NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Yujin
Enthusiast - Level 1

Hi,

I work in midtown Manhattan and commute from Sunnyside, Queens. I noticed that my iphone 5 has horrible data speedsin NYC, it was bad with 3G(fastest network my sweet cheeks). Heard great things about LTE and Verizon, but the problem in NYC is not phone related (android users also are slow and having issues).  This seems to be the general issue with everyone i talk to, my phone goes from edge to 3g and edge and I'm on 45th and 5th ave. surrounded by windows. Phone calls work great and when i had a 3g only phone data was laughable at .1 mb. Now with LTE it is slower than ATT 3G (and that is saying something.

Anybody having issues like this? It is all over NYC, and unless you go away from the city where no one lives then you get better services..I was in Atlanta and the data speeds was AMAZING, come back to NYC and i just cant get the LTE signal to show up for days..I understand there was a hurricane, but this has been going on way before that and in fact, service seems a little better than before after the hurricane

If you are having this issue on any phone, please share your experience. I heard that Verizon may even waive the ETF since apparently they cannot fix this issue and is all over the NYC area. If you were offered a ETF waiver please share too.. I still have a 2 year contract, but canceling would be a last resort and it will mean getting new phones for all the family and we are so mad we are willing to do that, but the ETF is just armed robbery.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Goola
Newbie

I can confirm the above problems as well. I work in the Financial District in downtown Manhattan and I've had terrible experience with data so far.  The issues with data connection has been there for months, I've been with Verizon for a few years now and data speeds in Manhattan has been getting worse each year. I had an old DroidX (3G only) and the data reception were non-existent at times and most times slower than dial up. I had been running speed tests and not speaking from browsing experience or anything. The data problems got so bad that I suspected my old phone's antenna had given up. I  switched to a Galaxy Nexus phone with the exact same results. Little or no data connection with extremely slow connection when it is present. 4G reception is the only time I get reliable data (although at 3G speeds) but unfortunately more often than not 4G is not available.

At this point, I know that I'm going to get terrible data speeds or no data at all when I see 3G on my phone. I've been out of contract for months now. I'm trying to evaluate other carriers but I do not know how well they fare in Manhattan. I've heard complaints from AT&T users as well, especially in the midtown area.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Prizm
Enthusiast - Level 2

I can confirm the awful speeds in Midtown. 

I just got the iphone5 and the service for VZ is terrible in Midtown. As in non-existent on quite a few streets from 10th Ave at 42nd. All the way over to Bryant Park. Considering this is where I work, this may be a deal breaker for me.

This is like going back to the bad old days of Cell Service with ATT. 

Verizon - you disappoint, in one of your largest markets/if not THE largest market on the planet. Step it up.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

Did you ever think that maybe the issues you are seeing are still related to damage done from Hurricane Sandy? The landline services that support all the cellular tower were severely flooded and now it has to be rebuilt to restore full functionality.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Prizm
Enthusiast - Level 2

I would attribute this terrible service to Hurricane Sandy. However, the complaints of awful service have existed prior to Sandy hitting.  Coverage in the city is very spotty.  Midtown is a nightmare.  Next to zero service.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Yujin
Enthusiast - Level 1

That was what verizon said, but the service AFTER sandy is better than BEFORE sandy. And even now they said the signal is within marginal error...which is basically saying...our "marginal" error is what they can live with and not fix it...what ever that is.in any case, I'm sick of verizon and i switched from ATT and when i did their 3g was horrible, now their LTE is horrible. Good for calls, but most smartphones are meant to be more than just phones. cant wait for my contract to be over so i can move back to ATT, i have a family plan so is not as cheap as canceling one line and getting new phones...hope people read this and see what it is really about....

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
4ktvs
Contributor - Level 1

You may be able to get out of the ETF if you call and tell them you will tell the FCC that you are not getting any ware near the rated speeds for LTE in your area. Or the BBB may work as well.

Good luck, hope you get good data speed's.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
mivar
Newbie

I got the iPhone 5 last week and can confirm similar experiences with VZ LTE. Should have read this forum and the various comments before i got the new iPhone 5.  I am only getting 2 or 1 bars on LTE at work & home in Manhattan (5th and 23rd  - as central as it gets). if I turn the LTE off and turn off all the notifications etc. i get 4 bars...not really a solution since i procured the iPhone 5 for the LTE service. Thinking of returning the phone.  The store rep told me that I had 14 days.  I am sure there some fine print that will hold me hostage.

If you have a iPhone 4S then think twice about upgrading to a iPhone 5. It might not be worth the hassle in NYC in my opinion.

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
Yujin
Enthusiast - Level 1

I was in the same boat, every one brags and praises verizon, but now i feel like their false advertising is not based on real world test, but testing on empty markets. If you can, return that phone, you may need to pay a restocking fee, but tell them you got not service, and even if you have to pay the restocking fee, better than give them a few thousand a year just for crappy speeds and bad service (even their reps tell me their network sucks).

I got fed up and while my contract is up next month (i will cancel it), i already switched to AT&T and their coverage and speeds is short of amazing. See my speed test below, taken on the same spot where i usually test my verizon phone (my office in midtown). I also tested them in the building's elevator (where never had a signal) and the speed dropped to 32MB down..not bad...i guess ATT really beefed up their network since the days of crappy 3G and dropped calls...

IMG_1117.PNG

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Re: NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time
milan03
Newbie

You do realize that you're on much emptier LTE network yourself? AT&T doesn't have nearly as many LTE users as Verizon currently has after 2 years of commercial availability. On an empty Verizon network, or even as recent as 10 months ago I used to max out sectors at just under 72mbps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rwsM7eHRYE

But this is to be expected, I just hope that Verizon addresses this issue soon, with possible 40Mhz of AWS spectrum they own in NYC Metro. Since the network is Rel 8, maybe with parallel LTE Band for capacity for now, and possible aggregation down the road.

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