Call Dropping
CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

I know there are a lot of messages on this topic, but I’m not seeing any reports of resolutions and this issue is killing us. We’re in 32219 zip. Since about April 2020, we are having continuous (every day) problems with dropped calls. Sometimes you can have a 20 minute call and it drops, most of the time it drops every couple of minutes. We have 2 Verizon network extenders in the buildings, Xfinity 300mbps internet. Calls drop exactly the same if we are on the extenders or outside away from them. We now pre-apologize to our customers and tell them we are on Verizon and the call will drop a few times but we’ll keep calling back. We have iPhone 12pro’s which we just upgraded from iPhone 11’s to try to fix the problem (it didn’t), but it also does it on my spare iPhone 7. We have the latest iOS 14. We have wifi calling on and strong wifi everywhere on the farm, doesn’t help. I talked to an Apple rep while ordering the iPhone 12’s and she said the problem is the Verizon hasn’t updated their carrier settings for 5G service, too busy rolling out 5G. That doesn’t seem right but I am having major problems with Verizon’s part. It also happens sometimes in other parts of the city, but not nearly as much. I’ve had Verizon for about 20 years, came from Nextel. I’d like to go back to the was things were before April 2020.

18 Replies
9wood
Specialist - Level 2

I'm in similar situation getting nowhere with Verizon just same excuses they don't seem concerned at all

Tin10GMO
Enthusiast - Level 1

Same situation here. Calls dropping constantly for the last few months. Had to call my mom back 3 times last night. Hoping that enough people reach out to confirm that Verizon is having a major service issue.

Zip code: 32233

CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

Its been a month since my original post on our experiences with our Verizon wireless service. Here's an update... No Change. We still have fairly frequent periods of call dropping. Seems once it starts it runs for awhile (can't make calls, calls immediately drop or they just drop every minute or so). Happens on our iPhone 12's and iPhone 11. After my original post, Verizon reached out to me with a private message and over the course of 2 or 3 days we carried on about a total of 10 minutes of communication. They said we can't use WiFi calling with our network extender, so we turned WiFi calling off on all the phones. No change. We stopped trying to make calls when inside the buildings (where we have network extenders) and only make them outside, where the phone shows 3 or 4 bars and 5G coverage. No change.

Occasionally we can make a call that lasts for more than an hour, maybe every couple of days. Mostly the calls will drop after a couple of minutes and sometime you can't call back for awhile as it keeps says Call Failed. When the call failing starts we try to quickly check to make sure we aren't in range of one of the network extenders but even calling #48 gets a call failed. When it does go through it says we aren't in network extender coverage.

We are adapting to life with expensive flaky Verizon 5G cellphone coverage and expensive Apply iPhone 12 Pro's, since we've been putting up with this nonsense for nearly a year. We think Verizon must have taken 5G out of the oven before it was fully cooked. We still always start business calls with a quick apology to our customers, telling them we have Verizon cellphone service and the call is going to drop a few times but we'll call back as soon as we can.

We once had to call ATT for a change to our landline and the call kept dropping but fortunately they would call us back. We explained we have Verizon 5G service and they made a hard push to get us to switch to ATT wireless. We did give it some thought, how much worse could it be? But we elected to stick with our current torturer. Can your hear me now? Oh, CALL FAILED?

vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Welcome back, CharlesBB.

We're sorry to hear this is still an issue. I see from our previous conversations that no one interaction has been completed. No carrier is able to guarantee coverage indoors. As your service is optimal outside that lets us know this is not a network issue but rather interference from the materials the building is made of. Are the network extenders on your account? 

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CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

Verizon considers frequent dropping calls outside to be "optimal"? I think I said the problem is the same whether we are inside, or outside, on network extenders or not on network extenders. It doesn't seem that you all actually read the details that are posted. I don't think the network extenders have any relationship to the problem. In the past, I tried turning them off for a week and only making calls outside, No Change, Same Problems. With that being said, I bought my $250 network extenders directly from Verizon, so I would hope they are on my account. I would agree that no previous interaction came to a resolution. Every day or so a new person would contact me and ask questions about details of my problem, that are all in the original post. I think this problem is way bigger than my individual experiences, so asking me if I changed my router or turned WiFi off, etc. is really going to take me no where. Before I reached out to Verizon I tried about everything I could in the settings of my phones, including getting new phones. Nothing affected the frequency of the problem. I did this for 8 months. The only common factors that I can see, is the location in Jacksonville where I am, which would most likely translate to a Verizon cell site issue. And all my phones are Apple. We don't recall the problem happening often in other parts of town, but we don't make/receive many calls when away from out home area.

vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We appreciate the insights and would like to take a closer look. Please reply to a Private Note, so we can further assist you.

 

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Roch1
Enthusiast - Level 1

Customer support your reply to Charles BB 3/06/2021 is just an excuse when you do not have an answer.  This is unacceptable.  Most of your customers only have mobile service, no landline and your explanation is its the building materials in our homes blocks the calls.  My Note 5G has the same issues.  Now what?    The 5G phones are advertised to withstand these issue which is why Verizon is pushing to upgrade.  

CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

Here's an update... our problem never got resolved or even worked on that we can tell. Our solution was to turn 5G off on the iPhone 12's (set to LTE instead) and go outside to make or receive phone calls (we're in Jacksonville Florida). It also helps to have really low expectations, then you are less likely to be disappointed or annoyed. The past year and a half has shown me that the communications infrastructure (cable and cell) in north Florida has pretty big gaps, for remote workers. 

vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

CharlesBB, you have been dealing with this for far too long and I can totally understand your frustration.  I rely on my phone for everything in my life and any issues with dropping calls would cause my life to be in chaos.  Let's first focus on your coverage with the network extender and then we will target the issues outside of the home.  When it comes to Network Extenders there can be other factors that can cause connectivity issues are the settings to routers and ports not being unblocked.  This will cause major connectivity issues.  Have you reached out to your Internet Service Provider and have them check the ports and make sure the correct ones are unblocked.  If you have yet to do this I recommend reaching out to them.  You will find all the information on what the ports and settings need to be here: https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-25525/  Once you reach out to your home internet provider can you please keep us informed on the router settings and connection?-Santo

CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks for the prompt response. It would be more productive and helpful if you would read my posts that describe all the circumstances of the problem over the past 15 months. Since it happens when the network extenders are powered on or not powered on, I'm surprised that your first "try this" has to do with the network extenders. My request is for more advanced technical support and testing planning. To that end, I turned one of the Verizon Network Extenders back on, waited until it showed "In Service" and logged into it with the admin account. Here is what the Status and Alarms show: 9 GPS satellites, its shown as "In Service", server connectivity status shows DNS is reachable on port 53, IPSec is reachable on port 500, Location Assistance is reachable on port 52428. Also, as I've said previously, this is not a continuous problem. It happens often but not 100% of the time. When it doesn't happen you can have a long phone call with no drops, but when it does happen you cannot have a call for more than a minute or so and when the call drops often you can't redial the call (the phone shows Call Failed on the display and there are no bars for the cell service).

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vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

CharlesBB, 

We don't want this to be an ongoing issue at that location. Thank you for all of those details. It gives us a better understanding of what's happening with the network extender and your wireless experience. 

 

An LTE Network Extender enhances your indoor and 4G LTE data and voice coverage to provide better service for your 4G LTE mobile devices. It's an extension of our 4G LTE network that's placed directly in your home or office. It plugs into your existing high-speed broadband connection to communicate with the Verizon wireless network. The performance of that device relies heavily on your internet connection. Do you have a broadband connection of 20 Mbps downlink or 10 Mbps uplink or higher? 

 

-Lasina

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vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Our number one priority is to provide you with the service you need. Do you have HD Calling enabled, as well as utilize Wi-Fi Calling? Are you only having issues with your calls?

EllisandraC_VZW

CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

We have been having this problem since about April or May 2020 (yes, 15 or 16 months). It seems to be about the time iOS 14 came out and Verizon 5G got activated in our area. Up until a certain day, everything was great no issues at all, then the next day started our 15 months of what we have now. In the early days we couldn't even maintain a call with Verizon when we tried to report the problems. The calls kept dropping and the customer service representative didn't call back. So we'd start again and the call would drop while on hold. Early on we were told not to use WiFi calling at our farm (because its apparently not compatible with Verizon Network Extenders??) so we turned it off, no difference. We were told not to use our Verizon Network Extenders (because they don't do 5G) so we unplugged them, no difference. VoLTE was on and we were told to try and turn it off, no difference. I thought it might be our iPhone 11's so I upgraded all of them to iPhone 12's last fall, no difference. Sometimes I'll re-enable WiFi calling to see if there is any difference, or enable 5G or enable the Verizon Network Extenders. It takes awhile to see any difference since we kind of quit relying on our Verizon service here at the farm. In the early days of "work from home" we did web meetings (3 or 4 per day) with the phone as the audio. That clearly was not workable for any meetings once the problem started, and we also were losing incoming calls before we could even warn the caller. So we just went to computer audio and leave the phone out of the picture. One thing, it doesn't seem to occur when we are in other parts of town or really anywhere away from the area of our farm. Jacksonville is a large city. If someone technical at Verizon wants to suggest a testing plan, I'm game to start from scratch and try again, but I don't need "try this or try that" since there isn't any follow-up, and of course since I've already tried all of this and that. Thanks, Charles

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parkershawn2001
Enthusiast - Level 1

That is a garbage answer, no one is asking for a guarantee we just want to be able to have a complete conversation without the call being dropped multiple times.  I had less dropped calls with Sprint and I think they used cans and strings to support their network.  Verizon is definitely a let down.  First year was great and customer service otherwise friendly and top notch but daily dropped calls in a metro area is unacceptable service. 27601 zip code

vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

No one likes dropped calls including myself. I would love to help to see what is going on. May I have the nearest intersection on where this is happening? Is anyone else having this issue? Does it get better if you leave the area? -Amber

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CharlesBB
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hi, it might be more productive if you’ll first take a few minutes to read my previous posts, as I think they have the answers to your questions. Thanks

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waynekoide
Newbie

I have experienced very similar problems with dropped  calls starting about two months ago.  I went to a local Verizon dealer, explained my problem and the guy there told me that Verizon is rapidly changing their network to 5G and because my Iphone 11 pro is a 4G machine, there are interoperability problems (resulting in dropped calls among other issues) during this transition time.  I haven't done my do diligence to verify this due to better use of my time (I'm retired).  Perhaps someone out there could speak to this.

Bottom line, he told me that my I phone 11 pro would soon be non operational in an all 5G network.  I paid something like $1200 for this phone back in 2019 and despite the fact that I can get a "screaming" deal on new Iphone 14, there's something in  me that says having to replace a phone every four years is counter-intuitive to my desire to own things that last.  Heck, my old Macbook pro (mid 2012) still works great after eleven years!  Only when forced to upgrade due to a non-effective OS did I finally make the trip to the Apple Store to purchase a new one.  Eleven years!  My previous Iphone was an Iphone 5.  I know......I'm a dinosaur, but the need to replace expensive items so often seems like such a waste.

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kh-gary
Moderator Emeritus

In order to keep discussion on the community current, this topic has been locked to prevent new replies. If you have a similar question or issue that you wish to discuss, then please feel free to post a new message on the most relevant board. Thanks!

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