iPhone 11 loses signal

My wife and I have iPhone 11 phones that we purchased in 2020. They've been working fine until recently. They intermittently lose signal entirely. The bars go from two or three to zero and calls can't be received or made. Switching to airplane mode and then back reestablishes the connection.

I contacted Verizon about this and they sent two new SIM cards last week. We had them installed and activated at a Verizon store, but that hasn't fixed the issue. I've googled many different sites and found other people with similar problems but none of the solutions suggested work.

We're both on IOS 17.2.1 which has been the latest release. I just checked as I'm typing this and it looks like 17.3 is now available. I'll update our phones tonight, but that doesn't seem to be the cause. Please help!

Accepted answers

I finally figured it out. I'm not sure if this is common, but in our case there was some kind of incompatibility between our Xfiniity wifi gateway and our phones. I figured it out because we went on a trip to see family and our phones worked consistently on the trip but they had the same issue of lost signal when we returned.

So, I went to our local Xfinity story and got a new router, installed it and now our phone connection with Verizon hasn't been interrupted in over 5 days.

I haven't seen any refernece to this issue on the web or in Xfinity forums. It's a least worth a try if you have a similar syndrome where the problem happens within your house.

Just to recap, we have iPhone 11s and the things that we tried:

- install latest version of iOS

- recevied new SIM cards from Verizon

- reset cellular network settings, reset all settings

- installed new xfinity router

All comments

Verizon_Support

Irusty, we're terribly sorry for the issues you're experiencing with your device. Pleae keep us posted to see if the software updated was able to help you with your issue.

~Ivone

I've read elsewhere that iPhones have a lifespan of up to 6 years, but that depends on how much you've been using the devices and the environmental conditions they've been stored in. Your phones may be on their last legs and time to get new ones.

I'm already a reluctant Apple customer and Verizon is meh. If a four year old phone is now non-functional because it's just too old, that would be a major disappointment. We paid a lot for the devices 4 years ago and all of the other functions -- except cell connectivity -- seem to be working fine. Somehow 6 years seems acceptable, but these are both still good phones.

I know it's possible, however. My theory is there's something weird going on between whatever protocol is used by the cell towers and the hardware of these somewhat older phones. My guess is we could spend hours at Verizon and/or Apple stores and we probably wouldn't come up with a definitive answer. But I'm going to at least try a few places before giving in to the easier path of an upgrade.

Verizon_Support

irusty, thank you for the information you shared. To clarify, have the devices been updated to the latest iOS yet? If so, have you noticed a difference in connectivity? Do you experience this issue only in certain locations?

~Izzy

HI Izzy. Thanks for your response. I upgraded yesterday to IOS 17.3 -- the most recent release -- and we're still having the problem.

It seems to do better when we're out running errands and in other locations, but my wife has the issue when she's at work. So, one theory is it can't "hold" a signal with a specific cell tower for more than a limited period. But you guys are. the tech experts so hopefully you can help. It's very frustrating.

Verizon_Support

irusty, we appreciate you trying, and we definitely want to make sure you and your wife have the connection you need to keep your phones working. We're going to send you a Private Message so we can gather more details and better help.

~Jesse

Hi Jesse. Thanks for your help in chat on Friday. Unfortunately the two procedures that we did -- reset Network Settings and Reset All -- didn't work. Please text or email so we can figure out next steps.

Verizon_Support

Hello, irusty. Help is here as we always want you to have a working phone. Please tell me more. Are there any available software updates for the phones? Any damage?

-Natasha

> Please tell me more. Are there any available software updates for the phones? Any damage?

I provided all of that info in this thread and in the chat with Jessie. It's two phones and they both have the same issue. They're both on the latest version of iOS and there's not damage. They both have new SIM cards (provided by Verizon) and Jesse had me reset the Network Settings and then all settings. None of these actions have improved things.

Verizon_Support

We appreciate the additional details for your wife's phone. Let's work together to review troubleshooting and diagnostics to understand the cause of her connection issues. We do not want you or her to be frustrated when we can assist with answers and options. Please reply to the private message that will follow to get started.

-Deb

I’m having the same issue and none of Verizon’s troubleshooting worked, so if you figure it out, let me know!

Unfortunately it's been helping with my phone and I have a brand new iPhone 14 goes one bar two bars to SOS and then it goes from 5G to LT to. We can't connect at all to anything and this is all been in the last month or so. I feel your pain

Verizon_Support

Hello, being on top of your account is crucial, especially if you are encountering equipment/service 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

Verizon_Support

nik19 We're sorry to read that you are having issues with your device not connecting to the network. Is your phone's software up to date? ~Peter

Same exact issue and nothing worked they sent a new SIM card but I’m nervous it will not work or make it worse. I don’t know what to do. How terrible! And when I saw exact same issue I meant everything irusty has said is exactly the same with me. But yet no one can figure it out.

@SynthpopAddict
, I do agree with your statement. I have just recently heard the same but with adding that an AppleID has a usage life. Does that make any sense? I haven’t had the same AppleID throughout my Apple product use; my choice, so I cannot agree or deny if that could be a possibility. Plus, I am not too incredibly tech savvy.

Anyway my story facts are as follows — I have an Iphone12ProMAX, and my daughter has an Iphone12 mini.

My phone, iphone12ProMAX, drops all inbound and outbound calls after a few seconds; not always the same amount of seconds. My phone constantly is jumping around network connectivity; LTE-5G-SOS-4bars-2bars-0bars. I’ll receive text messages multiple times, not just a few, like 10+; and not one after another but could be hours or days. When I question the sender of the messages being sent many times I always get the same response, a screenshot that their phone only shows the message sent once.

My daughter’s phone, iPhone12 mini, not even one of those issues.

The only difference between them other than the obvious “ProMAX and mini” is I had my iPhone eight months longer, and she has a eSIM while I have a sim card installed. Both were originally purchased through USCellular, but have been transferred appropriately to Verizon.

I have not had any luck with Verizon customer support/service. I have gone through Apple support. I have totally reset my iPhone, removed all apps, updated iOS. I have not been even offered a new SIM card or to use an eSIM. I didn’t even realize they could be damaged I guess if they never leave your phone… I suppose dropping your phone or possible moisture or heat and cold would obviously damage them or an extent while installed…

Gah— I am just so frustrated. I guess I needed this venting session. 🫣 Thank you for listening— well reading.

I do have one question relating to your statement though; Would jailbreaking your iPhone possibly allow a “longer life”? (Besides the fact of relinquishing any warranty, which I’m not worried about with my phone being a few years old) — Or have absolutely nothing to do with the “6year” lifespan you’ve spoke of.

Verizon_Support

Hello, Walks4Rocks, I'm sorry to hear you're running into such issues with your phone. I understand you have reached out for support and the issue still persists. Can you tell us more about what happened after contacting Apple support? Was your phone ever working as expected after transferring your service to Verizon?

-Lauren

@Walks4Rocks
, I'm actually an Android phone user and have never owned an iPhone, but from what I've found on the internet, an AppleID sounds like a Google account and it's used to login to Apple services? I'm surprised that such an account could expire, unless maybe Apple disables or deletes the account if you don't use it after some period of time. Google does the same thing if you don't login to the account for a long time. Anyway, even if you changed your AppleID, it seems like your phone would be using it only for accessing the Apple Store or to login to apps.

You mentioned doing a complete reset on the phone; was that a network reset or a factory reset (literally deleting everything and "starting over")?

SIM cards can go bad somehow; I used to be with another carrier a couple years ago and one day my phone plain quit working showing "SIM card error" and the SIM had to be replaced to get it going again.

As for jailbreaking your phone, hacking the phone's operating system software is unrelated to how long the hardware of the phone will last.

Hello Lauren, @vzw_customer_support

My phone and service was totally fine before I switched to Verizon and totally fine after switching to Verizon, I only have had these issues since October.

I have been able to keep a connected call when using FaceTime, which extremely limits my contact list to iPhone users.

I haven’t received any real help in trouble shooting, it’s always the same list of steps to try; all of which I previously attempted before even reaching out for support.

Paying a $120+ cellphone bill each month when not being able to even use the service is super irritating. I do not know how much longer i will be able to stand the inconvenience and to afford to pay that price with primarily a text only service.

I finally figured it out. I'm not sure if this is common, but in our case there was some kind of incompatibility between our Xfiniity wifi gateway and our phones. I figured it out because we went on a trip to see family and our phones worked consistently on the trip but they had the same issue of lost signal when we returned.

So, I went to our local Xfinity story and got a new router, installed it and now our phone connection with Verizon hasn't been interrupted in over 5 days.

I haven't seen any refernece to this issue on the web or in Xfinity forums. It's a least worth a try if you have a similar syndrome where the problem happens within your house.

Just to recap, we have iPhone 11s and the things that we tried:

- install latest version of iOS

- recevied new SIM cards from Verizon

- reset cellular network settings, reset all settings

- installed new xfinity router

Cellserviceneeded

I have the same issue and it can’t be my Wi-Fi interfering because it happens all the time , with Wi-Fi or without, at home, at work, all over my town that has good connections normally, and lately, switching to airplane mode and back is not working, I have to turn off phone and turn on sometimes.

Verizon_Support

Hello. We are here to help with your device connection issues. To better assist, please tell us a little more. When did it start? Is your device software up to date?

~Maria

This is happening to me all the time and I’m so upset! Works great on wifi but as soon as I leave my house my “smart” phone is virtually unusable. I’ve called their customer service line but the issue persists.

Verizon_Support

Hello Hbgirl2009,

I depend on my phone all the time and would be concerned too if I were having any problems. So we can best assist you, what exactly has been going on? What model of phone do you have? When did this first begin?

-Christopher

I’ve been having the same problem since I updated my iPhone 11 to IOS 18. The signal just gets lost, at home and when not at home. Turning airplane mode on/off resets it for a time but it still goes off. I keep missing important calls and texts.

Verizon_Support

jwberg, we never want our customers to have any problems with their service, and we'd like to help you out. First, we recommend some troubleshooting. You can find our troubleshooting by clicking this link here: https://www.verizon.com/support/devices/#mobile Simply find your device, click "Troubleshoot" and find the description that best matches what's going on. Please let us know if you see any improvement.

~Jesse

Thank you Jesse. I reset my network and the phone worked great for a day and kept the signal. In the evening I lost the signal again. I realized this was happening when I was using Bluetooth with an external speaker, I would lose the signal. I’ve shut the Bluetooth off and the phone is fine again. Maybe a coincidence? I’ll see in a couple of days.

Verizon_Support

Thank you for the update jwberg! Definately keep us posted and have an amazing day!

-Deb

I just got a new router installed and a 'filter' removed from my external Xfinity cable connection by a Verizon tech and have the same problem of signal going to zero constantly, which didn't happen before the router upgrade and filter removal. Turning the phone off and on gets the signal back as does turning on airplane mode then off. But this is unacceptable, I'm still looking for the fix.

Verizon_Support

We definitely want to help you with your connection issue. You can start independant troubleshooting here https://www.verizon.com/support/devices/#mobile or send us a Private Note and we can work together.

-Kaye

Verizon_Support

Do you still need assitance with your issue, Please reach out to us if you do. We are here to assist!

~Joe M

I have the same issue now. Brand new phone every step done and still issues. My daughter phone is exactly the same new model and her phone connection is perfect. Which I don’t understand Mine drops signal 8x a day

Verizon_Support

Hi there! We would like to help address your service concerns. We know the importance of staying connected. I sent you a private message to get started.

-Nikki

I have been experiencing the same problem with my iPhone 11 for the last few weeks. Multiple times a day I have to turn my phone off and back on to get a signal. It works for a couple hours, but drops connection again. I’m ready to switch to AT&T if this isn’t fixed promptly. Please call or text me with a solution asap.

Verizon_Support

We're here to help! We want to make sure that your service is working properly, We'll be sending you a private message shortly.

-Necia

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