What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
Genger14
Enthusiast - Level 1

I live in Dallas, Texas (one of your largest markets), and I'm trying to figure out why my cell signal over the past 8-10 months has been consistently poor for both calls & data needs. Over this time my LTE signal has never been better than 2 bars (-110 dBm), and my phone can't even seem to find 3G service when LTE signal isn't working. I just end up with a triangle and no service at all. I have always lived here, so it isn't a locale change, so what gives? I need answers as to what's happened with the service, and what is being done?

I should mention I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for a decade. In that decade, I had very good cell signal and call quality at my home for years, no problems or worries.

That is until about a year ago when it went from the best to the worst, almost overnight. That's when I began noticing a lot of dropped calls and poor reception. (Quite frankly it became impossible without enabling calls over Wifi, just to have conversations.)

At first I thought it was just in my home; that there were signal interferences at play. (The same ones mentioned on your Troubleshooting guide - I checked that article out when I noticed the problem immediately.)

But then I noticed I was having problems EVERYWHERE I went. Places I had NEVER had trouble with in the past, and not just in the DFW metroplex. This was also a consistent problem when traveling too!

I USED to brag to others about the consistent signal strength I always had with you guys, and how I hadn't had a call drop on me because of lack of signal since I switched to Verizon all those years ago! I even influenced others (including my own brother) to drop their carrier and come to Verizon because you were the best when it came to any other wireless carrier in terms of dependability, signal strength, and even customer service.

Now those same people are turning to me, angry with and having lost faith in ME over this whole issue! Upset with ME that I convinced them to leave their old carriers, where a lot of them had grandfathered into good deals, good phones, & no contracts, for this mess!

Your company has managed to destroy years of faith I had for VZ in a fraction of months. Not only for this service debacle, but also for your increasingly poor customer service (which was the actual reason I switched from Sprint in the first place!)

Unfortunately I find myself in the process of looking for another carrier for the first time in a while. I've been doing research and talking to my friends about their carriers, seeking network reliability & decent customer service over what I've been dealing with.

Please answer for me - what has happened over the last year to create such a DRASTIC change, and is there a way for you to fix this & make it right again?

Thanks in advance! 

Tags (3)
Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We truly appreciate you being with our family for a long time Genger14, especially after leaving one carrier to come here. We also appreciate you influencing others to join us and we don't want you or them to have service problems after having such great service all these years. Hearing that you now have so many problems and that you may want to switch is concerning and we don't want to lose you or your friends and family. Our goal is to make sure you are gettiing the best connection to call, text and use data and connection issues is not the experience we want you to have in your area. I'm so sorry to hear about this and would love to troubleshoot your device and investigate your area so that we rebuild your confidence in our customer servie and in our network. 

 

To get started, we would like you to send us a private message with your zipcode? We would also need to be in private messagte so that we can gain access to your account make sure your connected systematically with no account issues. Once we do that we will go through some basic troubleshooting steps on your device and we may have to submit a trouble ticket. That trouble ticket will allow our upper level technicians and engineers the chance to do a deep dive into your area and network connection. This will also alert our upper level techs about issues you're having and how severe they've become. Once we complete our investigation our hope is that the service improves. We won't leave you without an answer because we will also let you know how the area is covered today so that you have options to either improve your service or know that your area doesn't have the coverage you need but we are working on enhancements. 

 

We look forward to hearing back from you and getting this process started so that you have the connection you need to stay in contact with friends and family. 

 

 

-Kinquana

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Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
MiddleJ1
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have had the same issue in the DFW area (Richardson/Plano area) and last night, in the middle of an emergency family call my call dropped; I had zero bars.  I reset the network, no result.  I changed to airplane mode and turned it off.  No luck.  I walked around my neighborhood - ZERO BARS.  I have an iPhone12 where Verizon claims to have robust 5G.  This is not and has never been the case. In fact, I believe the call quality declined.  

Genger14 couldn't have said it better as I too have been a Verizon Wireless customer for decades.  I will be switching to a competitor today.

Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

MiddleJ1, I would be just as upset, worried, and disappointed with the service. Especially when you were on an emergency call. I hope everything is okay with your family! 

 

Do you happen to have home Internet/WiFi? WiFi Calling is recommended, and truly amazing, as an indoor solution. 

 

However, I'd like to see what we can uncover about your service, and what the issue may be, as we would be devastated to lose you. 

 

I'm sending you a Direct Message. -Vanessa

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Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

MiddleJ1, good morning! I would be just as upset, worried, and disappointed with the service. Especially when you were on an emergency call. I hope everything is okay with your family! 

 

Do you happen to have home Internet/WiFi? WiFi Calling is recommended, and truly amazing, as an indoor solution. 

 

However, I'd like to see what we can uncover about your service, and what the issue may be, as we would be devastated to lose you. 

 

What is the exact location? (city, state, zip code) Is the service this way all the time, or randomly? -Vanessa

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Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
Simarikgood2
Enthusiast - Level 1

Having same issues… Moved to the DFW area and my service has gone from being the best to worst in a couple of months. Constant dropped calls, data is very slow, to the point where there will be no service. Have been a Verizon customer for over 12 years I think, and I am considering switching providers. The service we are getting or lack of more like it is not reflective of how much we pay every single month. 

Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Hello! We regret to hear about the service issues you've been experiencing, we understand it is imperative to have a reliable service. Does the issue happens everywhere you go or just in a certain place?

*Leyla

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Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
Dfw2
Enthusiast - Level 1

Exact same issue here. I live in Dallas south of 635 and my service stinks almost everywhere. Never more than 2 bars. I have an iPhone 13 and even in 5g the speed in sitting around 2gb per second. I frequently have calls dropped or fuzzy connection due to low signal. How is this possible in a major city with a major carrier who claims to have nation wide service. My wife is on t-mobile and always has full signal and her 5g data is super fast. Would love some assistance…

Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
Dfw2
Enthusiast - Level 1

@Genger14  Was there ever any improvement? Or follow up?

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Re: What's with my pathetic LTE signal strength for months in Dallas?!?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

With service issues almost everywhere, let's start with filling in the gaps while connected to wi-fi. To enable the Wi-Fi calling these steps are available: https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-204165/ . Once on, you can leave it on. This way, when entering low service areas like basements, you'll be able to call if there is Wi-Fi.

 

When was the last time service was consistent  in Dallas south of 635 ?

-David

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