NYC midtown Horrible Data speeds and LTE MIA most of the time

[anonymouslurker]

aal34 wrote:

I work and live in midtown, near 53rd and 5th and 59th and 6th.  I just got the Samsung S4, and the LTE service is horrible - almost unsable.  I've done speed test and I'm getting 41 to 73kbps in my office.  Outside, walking on 5th ave, I got maybe 508kbps.  My friends on Tmobile were getting 3000kbps to 5000kbps - topping out at 15,000 kbps - on the Samsung S4.

I just spoke to Teyeh, manager at the 57th and 6th ave Verizon store, and he said a senior verizon VP was at their store and raise the slow data issue.  Supposidely, he said it was reported 5 to 6 days ago, and Verizon is working to fix it.  Having looked at the prior post from Nov 2012, I'm not sure that this is just a one-off situation.  However, if you're lucky, maybe whatever fix they're doing will improve your service.  I've been a Verizon customer for over 10+ years, and seriously considering the switch to Tmobile or AT&T.   I still like Verizon, but they need to better communicate their known issues to customers.  I suggest we all call and complain, until they fix it.

Your friend gets faster on t-mobile because they have very few 4G LTE customers. Don't expect it to be that way for long same thing goes for at&t. Verizon is having capacity issues because it has tons of customers using it's 4G service. Good news is if you have a Galaxy S4 or Lumina 928 both are capable of receiving signals from the AWS spectrum Verizon will be deploying for LTE in areas like NYC by the end of the year.

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, began selling two phones this month that can take advantage of the company’s next network upgrade, which promises to more than double Internet speeds. Nokia Lumia 928, which went on sale this month, and Samsungs Galaxy S4, which debuted last week, are the first phones built with components that let them work on Verizon’s Advanced Wireless Service airwaves,.

The two models are among seven AWS-capable devices that Verizon Wireless has started selling in preparation for a new network on the AWS spectrum. The upgraded service -- which relies on long-term evolution, or LTE -- is scheduled to start in major cities, including New York, in the next few months.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-28/verizon-galaxy-s4-is-first-phone-to-work-on-next-network.ht...

[JosephAdes1]

For the price we are paying, to have it fixed by year end is ridiculous. I just ported my number to AT&T and I am wishing I ported it the moment the iPhone 5 came out - instead of sticking with Verizon and paying full price to keep my unlimited data. My unlimited data was rendered useless because the phone would never work in manhattan nor would it work indoors in most of the places I go to within NYC.

Once AWS fixes the capacity issues, something should be done to address the indoor coverage issues. AT&T and tmobile keep setting up new towers all over, and Verizon is not following suit. Where is all that money going? Shareholders pockets rather than making the required investment??!

Ridiculous.

[anonymouslurker]

JosephAdes1 wrote:

For the price we are paying, to have it fixed by year end is ridiculous. I just ported my number to AT&T and I am wishing I ported it the moment the iPhone 5 came out - instead of sticking with Verizon and paying full price to keep my unlimited data. My unlimited data was rendered useless because the phone would never work in manhattan nor would it work indoors in most of the places I go to within NYC.

Once AWS fixes the capacity issues, something should be done to address the indoor coverage issues. AT&T and tmobile keep setting up new towers all over, and Verizon is not following suit. Where is all that money going? Shareholders pockets rather than making the required investment??!

Ridiculous.

And when more people on at&t get LTE enabled phones you are going to run into the same issue. And it's not about "fixing" anything. Oh and Verizon invest plenty. Try reading. Firstly they are adding AWS ability to 5000 towers and adding microwtowers also to help for those that don't have AWS enabled phones and for improving indoor coverage. That costs money. Oh and just adding LTE to begin with cost tens of billions. That AWS spectrum they are going to use, they paid $3.6 BILLION just for that. So saying Verizon doesn't spend on investment is not only wrong but an ignorant thing to say.

So good luck with at&t. I say in 6 months when Verizon has upgraded the NY area and more people are clogging at&t's network you will be sorry you went to at&t.

[anonymouslurker]

Oh an I don't want to hear about how great t-mobile is. They don't have a SINGLE tower within 50 miles of my location.

[4ktvs]

Do they have detailed plans/list of areas getting AWS?

I ask because I live in an area that has sub 1mbs in places.

Thanks

[anonymouslurker]

4ktvs wrote:

Do they have detailed plans/list of areas getting AWS?

I ask because I live in an area that has sub 1mbs in places.

Thanks

A public list? Not that I know of, but NYC was specifically mentioned.

Haberman also touched a bit on Verizon's rollout plans for its AWS spectrum. The exec said that work on deploying the AWS service is already underway and that service is expected to go live in some major cities, such as New York, in the coming months.

[JosephAdes1]

Since you stated you don't have tmobile within 50 miles of your residence, I take it you live outside of any major city, so I'm simply going to respond to you by saying that you'll need to come here and experience what's going on in order for you to stop defending Verizon with all your heart. Additionally this forum topic was intended for people having (or not having - but live in NYC) the issue to comment on these issues. Obviously if you are living in a rural area, your less likely to experience capacity issues

Also those small cells are most definitely not going to be deployed in NYC because there's cell sites everywhere. That's more for rural areas that have known coverage issues

I worked in RF engineering for a while and the lack of indoor coverage or even terrible signal in the middle of Times Square indicates a lack of investment to light up more towers with LTE

It's no secret that Verizon spaces out their towers in order for them to spend less and take full advantage of their 800 MHz holdings - which I agree with them 100%. But the party is over and they need to add tons of sites (which both AT&T and tmobile have been very aggressive about) in order to improve indoor coverage!

I don't mind having full service and only getting 1-3 Mbps regardless of the carrier I am on. But with Verizon, 90% of the time having one bar of service and the phone struggling to load a web page because the signal is just too weak - c'mon. We pay an arm and a leg, the least we should be getting is consistent service. Forget the speed.

[4ktvs]

I hope Raleigh will be getting it due to it's so bad in one spot that even side by side with a sprint 3G phone Verizon 4G LTE is slower.

Now I will have to buy a band 4 phone.due to my old S3 sadly not having that band.

[anonymouslurker]

JosephAdes1 wrote:

Since you stated you don't have tmobile within 50 miles of your residence, I take it you live outside of any major city, so I'm simply going to respond to you by saying that you'll need to come here and experience what's going on in order for you to stop defending Verizon with all your heart. Additionally this forum topic was intended for people having (or not having - but live in NYC) the issue to comment on these issues. Obviously if you are living in a rural area, your less likely to experience capacity issues

Yeah and....? That doesn't make my point not correct. Peole complain about Veriozn and at&t monopoly. Well t-mobile cedes 1/3 of the nation to them. That is why T-mobile will never be bigger or as big or better than either. T-mobile obviously and Sprint for that matter don't care to take my money why should I care about them.

Also those small cells are most definitely not going to be deployed in NYC because there's cell sites everywhere. That's more for rural areas that have known coverage issues

Oncea gain so....? Verizon IS in fact deploying AWS in NYC so if you have a AWS capable device you will see improvement in your service. And that will even help those with non AWS devices since some traffic will now be using different spectrum..

I worked in RF engineering for a while and the lack of indoor coverage or even terrible signal in the middle of Times Square indicates a lack of investment to light up more towers with LTE

Your credentials don't mean squat. This is the internet. I can say my IQ is 200 and I have 5 PhDs. Also you contradict your self because in the last paragraph you say Verizon won't install small cells because they have cell towers everywhere in MYC already now you are saying they don't. Unlike many people I tend to catch contradictions like that. Nice try.

It's no secret that Verizon spaces out their towers in order for them to spend less and take full advantage of their 800 MHz holdings - which I agree with them 100%. But the party is over and they need to add tons of sites (which both AT&T and tmobile have been very aggressive about) in order to improve indoor coverage!

LTE is over 700 MHz not 800. Any spectrum they get in the OTA auctions next year will be in the 600 MHz range. Both 700 and 600 MHz travel father have better penetration power than 800 MHz. Verizon continues to add sites all the time and you do not have proof to the contrary. Even in my little neck of the woods we have new tower I know wasn't there 6 months ago.

I don't mind having full service and only getting 1-3 Mbps regardless of the carrier I am on. But with Verizon, 90% of the time having one bar of service and the phone struggling to load a web page because the signal is just too weak - c'mon. We pay an arm and a leg, the least we should be getting is consistent service. Forget the speed.

Once again they are working on it. Forget your hate and use LOGIC. If Verizon did not care about NYC well then customers would flee and go with the other 3 carriers. Now why would a business not want customers form the largest city in the US? Does that make sense? Yeah Verizon doesn't want a piece of 15+ million potential customers. Makes total sense. 1/4 of NYC would be as many perhaps more customers than if Verizon had a 100% monopoly in my state. Clearly Verizon stands to make more money in NYC than my state for the simple fact it would cost less to provide service to a CITY vs a whole state 30 times the size of Long Island.

[anonymouslurker]

Verizon updates which cities get LTE so I'm sure they will update which areas will be getting AWS upgrades. I would imagine the largest metro areas would be first though.