  We both ran speedtest from the same location.   (Just so happens he has the exact same phone as I do).   He was hitting 19mb downloads.   I was getting .46 from the same location. 

I have done this test on a galaxy note II running various apps, and a Nokia 928 that is bare bones.  I get very close to the same speeds with both phones.

I am in the center of downtown Boise.

I rarely get anything above 1mb.

Cmon Verizon.   Fix this..  This type of problem is why I left Sprint after being with them for 5 years.    

[#2]

Mobile data is SHARED. Which means the more people connecting to the same tower the slower your connection is going to be. Especially if those others connecting are doing things like watching streaming video. So being in the middle of a decent sized city yes it would be expected that there would be congestion issues. Each tower has 3 sectors, each sector can only handle a max of 400 users. How many Verizon customers in your general area are trying to connect to the same tower sector as you in the middle of the day? Probably more than 400. Also each sector can only handle 150 Mbps MAX among all users. So if you have 400/150 Mbps that 375 kbps. So if you person 401 or more then you probably won't get any connection at all until someone else stops using the network. This is why unlimited data isn't so great. Those people don't care, they'll stream video all day long. They don't have caps to worry about so they couldn't care less if it impacts YOU.

So there isn't really any "fix". Other than to add more spectrum which is pretty much years down the pike for several reasons. Verizon is also installing microtowers in many areas. I doubt Boise, Idaho is high on the priority list though. Once again that's a solution that will take years to accomplish.

ALL carriers are going to have this issue as more and more people upgrade to smartphones especially 4G smartphones. As I said solutions are YEARS away.

[dmc271]

Solutions are not that far out: Carriers can always add more towers/sites and/or microcells.  Carrier hesitate to do this due to cost. Supplementing with the AWS spectrum (Band 4) is what VZW is currently deploying in major cities. Hopefully VZW will deploy it in Boise soon.  This should relieve some of the load off of 700 MHz Band 13, and thus you should see improved speeds even if you don't have an AWS-capable phone.  VZW has been silent on its AWS deployment schedule, however.

[#4]

dmc271 wrote:

Solutions are not that far out: Carriers can always add more towers/sites and/or microcells.  Carrier hesitate to do this due to cost. Supplementing with the AWS spectrum (Band 4) is what VZW is currently deploying in major cities. Hopefully VZW will deploy it in Boise soon.  This should relieve some of the load off of 700 MHz Band 13, and thus you should see improved speeds even if you don't have an AWS-capable phone.  VZW has been silent on its AWS deployment schedule, however.

Towers cost money. Also do you know that carriers are constantly denied permits to build towers because local zoning boards feel they look ugly and deflate property values. Ironically these same people somehow still complain about lousy coverage and ask mobile companies why they don't improve things. Also even with permission a tower doesn't go up and activate overnight.

Yes AWS will help. Once again they could upgrade Boise next month or next year. So I'm not going to speculate on when that might be since I lack information on that. While phones that don't use AWS will see some improvements the one with AWS will see the most.

Verizon will also be converting to LTE-Advanced which will help but that conversion is a few years away. And devices have to support it. The current number is ZERO. Verizon will certainly deploy LTE over any spectrum they get from the incentive auctions. They auctions won't take place until late 2015 so we are looking at not even beginning to deploy it until 2016. And deployment could take a couple of years. Not to mention devices have to support those frequencies. And of course Verizon will refarm their 1x and 3G frequencies to LTE also. Verizon has previously stated they hope to do this by the end of 2020. So yes there are solutions that Verizon will deploy but you also see most of them are 3-7 years away.

[dmc271]

AWS is not 3-7 years away. It has already been launched in many major cities, and even some smaller cities. Lots of useful info on this in HowardForums.

If I were seeing h2r's speeds, I too would be upset. It's not viable to just wait 3-7 years for a fix.

[#6]

dmc271 wrote:

AWS is not 3-7 years away. It has already been launched in many major cities, and even some smaller cities. Lots of useful info on this in HowardForums.

If I were seeing h2r's speeds, I too would be upset. It's not viable to just wait 3-7 years for a fix.

No offense, but do you read? I never said that AWS is 3-7 years away. I am well aware AWS is already live. I have known about Verizon AWS plans for over 2 years. Because I keep up on this stuff. I said incentive auctions and re-farming 1x and 3G spectrum is 3-7 years away and that IS a fact.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the commission is moving the start of the 600 MHz broadcast TV spectrum incentive auctions to mid-2015 from a previously scheduled start of sometime in 2014 to make sure the agency gets the technology and policy correct. The decision could have major ramifications for how other spectrum auctions scheduled to take place before the incentive auctions proceed. 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/fcc-pushing-600-mhz-broadcast-incentive-auction-mid-2015/2013-12...

October 10, 2012

SAN DIEGO--Verizon Wireless plans to shutter its 2G and 3G CDMA networks by 2021, giving the carrier close to a decade to move its customers off those networks and onto its LTE network.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-wireless-sunset-2g-and-3g-cdma-networks-2021/2012-10-10

[dmc271]

No offense, but did you not tell the OP "solutions are YEARS away"?

Wouldn't you be at least little disturbed if you were getting hr2's slow speeds, and someone just told you "Mobile data is SHARED"?  All I'm saying is, how about a little sympathy for the OP?  And a little encouragement that AWS is going to help in the near-term.  Just trying to have a positive outlook, that's all.

[vzw_customer_support]

We certainly don't want you to go anywhere, h2r. Let's get you back up to speed. Do you have speed problems in multiple locations or are the problems isolated to your work location. Do you have any problems with calls or messages? Lastly, have we opened a resolution ticket? Please provide me with a few more details.

ChaunceyM_VZW

Follow us twitter @VZWSupport

[h2ridaho]

At my girlfriends in Nampa i can hit 5m once in awhile. Not having any issues calling or getting messages with exception that most places in downtown boise area i was getting around 2mb when i first signed up, and always had 4G at least a few bars. Now in this area i. Sometimes drop to 3g and when i do have 4G it is slower than 3g should be. I use my phone a lot for work, and it is very inconvenient to not be getting at least 2m speeds let alone even 1m. I should be getting at least 3mb with any 4g...

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

[vzw_customer_support]

Hey there h2r,

Thanks for the additional information. We absolutely want to make sure that you are receiving the excellent speeds that you deserve. I have just followed you. Please follow me and send me a dm so I can review your account in detail. We may need to file an investigation with our network repair team.

NicholasB_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[h2ridaho]

I don't do twitter.  Can we find another way to communicate...

[Ann154]

h2r wrote:

I don't do twitter.  Can we find another way to communicate...

You are supposed to send the Direct Message (DM) through the community. You have to follow the individual username of the rep using the steps in .

[lordgoldneyes00]

Can we get a response from someone on the Infrastructure team?  In downtown Boise the speeds never break 1Mbps, on the bench they hardly do any better and out near the Mall at the main Verizon store I hit some all time highs for my phone at 1.55Mbps.  It was really cool when Verizon had the first LTE rollout, but it is obvious that there wasn't much planning on how to sustain it.  All of my coworkers on TMobile get speeds of 12-15Mbps, it's pretty tempting...

[h2ridaho]

Decided to see what my wifi hotspot will do. (It is a paid for one through my work phone).  .17mbps download with 589ms ping rate.  I could code the programs faster..

[h2ridaho]

Ok, so I did the follow thing back on Feb. 10th, and haven't heard a thing from Verizon.....   Not a "sorry that's just how it is for now", or anything.  

[Ann154]

h2r wrote:

Ok, so I did the follow thing back on Feb. 10th, and haven't heard a thing from Verizon.....   Not a "sorry that's just how it is for now", or anything.  

Are you sure you are following the VZW rep? Did they accept your follow request and did you accept the follow request the rep should have sent you?

[h2ridaho]

I have been waiting for him to accept.   Perhaps if I had been given some instructions on how to follow, and then what to watch for afterwards it would have helped.    I just saw a very small (1) on an unlabeled ICON and found where the rep was waiting for me to accept.  

[vzw_customer_support]

h2r we want to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible! Once you've accepted the follow request, the next step is to send a Direct Message to that representative. Look forward to hearing from you soon!

AshleyS_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[h2ridaho]

I gave an accept a few days ago.     no change in service.     Borrowed a tmobile and did a wifi hotspot to my phone.  Getting pings of 72ms, download of 25.12, upload of 11.88.  

[h2ridaho]

Todays 4g lte Speedtest shows downloads of .23mbps and uploads of 1.06mbps.   Far far below the advertised rates. 

Still no help from Verizon..   I also maintain a business account with 70+ phones and all of them in this area are complaining about the 4g lte speeds we are receiving..  

[vzw_customer_support]

h2r,

We want you to have full access to our blazing speeds. I see that you were asked to private message one of our reps, did you get a response? If not, please follow and private message me. I would love to access your account and see about the coverage and file a ticket regarding our concerns.

LindseyT_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport