Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
rdswords
Enthusiast - Level 2

My phone appears to be connecting to a nearby network extender, but I have no idea where it could be. I live in a townhouse and have no way of knowing who has a network extender in my vicinity. My wireless phone service has been terrible at my house for at least a year now, but I always thought it was poor reception. I just upgraded to a Galaxy S4, and it explicitly says on the lock screen that it's connected to a network extender (my Razr Maxx didn't provide any such notification). I dialed #48, and the message confirmed that I am connected to a Verizon network extender "Switch 30900-251". I'm assuming this is the ID of the specific extender. My problem with my phone automatically connecting to this extender is that it has terrible reception in my house, and I'm pretty sure that the regular wireless service actually has better reception than the network extender (I just can't force my phone not to use the extender).

Does anyone have any advice on addressing this issue? Could anyone from Verizon actually look into this and provide some assistance? I tried the support chat website, but it always says chat is unavailable.

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

rdswords,

Darn! This is a bit of a tricky situation but we're still going to do everything in our power to get you disconnected from that network extender. To be honest, you will need to locate the neighbor that uses the network extender. Then they will need to manage their access settings so its not available to the public http://vz.to/shbXqa .

EvanO_VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
rdswords
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have no means of determining who has a network extender. I can't go knocking on every door on the street asking strangers what they have in their house. You are the service provider, you should be addressing the issue. I've provided the only information I have available, which is a switch number given by the recorded message when I dial #48.

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
TechSupportMachine
Enthusiast - Level 3

This is definitely a tough one. For privacy reasons, obviously VZW can't tell you whose extender you're connecting to. For similar reasons, they won't call someone and ask them to manually block you from it. What I can tell you personally is network extenders really don't have that much range, so it's a very, very close neighbor. Unless you live in an apartment, it's likely your closest neighbor. I know that's not a whole lot of help, but it narrows your search field from your entire street to 1-2 houses. If you can ask them to set their network extender to help you out, that's really your best option.

I know it's not what you're looking for, but that's all the information I can give myself, knowing a bit about them.

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

I understand your thoughts rdswords! Please accept my follow request, follow me and send me a direct message with your name and mobile number. I will review all possible options to further assist. Thank you.

TominqueBo_VZW
Please follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
rdswords
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have sent you a message with my information.

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
cpbergie
Newbie

Did you ever find a solution to this problem?  I am having the exact same issue.  I have no idea which of my neighbors has an extender and its causing me problems.  Is there any way to have my phone NOT connect to extenders?

Thanks

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
rdswords
Enthusiast - Level 2

A tech actually called me and said he would turn down the signal on the extender so that I wouldn't connect to it, but he couldn't give me any info about it that would allow me to go talk to the neighbor who owns it. Despite that, my phone still connects to it almost all the time.

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
cpbergie
Newbie

wow, this is incredibly frustrating.  I get much better service when my phone isnt trying to connect to the extender.

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Re: Phone connecting to unknown network extender? (and poor connection)
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Hello and happy Friday cpbergie,

I must say that the situation that you posted about is truly an unusual one. We want to do all we can to get this taken care of for you. What we need to do is have your mobile number removed from the whitelist on the network extender that it's trying to connect to. To get this info, we would need to contact the owner of the network extender as he/she can update this on the network extender. If this is possible then please advise so we can do what we can to help.

Thank you...

ArnettH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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