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Bad signal in Chicago

I just switched to Verizon from US Cellular. My wife and I both went with the Galaxy S3 and we did one of the shared plans with the 2g data plan.. I have not been able to get a signal over two bars ( usually its one bar or no bars ) in my home and our phones won't even pick up a 4g or 3g signal. Is this normal for the south side of Chicago because if so, I will be switching to ATT next week.

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TechSupportMachine

Hi! Coverage and signal are two very tough topics, due to the hundreds of factors affecting them. Let me start by giving you this link: http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/consumer/4g-lte.html

Put in your address and it will give you a general idea of whether or not you should be covered. For more specific information, you'll need to speak with customer service and tech support. I've got a few questions for you, and also a few for you to ask that should help.

Questions for you

1: Is your problem only indoors? If so, your issue is likely caused by degradation of signal strength by the building.

2: How big a radius do you have bad signal? For example, if you walk 500 feet away from your house, does your signal improve?

3: Is anyone other than you and your wife having a very similar issue?

4: Do you have dropped calls or failed calls (call never connects)

Questions for the rep

1: Where is my closest tower? (tower should be within a mile or two in a densely populated area)

2: Has anyone reported a similar issue in my area?

3: What can I do to improve my signal?

Keep in mind, most people experience fewer bars when upgrading to a smartphone, or from 3g to 4g. Your signal bars show your highest "tier" of service (for example 4g). Your voice network runs on the 1xrtt network, which may have full signal while your 4g (very high frequency which means lower range). One thing that needs to be checked is your RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), which is the number your signal bars are based off of. On a Galaxy SIII you can find this under Settings > About Phone > Phone status. An example number would be -116 dBm. Keep these numbers for the rep if you call tech support, it will help them identify the issue.

I'm not sure how much this helps, but I hope it helps some!

purduejatt

I am in south side of chicago as well, and honestly I have no problems with coverage or signals as far as 4G LTE and making phone calls go. My wife and I also have S3 that we have been using for a while now. As of now, no problems with 4G signals. In fact, use it for tethering for my apartment as well. Works great and get around 45 mbps at certain locations. Try changing your phone and swapping your sim card to see if that makes any difference. Only places you might have problem getting signals is when you are in a building but thats not always the case.

BTW, am talking about 40th & Halsted ... and 26th and Michigan Ave as far as coverage and signals go.

Hope this helps.

Verizon_Support

pro2528,

Really? I live in Chicago myself with a Galaxy S3 and have pretty awesome coverage. And we want to make sure the same applies to you especially since we don't want to see you leave after just switching over. I will say, the one thing I noticed from your post is that you mentioned the issues are "in my home". Is this only an indoor issue? If so, indoor coverage is tricky and can't be guaranteed (and this is over all wireless carriers as different devices react differently to signal obstruction and building material). Do you have problems outdoors? When available, we do recommend network extenders http://bit.ly/AKkC . And although they're currently out of stock with our team, you may wish to check with a local store and stay up to date http://bit.ly/3SdsA .

EvanO_VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

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