For a little over a month now, most of my calls have the sound go in and out for both me and the other person. I cant hear them, they cant hear me. It happens so often during the call that is basically impossible to carry o a call.
I've tried everything from resetting things, restarting, changing all sorts of settings related to the network, sound, mic. and nothing fixes it. One rep had me and wife go through a process to switch eSims.
I've called Verizon 5 times to hopefully get someone that could help. What's interesting is the last 2 calls I made, each rep confirmed which plan we were on. We're on the grandfathered plans that were available before this last new plan rollout.
They each said basically the same thing. They said that because we're on grandfathered plans that out phones/plans don't get preference on the network. I'd switch to the new plan if it made sense but with the add-ons we have currently it would cost more to make the switch. I should have to switch pans/pay more for my service to work. I'm paying for the same network that new plans are paying for.
I've had grandfathered plans in the past and never had this issue.
Calls dropping or people not being able to hear you is typically caused by either poor signal strength or overloaded cell towers not being able to handle all the traffic. If it is the latter (also called "network congestion"), then upgrading to the latest top-tier plan would alleviate the problem, but if it's the former, then I suspect some network change(s) made recently have tanked your service.
"Throttling" refers to data usage only and is the intentional slowing down of your internet speed due to either "deprioritization" (where other customers have preferential access to towers over you, and your device is being put in line behind them, or your device is being routed to towers further away, hence slowing down your data speed), or if you have exhausted your "premium data" allotment for the month (some plans allow you to use X amount of gigs per month and if you go over, you're basically stuck with a barely working internet connection).
A rarer cause of your call problems is if you have an older phone with outdated software which can't be updated anymore, but you mentioned you have eSIM devices, which is a newer thing. Unless maybe you've got some old Pixel phones, as I believe most Pixel generations are eSIM capable?
Maybe throttling isn't the correct term. 2 Reps told me that new plans get preference on the network
Issues with call quality is not related to any "throttling" or data prioritization for any service plan grandfathered or not. Data prioritization only affects data usage.
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
Maybe throttling isnt the correct term. 2 Reps told me that new plans get preference on the network
@crusher34 wrote:Maybe throttling isnt the correct term. 2 Reps told me that new plans get preference on the network
I don't have a current plan either and I don't notice any data prioritization with my data usage.
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
Multiple people in my area are experiencing the issue. I thought it was network related until 2 reps told me the new plans get preference. Seems odd that 2 reps would say the same thing is it wasnt true.
Depending on what plan it is, there can definitely be some deprioritization occurring, but that would only affect your internet speed and still has nothing to do with your call quality problems. If multiple people in your area have the same problem with calls, then it is a network issue where Verizon just isn't all that great there. In which case, your options are:
-Use WiFi for calls
-Invest in either a network extender or a 3rd party signal booster which is compatible with Verizon
-Switch carriers to someone who works better
We know how important it is to stay connected. In this case, the plan you are under will not affect the quality of your calls, and we'll be glad to help out. When did this problem start? What is your ZIP code?
~Freddy
21234. It's been going on for over a month now. I was told by 2 reps that my plan, because it's grandfathered, does not get priority on the network and that i should change to a new plan and this would fix it.
What is the exact name of your current plan anyway?
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
5G Get More. Why would the plan I'm on matter if the plan doesn't impact my service?
@crusher34 wrote:5G Get More. Why would the plan I'm on matter if the plan doesn't impact my service?
It's complicated. I was with another carrier when your plan was available, so I don't know what tier of service that is. But all the major carriers have it in their fine print that the lowest tier unlimited plan is subject to deprioritization: your phone may not be on the closest tower(s) to you because people with the higher-tier unlimited plans have preferential access to the towers over you. So if 5G Get More was the lowest tier plan before, then you are most likely being deprioritized due to that, and maybe also because you are now a legacy plan member instead of a current plan member (the current plans are a little more expensive because they don't have any included perks).
Being connected to towers further away or being transferred around to multiple towers (known as "tower handoffs" in the industry) a lot due to network congestion can definitely cause call quality problems because either your signal strength is lower, or if your phone is being tossed around on the towers constantly, bad tower handoffs can cause your call to drop or people to not hear you.
If your call quality is terrible only in one specific location, would suggest using WiFi for calls. If, however, it's awful everywhere, then it's time to consider whether or not you want to upgrade to a newer, more expensive plan for improved priority on the towers, or switching carriers. After all, horrible service can certainly be had for less elsewhere.
@crusher34 wrote:5G Get More. Why would the plan I'm on matter if the plan doesn't impact my service?
It helps to better understand where it was and is in hierarchy of the plans both current and past plan. From what I remember and in the FAQs linked below, this plan was in the higher tier of plans and not lower tier of that plan family that could be subject to data prioritization. As for your call quality issues, I would more likely suspect tower upgrades and shifts in the frequency bands from 3G and 4G LTE broadcast to the 5G network.
https://www.verizon.com/support/get-more-unlimited-faqs/
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
I have lived in the same place for over 20 years and never had this issue. I had a grandfathered plans in the past never experienced this issue. I upgraded to my current plan about 2 years ago and I was a grandfathered plan prior. This all started about a month and half ago. I just find it crazy that my plan, on the same network, would get deprioritized.
Has the OP ever mentioned what type of phone they have? I noticed this thread is in the 4G forum, which makes me wonder if they don't have a 5G-capable phone. With Verizon putting on more and more 5G in their network (and their ZIP code is blanketed in 5G when I checked), if one doesn't have a 5G device, probably getting tough to get much service at all, since I've noticed even LTE is being broadcasted through 5G cells now.
Thanks for the link about the legacy plans, Ann. 🙂
I have an iPhone 14. Not sure how it ended up in 4G forum. my bad
I've moved this topic to the general Network Discussions board for better visibility. Thank you!
@crusher34 wrote:I have an iPhone 14. Not sure how it ended up in 4G forum. my bad
Speculation, but maybe VoLTE has been shut off and you need to re-enable it? I posted about this somewhere else, but I'm pretty sure Verizon still uses the LTE side of the network for voice calls. Google "enable VoLTE on iPhone" and the instructions will appear.
I'll try this, but it's not just my phone. My wife and kids also experience it. Not only that several people I know if the area are also dealing it.
Now my calls are dropping
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
