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calls dropped, "no service", getting progressively worse - SG3

We originally switched to Verizon because we could no longer make or receive calls from inside or outside our home with our old provider (walking to end of driveway and standing in cul de sac just wasn't any fun as a hurricane approached). Friends who had Verizon had no problems at our house. Now a year into the contract calls are "fuzzy", drop in and out, or just drop completely; texts won't send because there is no service - unless I stand outside. Same for visitors in our house - their Verizon calls don't work either any more - so it's not just my phone. It seems the service in the area has been degraded.

Is there a way to boost the signal? Is there another issue I'm missing? Or do I just have to try a different carrier?

Tried calling for assistance - impossible to get to someone other than sales or billing. Ditto for trying to do a live chat with someone - service quality or poor reception/signal isn't one of the options. I don't want to have to switch carriers again, but will if it is the only way to make calls from my home in a well-populated suburb (read: NOT the boonies).

Comments

Verizon_Support

I completely understand the need of reliable service, MDQuilterGal! I am confident that we can find a solution for you. What is your zip code? How does your service work in other areas? Please share great details so that I can help.

Thank you,

LenaA_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

MDQuilterGal

zip is 21042. Call quality is good in other areas, so I don't think it is my phone. I've talked to several neighbors within a few blocks of my house and they also have noticed that reception in their homes has gotten very poor over the past year. Calls cut in/out so that every 2nd or 3rd word is missing in a conversation; some calls get dropped completely (both for me and for a friend whose husband called her on her cell at my house - also a Verizon customer); texts routinely do not send unless I go outside and walk a few feet from the house. Often a call will come in and the phone will not ring, but I will get a voice message that I missed a call.

Again - we had similar issues with our previous carrier, so we surveyed neighbors on their experiences, and I had friends come to our house and try their phones from my kitchen to see if they worked before I changed to Verizon. I checked maps to be sure the coverage was good where we lived. It started out fine, but has gotten much worse. I no longer make outgoing calls on my cell when I'm at home - I look up the number on my cell phone and dial my land line. If I get an incoming call I will either call the person back or go outside on the front steps to take the call.

I have turned the phone off and on again, removed and reinserted the battery. But again, since the phone works fine when I'm not in my house, I don't think it is the phone. And since it worked fine when we switched to Verizon last fall (2013), something has to have changed in the past several months.

Verizon_Support

Hi MDQuilterGal,

You deserve the best service at all times! I have reviewed the area and show mixed coverage in the area of 4G LTE, Extended 4G LTE, and 3G service http://vz.to/OdxHfn . Since the issue is only occurs indoors and around your immediate home area, I would recommend a Network Extender to improve the coverage in your home http://vz.to/IHRT6h.

Thanks,

PamelaF_VZW

Tweet us @vzwsupport

MDQuilterGal

Network Extender - so I click that link, get to a page that explains what it does. But the link for "Discover Network Extender" (which is where I think I can get information about how to get one) doesn't work. Takes me nowhere. So how do I get one - and please tell me it won't cost me anything - I"m already paying for the service.

MDQuilterGal

I looked at the map reference in the response - where I live is highlighted as "4G LTE Extended" for data, and "Digital Coverage" for voice and messaging. We are nowhere near any "no coverage areas". That makes no sense.

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