Is Verizon 4G LTE Service Down ?

[Ryanbigbed]

We lost access to 4G LTE Service just now in Brentwood TN - multiple handsets, multiple brands - so not a handset issues. Only shows 3G and 1X networks available. This after having to spend a couple days calling Verizon to get them to fix the problem that the latest update caused where you could not use the internet while on the phone. It magically stared working a day later,  but I never got the text or call back updates they assured me I would. I have been really happy with Verizon service - but now I am starting to reconsider...paying prices for the most reliable network that I cannot use...is not going to continue much longer. I can switch back to Sprint and get this kind of service for less money.

[bearone21]

not down for me in arizona.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello, Ryanbigbed. We never want to see you leave the Verizon family. We want to ensure you are getting the best possible service. What is the make and model of your device? What is your ZIP Code?

TabithaJ_  VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport

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!   

[Ryanbigbed]

I have a trouble ticket that has been open for 9 days now and have spoken with Verizon tech support three times on the issue. There have been multiple issues, but the present issues is a signal strength issue. They verified that I am not in a marginal service area, and I have been able to get 4G inside of my house for the past 3+ years. Three handsets - LGV20, Samsung S7, and Samsung S7 edge all have exact same issue. I used my V20 today and watched the signal stregnth as I traveled and the service in the general area (37027) is weak - ranging from -70 to -119 dB, and once I go inside the extra shielding drops it below -121 dB and is switches to 3G. The main reason I switched away from Sprint a few year back was becasue on the weak servie at my hoiuse and becasue my neightbor had Verizon and got reasobable signal including 4G LTE. And so I switched and have been happy and gotten that service, and in fact got rid of my Comcast hope phone line earlier this year. Until ealry May, following the Android updates that Verizon pushed out to all three devies, following which we had issues with unstable 4G LTE service independent of location (so could not for example use data while on the phone - even in downtown Nashville). Thats when I called and they opened the ticket. Then next day it all magically started to work correctly, even in my house, until Monday evening when we lost 4G service in our house and the overall baseline signal is weak in the entore area. The tech rep today said I am 2 miles from a tower with no problematic obstructions, and that with the ticket still open for this long he bvelieves they are workingt on some issue that they need to resolve. As I noted, I can get this same lack of servie from Sprint for less money, and I am being charged for someting that I am not getting at the moment. Oh, and all of this followed an issue with my sons new S7 edge which lsot the abiity to connect to teh Verison network at all and Verozon tech arranged a warranty replacement and I paid for teh expedited shipping and then they sent the wrong handset so I had to cal and do that over. They said they woudl take care of the shipping charges and they did credit one of the two charges and so I had to call yet again to get the other charge removed as I was told would be done.

So after 3+ years of great experience with Verizon, the past several weeks have been very rocky...I hope this get resolved and all returned to a good experience so I dont have to go shopping for a seervice provide again.

[PDLK]

I am in the 37032 zip code and have been experiencing the same service, or lack of service I should say. When I have complained in the past Verizon's answer has always been because my phone shows 4G, even though only 2 bars 95% of the time, I am getting the 4G access I'm being charged for. For the past few weeks I am not getting that.

It may coincide with relenting and running the forced update because I grew tired of the notification always being on my phone with no way of permanently disabling it, which is something else Verizon should fix.
I just completed a chat session with Customer Service which was a complete waste of time. When I am home I will get comfortable and try calling Tech Support and be prepared to sit on hold for a long time or not get through at all.
Verizon's less than great service has gotten really bad recently. As others have said I'm about to be forced into trying Sprint.

[Ryanbigbed]

Talked to neighbor - had issues including more dropped calls recently. Also data problem and the fix was to "turn off LTE".  I explained to her what that means (vs what she is paying for).  I have been watching signal strengths all around and they are weak. -90dB by Kroger, and even right next to I-65. -119 outside on my deck, and inside it drops it and goes to 3G.  Watched it driving Hillsborough road from green hills and signals were -80 to -119.  All seem like they are low. And I never was on this edge before, and they say I am not in a marginal service area. I think we have pretty much narrowed down the possibilities for them as much as can be.  On my second of three calls so far to tech support, he even looked at the towers and suggested the which three on a single switch it might be...

and, al seemed to be timed around the most recent OTA updates they pushed out - in my cane 3 different handset models, 2 different manufacturers, all android.  I had a dropped business cal at a bad time today - in a region where my old Sprint service dropped like clockwork, but that Verizon had been solid. And I got rid on landline because Verizon had been good at my home. Now not so much...hope they change it soon so I don't have to change.

[Ryanbigbed]

I will say, that I was a Sprint customer for many years, and it spent weeks of my like on the phone calling to cancel service to get through to the second tier folks who could sometimes address things. Wait times were always horrendous. On line chats were almost always a complete waste of time. I will say that they were showing an improving trend at the point when I left them - so not out of the question to revisit.

In the past 3 or so years with Verizon, I have found then to be much more pleasant and helpful…even useful ! Even when the recordings says wait time longer than usual, it is surprisingly short. I have been able to talk to competent people who, until know, have done a great job solving problems for me. It has been a night and day experience. I have found that Chats were largely unavailable when I tried multiple times on the Verizon site.

With that said, I have been assured that it is being worked on, that if a trouble ticket has been opened this long they have identified an issue that needs to be addressed…in all three phone calls to date, as I have called to add additional diagnostic information for them as far as where the signals were doing what.

Who knows… It could be there was a problem with the software updates - although some of the location-specific aspects may not support that. Of could be a tower / switch issue. Seems like a reboot, or part swap out might have fixed that without 3 weeks passing though. Maybe a tower was relocated or reoriented dropping an area. Seems like they would know that (but not know how to fix it).

I am going to talk to more of my neighbors…highlight this issue to them.

[PDLK]

Thanks for the info.

My wife called Tech Support. They instructed her to reset the LTE device we use for home internet. That seems help the speed there.

I have a message to call someone from Customer Service so i must have hit a nerve when I started talking about changing providers. I have been a Verizon customer for 25+ years, dating back to the days before Verizon existed.

[Ryanbigbed]

I was told my trouble ticket was closed but I never got the follow ups that they assured me I would get, and the problem is not resolved.

So I have been taking some time to collect even more diagnostic details using the network signal strength readings in the built in settings (so not a third party software).  In early May, we started experiencing issues connecting to the network. The specific symptom at teh time was an inability to use the internet and phone at the same time. We were told that we have to have the 4G LTE connection to do this. And we were told we are not in a marginal servicer area. Also, we have had good service for the past 3+ years with Verizon at the same location - which is why I ultimately switched away from Sprint and more recently dropped my comcast landline. The trouble ticket was opened in May 8.

The problem started after the latest Android updates were pushed out in early May. I have an LG V@20, 1 Samsung Galaxy 7 edge, and 1 Galaxy S7. All with same problem. All were updated between May 1 and May 8. We were having the issue at home, and I also was experiencing it even driving home from work in downtown Nashville. Then a day or two later it seemed to start working on all phones ; however what I did not pay ayyention to at the time was that we all were in differentlocations (not home) when it resolved. It did seem to be OK even at our home for a short time after that however. That is when I commented on the forum that is seemed to have resolved. However,  note that I have not gotten any follow ups from Verizon nor did I report it resolved. In fact a couple days later it returned. And I even posted that on the forum. That was when I called the second time and passed to the tech support and was assured that since the ticket was still open (this was around May 18th or 19th) and it had been so long that they were working on it and the ticket could not be closed until it was fixed and I would get a call and texts with updates.  I called back later to add some details as to when and when things had been happening and got the same info and assurances.

So I revisited the community forum to look for others with the experience.

-----

So I have been taking moire data to see what the signals are reading.

Now I cannot tell if on the transmitting or receiving end - but again 3 different handsets with same issue). My next door neighbor had started to get dropped calls and she was told to turn off LET (I think she has iphone but not sure).

Here are the symptoms that we have experienced:

At home in house - 3G and 1X only. reads at about -100dBM for 3X and -105 dBM for 1X. 

At home just outside - can get weak 4G LTE at about -110 to - 119 dBM, as soon as walk in it drops to below -121 dBM, I saw even -124 about 30 minutes ago on my way in,  before it switches over.

There have been occasions where the icon shows “4G” but as soon as we dial a call it drops to 1X (so it is not really on 4GLTE at that point).

Occasionally  upstairs in my house it will get the 4G LTE at about -119 to -120 dBm but does not hold it.

Yesterday I watched as we drove East from our house and it stayed on 3G for about1/2 mile (sometimes it switches over sooner) and then switched to show 4G. We continued to an area near the Brentwood Public Library next to I-65 where the signal should be strong (but only read about -90 dBM) and I tried to make a call and it dropped to 1X. Then I rebooted and it showed 4G LET and would make a call and use data at the same time. My wife’s S7 however had the same problem and rebooting did not fix it and we were 2 feet apart.

Today I measured the signal at my office at Vanderbilt University and it was 4G LET ranging from -98 to -116 dBm.  1X showed -120 dBM.

As I drove home on 21st Avenue / Hillsborough Road South, including crossing a major interchange on interstates and through one of the most densely populated regions of Nashville (Green Hills) the signal bounced from -84 to -115 dBm (drove right by a Verizon Wireless store perhaps you can check with them).  It briefly touched -70 dBm at the intersection of Hillsborough and Tyne Blvd and then steadily dropped and bounced between -90 and -110 dBm, and as I came to me neighborhood it went a little lower.

Even a couple days ago when I went into downtown Brentwood closer to I-65 and Franklin road to Kroger in the parking lot, I was only getting -80 dBm reading best case.

Now I do not have numerical data like this for before this problem since I had never experienced and issues with Verizon service. However, these numbers all seem pretty pathetic for a company claiming to any reliability at all let alone the best.

This is what I found

"Cell phone signals are radio waves, the AM/FM kind, that operate within a certain frequency:

- 50 decibels to -120 decibels (dB).

-50 dB is great signal or full bars. -120 dB is very poor signal or a dead zone.

This is true for all cellular devices in North America"

Since I have been watching it and having these problems, I NEVER get about -68, seldom about -80, spend most of the time between -94 and -115, and get below -120 (drop) in my house and just at -118-119 outside my house. The call clarity (unless using WiFi) has also declined overall - consistent with signal issues.

I canot tell if it is tower/switch issues, of if the updates impact the software portions of the radios so the calculation of the signals of off - or what.  But I think all of the strange behavior about not being able to call and use data sometimes is simply because we are on the hairy edge of having detectable and usable signals - or al least the phones think so -  also may things are not handing off to other tower properly. In any event, it was NEVER anything like this before and is totally unacceptable as it is. As bad as Sprint ever was (and they are at least cheaper and indicate they have gotten a much better network and advertise strong LTE Plus at my address now).

[Ryanbigbed]

Another couply days have passed with consistently [Removed] poor service. My companies corporate verizon rep said ther and alot of tickets open for my area and it is a high capacity atea and they are working on it. The problem is not high capacity..it is that the verizon network is lscking capacity...and thete is no question that the latest software updates ate involved. This AM I was driving on Franklin Road and was literally next to a cell tower eith clear line of sight path and the 4G signal read -90 dBM and quickly dropped to below -100. I believe they have messed up the network partitioning to try to distribute the heavy ugage to other more distant towers so Iget weak signals because I am using more distant towers. I have been using open signal to watch this and it looks like Ibounce between towers but not the closest. Only a theory..but Verizon is not being forthcoming, someone has to figure it out. My billing cycle ends in about a week and zi hope they have some infoby then...switching carriers is a pain.

Oh ..look at outage maps and you will see that there are problems all over Nashville and South.  Looks like worse in DC area.

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