Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
jdc90503
Enthusiast - Level 2

Is there anywhere on the Verizon Wireless website where you can report poor coverage? I followed every path I could find through the navigation structure, but there was no obvious "report poor coverage" link. (In fact, the only support options seem to be live chat or calling in—seems crazy that there is no option to send an email or file a trouble ticket.)

Since others seem to have this same issue and occasionally get responses in the discussion board, here is my situation:

My primary use case for LTE data is at work, since at home I am on WiFi. One reason I switched to Verizon was to get better coverage at work since AT&T had poor coverage at the time and my co-workers with Verizon seemed to fare much better. At first, that appeared to be the case. But over the last few months, the usability of the LTE signal has degraded. There are times I will step outside to use my phone and see an LTE signal, but then suddenly it will drop to 3G or even 1X. This switchover is horrible since network operations tend to time out when switching between bands so the user experience is that an app will seem to "freeze" mid-action. (And, of course, dropping to 1X is functionally equivalent to having no service.)

The other penalty for the poor signal is that ever since the iOS 7 upgrade, my iPhone 5 loses a ton of battery life when forced to use a weak cellular data connection. I understand that some loss of battery life is expected in these cases since a phone will transmit at a higher power level trying to find a tower. But something about the combo of the iPhone 5, iOS 7, and whatever Verizon software came bundled with it made the problem much, much worse. If I go outside and use my phone for 15 minutes in the scenario above (appears LTE but drops to 3G/1X and then tries to switch back), I can lose ~10% of my battery life. When I'm in a strong coverage area, battery performance is excellent as it has always been.

Finally, reception inside my building has always been terrible. I hate not being able to use my cellphone at my desk, but always assumed that this was caused by the building and there was nothing that could be done. Well, I have to rethink that assumption since a recent AT&T tower upgrade in the area now provides a 4- or 5-bar LTE signal inside the building, as well as outside.

Intersection of Nash St and El Segundo Blvd in ZIP 90245

Google Maps reports the lat/lon as 33.930562, -118.386689

Device is an iPhone 5 running iOS 7.0.4 (11B554a) with carrier settings Verizon 15.5 and modem firmware 5.02.00

If anyone has any idea how to report this info to Verizon—or any other ideas on how to improve the situation—I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your help.

Labels (1)
Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

jdc90503, thanks for the heads up! You've reached one of many places to report your service issue. At this time no outages have been reported in your area. However, let's take a closer look at your device. Have you powered it off/on to soft reset it? Are you having this service issue indoors, outdoors, or both?

LasinaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
jdc90503
Enthusiast - Level 2

Have you powered it off/on to soft reset it? Are you having this service issue indoors, outdoors, or both?

Powered the phone on/off: Yes.

Indoors vs. outdoors: The reception is poor in both places, but I understand that indoors reception is not entirely under your control as noted in the original post. The main issue for now is outdoors.

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Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
B33
Legend

Do you know how far you are from a tower.?  Distance, and surroundings can play a big role in signal even if your outside if your surrounded by a bunch a buildings or other tall things such as allot a trees as in shelter belts or houses that are closely tied together.. how's the signal away from your area is better, same or worse?

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Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
jdc90503
Enthusiast - Level 2

I don't know the location of the nearest tower. I do understand that the local environment can make a big difference. However, the issue is that standing in one particular location outside, not moving, the signal will suddenly go from LTE to 3G or 1X. It doesn't make any sense that line-of-sight or other micro-coverage issues would apply since my location isn't changing.

Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Thanks for keeping us posted jdc90503! We'll get to the bottom of this issue and get you connected! To ensure that the device is receiving the strongest connection, I would recommend turning on both data http://vz.to/1lvIRLT and voice http://vz.to/1gYkG6K roaming.

AshleyS_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
jdc90503
Enthusiast - Level 2

To ensure that the device is receiving the strongest connection, I would recommend turning on both data http://vz.to/1lvIRLT and voice http://vz.to/1gYkG6K roaming. 

Question: I have always had data roaming turned off to avoid any possibility of data charges from being on non-Verizon networks. If I turn data roaming on, is there any possibility that I could be charged extra? And why would roaming in a domestic location make a difference in the signal strength?

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Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

It's a very understandable fear jdc90503 and I'm glad you asked. There is no need to worry, all our new (newer) plans cover you anywhere in the U.S. without generating roaming fees. Data roaming needs to be turned off when you travel internationally to avoid charges.

AdaS_VZW
Follow us on Twitter at @VZWSupport

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Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
mbiver
Enthusiast - Level 1

It seems Verizon doesn't really care about poor coverage reports. I have contacted Customer service about poor coverage in our neighborhood several times. Although our neighborhood falls completely within a full 4G/LTE coverage area, we are lucky to get a single bar. We regularly experience dropped calls even outside our home in this neighborhood.

I have reported the issue to Customer service and at first they seemed supportive. They had me update my phone with *228 when I had a non-sim card phone...they said if that didn't work they would send a technician to the neighborhood to evaluate coverage...This sounded great. I thought we might actually get somewhere. The reality is, they did nothing.

They had a technician call me..and when the *228 didn't work, they tried to sell me a signal booster for $250.

Unfortunately, neighbors have reported the other cellular carriers have poor reception as well, so I don't really see a benefit in switching. Verizon does seem to have the best coverage overall, but it is very frustrating to not be able to rely on coverage at home.

I find it slightly better when I step out the back door, but forget about keeping a signal if I walk around the side or to the front of the house. Calls drop almost immediately.

If they wont fix the problem by boosting the tower strength or putting in another tower, I wish they would at least update their coverage map to reflect the fact that this area has poor coverage. 1x is hardly 4G/LTE.

Re: Poor coverage - where to report to Verizon?
Ian0920
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have the same question. I am getting ready to go on an extended weekend camping one of the places i am going even tells me there is no to little Verizon coverage in this statement.


Q: What cell phone carriers have reception at the Resort?

A: AT&T/Cingular and Sprint/Nextel are the only carriers that provide service in the Raystown Lake area. There is not a Verizon cellular tower in the area and Verizon service is intermittant.

I will also be going to several other lakes this summer which i know have no Verizon coverage. But they do have AT&T. Like Glendale State Park and Ricketts Glenn State Park. My family and i spend many a weekend in these and other locations. I like Verizon and plan on sticking with it, but as my daughter gets older and we take more extended weekend and longer trips i would like to know that they are doing something about this or we may have to switch to a carrier who actually has service where we go.

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