Recent poor signal in neighborhood
raptor1418
Newbie

In the last month signal, not just indoors but also outdoors in my neighborhood has gotten extremely poor.

I was able to get 3 to 4 bars sitting at my desk (in my house) with lots of electronics around.   Now I get no service sitting at my desk and if I am lucky 1 bar of service on the second floor.   If I walk outside my house or even part way down the street I get maybe 1 or 2 bars of service.   I basically have to leave the area to get good signal strength.  

I tried all the usual troubleshooting to verify the phone is not the problem (2 of the same phones on the account and both have the same issue).   Soft reset phone, re-seated SIM, data roaming is on and mobile network is set to Global.   Both phones are running the latest update pushed out by verizon.   One thing that is odd is it constantly shifts 4GLTE to 3G to 1x to no service.   Signal strength is up and down when it does this shift.   So if it shifts to 1x I will have 4 bars for about 3 or 4 seconds than none or it will switch over to 3G with 2 bar and than drop off to no service.  If 4G LTE comes up it is always no better than 1 bar.  

Signal strength while on 3G

inside:  -96 to -104 dBm always 1 asu

outside:  -92 to -101 dBm always 2 asu

Could catch a 4G LTE or 1x connection.

Nothing major going on in the area that I am aware of that would cause problems (cranes, planes flying low, unknown objects in the signal path, towers being constructed, new broadcasting antennas or dishes being setup, etc...).

 

Hate to say it but my AT&T work phone gets full signal just fine when sitting right next to my Verizon phone on my desk.   (Verizon phone had no service)   

Is there any service disruptions in the area?  Any thing else that I should try with the phone?

Galaxy S5

zip 80234

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

raptor1418,


We always want you to get world class service wherever you are! That's incredibly important. It sounds like you've done a lot of great steps. What phones do you have? Do the phones still work well when you're in other areas? How far do you go before the service improves?


AndrewT_VZW
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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
raptor1418
Newbie

Would have to check to see how far away I have to get before I get strong signal as I am usually driving so can't really look. Will try to take a bike ride and see how far and which direction I go before I get strong signal. 

Both phones are Samsung Galaxy S5's.

I finally got a 4G LTE signal read outside and outside.  Couldn't even establish a call on that signal (sample is about every 15 secs for 2 minutes)

outside:  -112 to -122 dBm, 2 to 24 asu

inside:  -116 to -118 dBm, 20 to 24 asu

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

raptor1418,


I appreciate those details! This definitely sounds like something is going on. Do you have any sort of case or cover on the phone? Does the signal improve at all if that is removed?


AndrewT_VZW
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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
raptor1418
Newbie

I have a very simple rubber case on mine and the other phone has an Otterbox.   I already had the cover off mine while I was testing so I can eliminate the case.    Putting the case on doesn't seem to affect the signal as it still floats in both of those same ranges listed in the original post.  

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
raptor1418
Newbie

Did a little riding around and found that I can pickup a clean 4G LTE signal in about a half mile radius from my location in all directions but it is only at one bar of service.   Signal was from -99 to -124 dBm, 2 to 24 asu.

I get 3 bars of service at around 1.5 to 2 miles away but signal strength was still not that great.   -88 to -112 dBm, 22 to 43 asu.

I did notice that I pick up a good signal closer to my location when heading west.  Even at the Verizon store parking lot I was only floating 2 to 3 bars of service but signal strength was -98 to -106 dBm, 23 to 25 asu. 

Strongest signal was at the crest of a hill (the -88 dBm, 42 asu) 2 miles south of my location. 

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Raptor1418, I appreciate the detailed information, very helpful. Let's continue working on this issue. How many devices were you able to test? Does signal strenght change when you go indoors?


GersonG_VZW
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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!!

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
raptor1418
Newbie

I only had the one device on me during my ride around. 

If I am at home the signal really only goes down a few dBm but tends to more often go to no service than outside my home in the immediate area (100ft of the house).   However I do get no service outside sometimes as well.  This is identical on the other device. 

When doing the ride around I had no locations where I could go indoors.   All signal strength readings were outdoors.

While in another location last week on the East Coast I had perfectly clean signal on my phone and a few weeks before that I was in a northern state with clean signal.   4 to 5 bars indoors and outdoors but I did not think of grabbing signal strength at those times.   Signal problems in my immediate area of my house started to occur before either of these trips were taken.

Currently the other device is in the city (roughly 20 miles away) and has 4 bars of service (indoors, 7th floor of an office building) with a signal strength of -97 dBm, 43 asu

So doing a little reasoning here couldn't the phone be ruled out as being part of the problem unless there is some incompatibility between the devices and the tower around my home?  Based on my ride around it almost seems as if a tower was lost (or antennas in my direction) or a tower was removed from service in my immediate area.   

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Raptor1418, thanks for getting back to us with this information. In this area where you notice poor service, is there any other Verizon Wireless customer having the same issue? Do calls drop in that area? Any issues with data and text?


GersonG_VZW
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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!!

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Re: Recent poor signal in neighborhood
raptor1418
Newbie

Not sure of any other Verizon customer in the neighborhood

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