Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
wildcat2
Contributor - Level 1

Hi guys,

So I've been a VZW customer for about 1 week now and have been testing the service before porting my personal number from another carrier, AT&T.

I will mention that I live in NYC and so the Voice and 4G LTE coverage here is supposed to be great. But at times it's very less to be desired, and I'm hoping someone here can help to better the experience or provide some info on why certain things happen.

Firstly, let me start with voice calls. They do not sound crystal clear like my experience on ATT, but it's understandable and it doesn't really bother me. However, what does bug me is that while on a call (and I've seen this happen when the signal gets weaker or when surrounded by buildings) likes to chop up slightly. If I step on a main road however, like in the Bronx area (zip 10453), the service is fine.

Secondly and what really bothers me is the 4G LTE service. Outside of my home, I can have 3-4 bars of service, but my service is fast, so I'm not bothered. However, when I step inside my building, it goes right down to 2 bars. On ATT, I have 4 bars LTE indoors. I was also around midtown manhattan (zip: 10001) area and when I stepped into a store, my 4G LTE service went down to 1X!! Huh? How does the service go from 5 bars LTE service to 1X when I'm in a strong area, albeit in a store. The worst part was it wasn't even usable. Now I compared this to my other device on ATT and that phone stayed on LTE and didn't even flinch.

How can this happen on the No. 1 carrier in the nation? How is it that ATT, the No. 2 seems to do better indoors and have better crystal clear, landline sounding calls? How can this be improved? I'm looking forward in working with you to resolve this and better the experience.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
wildcat2
Contributor - Level 1

I shall also mention that I've tried the following steps:

1) replaced the SIM card

2) reset the network settings on my iPhone

3) tried the sim in another iPhone (VZW branded/certified)

4) restores my phone via iTunes

Looking forward to solving this.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
sprmankalel
Champion - Level 3

Welcome to our community help forum. The responses you will get are from others VZW customers like yourself. I am NOT a VZW employee.

I travel to New York frequently and experience no issues. In fact, I was at Madison Square Garden for a sold out concert and experience no problems with my service.

It does not sound like switching to Verizon is right for your specific needs. I can tell you from experience that VZW cannot guarantee service inside any structure. There are just too many factors that contribute to signal strength inside of buildings. In my previous home my AT&T phone worked perfectly but not my VZW phone. However, just yesterday, (and on other occasions) I witnessed my VZW service work better in an area where friends' various other carriers fell very short. VZW is a CDMA network and AT&T is GSM. They transmit on different "frequencies". So in some cases one may work better than another inside of different structures.

I would suggest that, if you simply can't bear with the service you receive from VZW in the places you live, work and play, you should return your device ($35 restocking fee will apply) and cancel the service if you are inside the 14 return/exchange period. You will also be responsible for paying for cellular and data services for the time you were using this phone. I don't usually suggest this but there is not a one size fits all wireless carrier.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
wildcat2
Contributor - Level 1

Thanks for the reply!

I know this is a peer to peer forum but I do see some reps answering here from time to time so I was hoping maybe one would see this and maybe pass on the feedback or something.

I wasn't in MSG, but I was actually I the Macy's store which is right near there and that's where the service deteriorated. I know that the carriers use different frequencies but I would expect New York to be a very strong market, which should have no issues indoors for the most part, but the network is picky I guess?

I was also hoping maybe there was something I didn't try that someone could suggest. Cause I'm not sure what else to do to try to troubleshoot.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
sprmankalel
Champion - Level 3

The thing is that in a lot of stores in NY some parts are underground and we may not realize it. Expecially in a place like Macy's.

Getting an in-depth replay within your 14 day period from a rep on these forums is going to be close to impossible.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
wildcat2
Contributor - Level 1

Hm well yeah I would understand if I were on the basement level, but I was on the main floor (where the entrance and exit is) and the signal just kept getting weaker to the point the internet couldn't be used.

I wasn't sure if they could fix within the 14 day period, I was more hoping someone could like idk put a request for checking the area or maybe add more lower frequency towers etc. just something in particular

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
sprmankalel
Champion - Level 3

NY buildings are made of steel and concrete. This may be preventing the signal. Not only that, NY is a major city and VZW is going to focus there first anyway. In fact, according to this link (xlte-overlay - Verizon Wireless), VZW has made New York, NY and XLTE city by doubling the LTE coverage. What you're really experiencing is difficulty with indoor coverage which VZW does not guarantee.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
wildcat2
Contributor - Level 1

I suppose you are right. I Kizzy find it strange AT&T does better in that regard in the city. I expected it to be more on par with each other.

But I suppose we'll see if that's my only trouble area

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
sprmankalel
Champion - Level 3

These places also may have a contract with AT&T for repeaters installed in their buildings.

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Re: Indoor coverage - Not very impressed!
wildcat2
Contributor - Level 1

What are the odds of Verizon doing this though? Is there anyway to go about it?

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