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No 5G in a 5G UW coverage area

I have a Samsung Galaxy A14 5G and came to Verizon from another provider 2 months ago. My 5G was always on for the 2 months, but now it's suddenly gone to 4G LTE mode all the time. I am in Austin, TX inside the 5G UW coverage area. Tried live chat and got an empathetic representative who suggested several things, none of which worked, but never really got an answer to my question. Have network reset my phone, checked for software updates, restarted phone several times, took out SIM card and put it back in, no joy. After some period of time, the person then tried to upsell me on a more expensive plan than what I'm using now, which is simply annoying.

To make things worse, my phone immediately got around 15 robo-texts from Verizon all saying I could login to my account on the phone and update my preferences or whatever after the chat ended, and clicking on the link there gives me a message "You are experiencing slow data speeds and may have timeout errors" blah blah. One robo-text I'd understand, but 15 of the same all in a row buzzing my phone nonstop?

Because I don't use my phone all that much for anything, am I simply being deprioritized on the network, or is my phone acting up and I need to get a new one? So far my phone works for everything, albeit in LTE mode, but it's disappointing that I paid for 5G service and can't get it anymore. Can anyone get me a straight answer?

Comments

vzw_customer_support

Making sure that you receive the best available service in your area is a must, SynthpopAddict. We understand your concerns regarding the change you noticed with 5G in your area and your device, and we'd love to take a closer look and find out what's going on. To better assist, we'll be sending a Private Note.

~Izzy

SynthpopAddict

OK, will check back. Don't see a PM in my inbox right now.

SynthpopAddict

Yes! I finally got an answer to what's going on! There is currently an outage in this part of town and it must be affecting the I35 corridor southbound as well, because I began noticing the issue 2 days ago and it began to get worse. So if you're in south Austin, TX or the towns southbound along I-35, they're working on it and you need to check the network outage FAQ which I'll be doing and restart your phone periodically so when the outage gets fixed, your 5G will come back.

The person who kindly answered my PMs figured it out eventually. Thanks Verizon CS, I know it's a tough job, but really appreciate it. Sure didn't want to have to leave for the "Pink Logo" carrier with the funny, but really obnoxious ads.

SynthpopAddict

OK...after over a week with still having this problem, I've got to wonder if it isn't an "outage" after all, but simply that the network is so congested over here? We do have 3 major universities plus a large community college system all within 40 miles of each other, and it is the season right before final exams, never mind that we've got holiday traffic coming into town and people wanting to get started on holiday shopping.

Just a suggestion, Verizon, but what about upping your network capacity? At least being on Verizon isn't as bad as the MVNO I used to use, where if the network got too busy, the MVNO customers would sometimes get booted off the system completely and have no service.

AtxUser

I just switched from Att to Verizon and have one of their top plans and I don’t even get 5G at all. Since the moment I turned on my new phone I was on LTE and barely 2 bars! I am near the Crestview station in north central. customer support alleges there’s congestion in the network..:but every day at every time? I have had this phone for 5 Days and not a single day have I had 5G!

it seems to me that Verizon is false advertising 5G services in Austin. why am I paying for a 5G plan if I barely get LTE signal? The customer support suggested I turn on WiFi calling, hmm then what am I paying you for? I need the phone to work in case of a power outage, I work from home.

unknown

This is likely a tech issue on Verizon. They are probably doing some thing with their network and tower. I called in for tech support and got some one right away but he can't tell anything is going on. I called while drove form home to downtown and I literally watched the signals turned from 4G to 5G and 5G UW but there are some blocks it went back and forth between 5G and 4G.

SynthpopAddict

OMG, this is amazing. I certainly hope that the other posters to this thread who are postpaid customers on better plans than me at least have faster data speeds on LTE than what I'm getting. Seriously, I completely understand the deprioritization thing for prepaid customers like myself, but I'm getting dial-up internet speeds sometimes and nothing better than satellite internet speeds if the sun is shining and/or The Tonight Show hasn't finished airing.

From what I've read in this thread and elsewhere, this problem isn't just in Austin, TX...it's like nobody for a 100 mile stretch of I-35 can reliably get 5G no matter what plan you're on! Recently someone created a thread saying they could barely get any service at all in Waco, TX, so it's just getting worse? The network here needs some serious help because something else I've noticed is degradation of overall signal strength. Used to be able to get 3 bars all the time everywhere in my apartment. Now my living room is a dead zone, and the only place I get decent signal is the bedroom, next to the window. Yesterday, the signal nearly blipped out altogether, dropping to 1 bar for a few moments before coming back to 2 or 3. I've read elsewhere that this is due to towers not being able to generate as much signal to everyone because they are getting overused.

Sure, I could upgrade my plan and be a postpaid customer on unlimited, but from what I've seen here - plus the horror stories from other customers regarding billing or failure to receive perks they should - I'm frankly scared to do so for fear that my account is going to get messed up somehow or that it's not really going to improve much. What happened, Verizon? Are you simply resting on your laurels for your acclaimed LTE network (yes, my call quality is still good and I've heard it's better than your competition still) and not trying anymore? It doesn't help that while your CS reps who respond are polite, don't appear to be able to do more than spend hours trying to troubleshoot the user's phone and if that doesn't work, will either disconnect the chat, hang up on calls, or pass the customer around to other CS reps in a Kick The Can game until someone gives up.

I have actually been a Verizon customer for a few years:

-with Spectrum Mobile (MVNO using Verizon) 2020-Sept. 2023: Fantastic service for 2.5 years, then completely went to heck spring 2023.

-Ported to Verizon in Sept. 2023: Great service for 2 months. Then I figured out on my own that whole 5G being on all the time for 60 days was a ruse even if nobody in the company will confess it to me because now my data's gone to heck and company does not seem to care.

Should've saved myself the hassle and ported elsewhere back in September, but sheesh, I was grateful Verizon was there for me back in February 2021 when my cell phone was the only way I could reach out to anyone during the severe winter storms nobody was prepared for in central TX...

Oh, I just about fell over laughing a few days ago when I got an automated text from Verizon saying I could get a prepaid plan for a smart watch now. Yeah, like I need a "dumb" watch to go along with my "brick" of a phone!

vzw_customer_support

We certainly understand the importance of your device working and having the service you need when you need it most. All of our plans have coverage for 5G service and while 5G is currently in many places, there are a number of factors that can impact indoor coverage. Congestion of the network is one of those factors. Additionally, surrounding terrain, buildings and even the materials of the building/home can impact signal availability. We suggest Wi-Fi calling when indoor coverage is not optimal.

-Andi

SynthpopAddict

Andi, thanks for checking in with us. But from what I can tell, it really looks like Verizon does not have sufficient network resources in this part of the country to service a continually growing large city. Checking a certain tower locator website reveals a rather small number of Verizon towers here, although I will say it is a crowd-sourced website so may not be accurate. However, the competition has what looks like 2x as many towers when checking the same website. I have stated elsewhere that my data speeds are super slow during the day and it always gets faster late at night. This does not matter whether I'm inside, outside, at home, or at work. There are other customers who have posted in this thread who are on better service plans who are not able to get 5G service in this area. During one live chat some weeks ago, a representative told me I was supposed to only get LTE service. Huh? Unless the coverage map is now wrong or we've all been downgraded without being told...

While I will still say that all the CS reps who check in on the forums here are professional and polite, for me personally I would appreciate it more if we could get something like "Yes, your issue has been escalated to the network team and/or the part of the company who is in charge of maintaining the network is aware there is an issue and we're addressing it". I and others have created threads elsewhere in the forum wondering if there are better ways to request that the network team(s) look into adding capacity, but have been getting ignored.

vzw_customer_support

We definitely understand the concern, and we are always here to help out. We will be sending you a private message to further troubleshoot.

~Freddy

unknown

It's not just indoor. Tech support asked me to test in drive way, on my street, same 4G. Today I got a text message says issue resolved and I can retry. But it's laughable because still same 4G signal indoor or outdoor. Just admit you don't have 5G coverage as claimed.

SynthpopAddict

@vzw_customer_support
I am really sorry to tell you this, but the lack of 5G in the Austin, TX metro area is an issue with your network here, not our phones. I suspect this is one of those "Rome was not built in a day" fixes either, so I will be looking for service from another carrier.

I just came back from visiting family in the Frisco, TX area (75035) and can personally confirm what Thetallman72 was saying on page 2 of this thread. My phone always had 5G on while there - I checked at least 10 times - and I had acceptable data speeds even considering I'm a deprioritized, prepaid customer! During the day I had 38-47Mbps down and 5-7Mbps up. Couldn't sleep well at the hotel room, so woke up at 5:30am and the speedtest results were even better: 57Mbps down, 13Mbps up.

On the drive back to Austin, I stopped somewhere outside of Waco (which the coverage map now shows as having only LTE coverage for whatever reason), and my LTE there was so slow, I couldn't even run the speedtest app. Upon getting into Pflugerville, TX (78660) 5G coverage was very spotty and would come on and off, but I managed to run a test at my brother's home and got 40Mbps down, 13Mbps up in 5G briefly in midafternoon. 5G does not stay on for more than 5 minutes at a time. But when I got home (78747), my phone was back to super slow data mode in LTE (1Mbps down, 0.4Mbps up). There have been a few instances in which 5G flashes on for a couple of minutes while I write this post from home, but it doesn't last more than a couple minutes. At work in San Marcos, TX (78666) the speeds are even slower. I once got a measly 0.03Mbps down while at work and was astonished the speedtest app even ran, as most apps won't even work when it's that slow.

@prvzw if you want a laugh, go check out the Verizon store in Southpark Meadows...I was eating dinner at a restaurant in the area and noticed the store's logo sign is only halfway lit, with the other half flickering on and off. Talk about "truth in advertising".

Rjoh

I have the same problem for months now. Verizon’s solution is to send me a network extender rather than actually solving the problem. My street for whatever reason is not receiving 5G anymore but receiving LTE. Street behind me gets 5G. I told customer service already it seems like there might be an issue with the tower an a tech/engineer needs to come out. If this problem doesn’t get resolved in the next month I’ll be filling complaints with the FCC and the CPB.

vzw_customer_support

Oh, no! Dealing with technical problems can be overwhelming, especially if you are encountering coverage issues. Verizon is here to help.

If you encounter any tech issues in the future, do not hesitate to use our Troubleshooting Assistant for further support: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/troubleshooting/.

We sent you a Private Message. Please review at your earliest convenience.

~Gilbert

SynthpopAddict

Don't know why they sent a network extender if you have working LTE service, as the extender simply amplifies the LTE signal. As for the lack of 5G, either there are more people in your neighborhood now connecting to the tower, hence it being unable to generate sufficient signal (maxed out towers cannot output as much signal to each individual device connected, hence you being on LTE now because the older LTE technology has a greater distance range), or it's possible there was some kind of upgrade to the tower where the current 5G radio spectrum generated isn't traveling as far. High-band 5G only goes ~1500 feet before fading out; mid-band 5G can travel a couple of miles. Low-band 5G can go a few miles, but runs at about the same speeds as LTE assuming LTE isn't congested.

I am also quite convinced at this point that if you are on a legacy plan, you're being deprioritized to the customers on the current plans. Access to the closest towers is very much based upon how much you're paying, and customers on the older plans (even though you are postpaid) are still getting a little bit of a price break for service as compared to people coming in new on a current plan.

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