When I turn on LTE, I get 1 bar but when I turn it off I get 5 bars 3G. I live on the 14th floor (unobstructed) in a busy neighborhood in Brooklyn that is listed as having good service. My neighbor has 5 bars but me, merely 1. I just got a replacement 5S at the Apple Store in case the antenna was defective but now it is still stuck at 1 bar. Help. I have the newest IOS update.
Chum1,
Let's look into this further and ensure you are getting the service you deserve! What's your zip code? Does this happen only in your home?
KarenC_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Hi, thanks! I am in 11217 but honestly, it isn't too great anywhere, never more than 3-4 bars in different places in NYC, usually 2-3. But it is generally worse at home, where I need it most.
Chum1, we want you to have the best wireless experience possible no matter where you go! At this time, no issues have been reported in New York. However, you mentioned that you're having issues in more than one place which prompts us to take a closer look at your device. Try resetting the network on that iPhone in Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network.
Wireless reception can be challenging indoors. As a result, it's very normal for signal to fluctuate. Have you ever had reliable service at your residence?
LasinaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Will the Verizon people ever respond?
They did. Three and two days ago.
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
Yes but I clarified and they never came back.
It might be another day or two before your posts reach the top of their queue.
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
The wireless extender is a good idea, if you can afford that. Nonetheless, if you go that route you would most likely get better signal, but make sure that you have Verizon adjust it's power correctly, otherwise you'll have neighbors all up in arms that accidentally connect to it and have issues themselves.
Yeah 1X and 3G travel greater distances than LTE meaning you'll have more bars on them. Also the network extender doesn't provide LTE, only 3G, but the 3G it does provide is at the max 3G speed possible last time I checked
3G won't matter much since you have to have a modem anyway, and then most likely the user would use wifi.
Yeah your right and limited data plans really don't help that at all
Never had Verizon before but my neighbor across the hall has five bars. I've done the reset stuff, I got a new phone in case it was the antenna, I got a new sim card. I've done everything possible. I've spent hours with Apple and with the in-store people. Maybe it is just that Verizon isn't as good as claimed in NYC? I don't know what else to try.
You may be picking up band 4 XLTE, where an older phone would only be able to pick up band 13. It is very possible an overloaded band 13 tower with 5 bars would perform worse than 1 bar of a band 4 tower that is not overloaded. Also band 13 penetrates buildings better, so signal strength higher, whereas band 4 doesn't.
You can check what band you are using on an iPhone by going to phone dialer and dialing:
*3001#12345#*
you will now be in field test.click on serving cell info and look at frequency band indicator.
I Would go by performance and not bars, how is the speed?
IF it makes you feel better, this happens to me, but speed remains good, and I know the logical why it is happening, so I am good with it. Happens with every phone with XLTE.
Weth, thanks so much but I have no idea what you are talking about but I did what you advised and the Freq Band Indicator is "4" -- I am not worried about data speeds, as I am on my wifi for data. I am worried about call quality which is no good at 1 bar, except in one very tiny corner of my apartment, where for some odd reason, I occasionally get 3 bars. But it is impossible to stand in that spot for long. I work at home, so need the phone part to work well, if possible.
Chum1, thanks for taking all the mentioned steps, it is appreciated. To be sure, you state that within the apartment you are definitely having issues with call quality. However, you also stated that it wasn't to great anywhere. We want to clarify, are you having call quality issues everywhere you go or are you stating that the signal is simply on average 2-4 bars? If the challenge for reception is primarily at your apartment, it would be likely that the signal is being obstructed by either the building or other structures in the area. If you have home internet we do have in home solution to assist with reception while indoors and those can be seen here http://vz.to/1rGr6wM.
AdamG_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
Before you do anything else, I'll try to explain this a bit. Verizon now has multiple frequencies depending on if you are on Really new tech (band 4 XLTE), new tech (Band 13 LTE), or original. With your phone, the signal strength will show the data connection while in standby, which is completely different than when you make a call.
Test this. See you phone with 1 bar of band 4 XLTE, that is standby on data. Now make a call, and you should see the signal strength change as soon as you initiate the call. This is the phone switching from new tech to old tech 3G CDMA to make the call. This is also the signal strength that your calls will go out on. I suspect you will see bars equal to before when you are in a call.
If this really bothers you, just turn off LTE, and you will stay in 3G CDMA mode, which uses different frequencies and sometimes different towers. You can also just turn off LTE temporarily to either prove my theory correct or incorrect.
Based on what you have said so far, I am not convinced you even have a problem, and it is a matter of understanding what the signal strength is measuring - your data signal or your voice signal. It will always show the data signal unless you are in a call, or force LTE to be off.
Verizon CS will likely just tell you to get a signal extender, but I am not convinced you need to do that.
Does that help? I really want you to understand this so you feel comfortable with what your phone is telling you.
Yeah honestly 1 bar if LTE doesn't matter if your on wifi as all calls are placed over 3G, so if you have good 3G signal you'll have good quality calls and good wifi signal for good quality data. In fact I currently have LTE disabled as I have a limited data plan and always use wifi, plus it saves battery life
And the network extender won't even do anything as it only can provide a 3G signal so that won't help at all, it will just be another useless fee in your bill lol
Well, it's a one time buy device with no monthly fee, but yeah, you still stay connected to wifi for data, but the 3g would be a lateral move considering the 3G is 5 bars.
ethancedrik wrote:
Yeah honestly 1 bar if LTE doesn't matter if your on wifi as all calls are placed over 3G, so if you have good 3G signal you'll have good quality calls and good wifi signal for good quality data. In fact I currently have LTE disabled as I have a limited data plan and always use wifi, plus it saves battery life
Calls are placed over 1x not 3G. This is a something people constantly get wrong. 1x is around 850 MHz. 3G is 1850-1910 MHz for uplink and 1930-1990 for downlink. Though Verizon only owns 20 MHz of each at most. Slightly worse for uplink than AWS slightly better for downlink than AWS.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
