No reception within city limits

[Debougie]

We just purchased a home within the 465 circle in Indianapolis. We are <4 miles from downtown. One would think our cell phone reception would be great. On the contrary. If I am able to actually get a call out it is dropped within 2 minutes. Had to call my mom 10 times to get a quick conversation in. Couldn't call my dad on his birthday. Incoming calls may or may not make it through. Most of the time they got directly to voicemail. Sometimes the voicemail does not even show up for an hour. the problem is not solved by going outside. This problem is with both my husband's and my phones.

[LENNYEDGE]

you might want to ask for replacement sim card, as i have, and seems to have improved such.

[Ann154]

Have you checked to see if the services issues occur only in your house or does it occur outside?  A new SIM card might help, but it will only help so much if the building's construction is reducing the signal to unusable levels.  There can be number of factors that will reduce the signal.  The terrain (trees, hlls), nearby buidlings, your own building construction and wiring can degrade the signal and block the line of sight between you and the nearest cell tower.  You can also look on www.antennasearch.com to see where the nearest towers are in relation to your location.  One option you can consider purchasing a Network Extender from VZW if the signal issue occurs only in your home.  Verizon Wireless doesn't give them away for free like other carriers.  Why I don't know.  You do need a decent landline internet service and a postpaid account with Verizon Wireless for the Network Extender to work properly.  Also if your phones support it, you can look into the Wifi calling option.

If that is not a solution for you, you can always speak with your wallet and switch to a carrier that does provide the strong cell signal in your house and the other areas you usually frequent.

[LENNYEDGE]

forgot to add, that sim replacement helped, but better signal, and less fluctuation. my signal dbm use to be 115 which is lame now is 92 to 104.

[Debougie]

Thank you for the info. I will check into the sim card. I asked a rep at the store about my reception and they had no advice to offer other than call tech. The best time for me to call is when I am at my home. Uh....

I cannot make calls inside or outside my home. I am just in a house. No buildings around. No hills.

According to antennasearch.com there are 101 towers within a 4 mile range. Only one says Verizon, which is 3.58 miles away. I don't know how cell towers work and how to tell if Verizon is using any that are not in their name.

I think it is ridiculous to have to pay for something on top of the high cost of the service I am already paying for. The coverage map is red all around me and as I said, I am not in some remote area where one can expect service to be spotty. If there is not some way to improve this then I will have to look into other carrier options.

[Ann154]

Trees can affect the signal too.  While it is possible that the other towers nearby could have Verizon on them.  It is also likely the single one in Verizon Wireless' name could be the main one for that area.  The distance between you and that one tower is a fair distance.