My family recently switched from Verizon to T-Mobile and I picked up a refurbished iPhone 5. The other day I was at a crowded festival and wasn't able to send texts. However my sister's Android on T-Mobile did not have this problem. Is there any known history of iPhones/iPhone 5 having poorer reception than Androids on the same network? Any remedies? This is concerning because I'm going to be at another large crowded festival this weekend where I will "need" service.
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T-Mobile iPhone 5 reception issues at crowded festivals
- Thread starter xuclarockerx
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Never heard of such a thing, especially for just sending texts. I have been is congested areas where I could not make a call but can not remember it being so bad I could not send a text.
Are you sure you are hitting the SEND button?
Are you sure you are hitting the SEND button?
Hi guys, I'm referring to music festival situations with 50,000+ people in a concentrated area. It's common for there to be reception problems; I had them while on Verizon with an Android phone. Sometimes the text would go thru on my end but receipt could be delayed.
In this case I got clear "message failed" notifications from the iPhone. I was certainly not on wifi. Cellular networks get overloaded in these situations; that's a given.
Could it be a problem with the individual phone? Because I have another iPhone I could try.
In this case I got clear "message failed" notifications from the iPhone. I was certainly not on wifi. Cellular networks get overloaded in these situations; that's a given.
Could it be a problem with the individual phone? Because I have another iPhone I could try.
I suspect that being around 50K people is the problem. No way the carriers could cover that well without bringing in more service which I doubt they would do for a concert like this. It is not a phone problem, likely the nearest cell towers are overloaded.
Yeah exactly. But why would one phone have better service than another, on the same network? Frustrating.
I suspect that Verizon is the primary carrier at the closest tower and maybe T-Mo is just getting what is left over.
T-Mo is not known for beating Verizon except on cost.
I suspect that Verizon is the primary carrier at the closest tower and maybe T-Mo is just getting what is left over.
T-Mo is not know for beating Verizon except on cost.
Yeah. But does this mean that individual phones "compete" for what's available on a single network? I would assume all phones on a single network get equal coverage, but maybe not.
Likely first come first serve. The tower can only handle so many calls or texts at a time. When in severe overload you might have to wait to get a spot before you can text or make a call.
Sounds to me more like bad luck. I don't think there is a selection for example to prefer Android over iPhone.
Yeah it's just frustrating to be on a new phone (iPhone), new carrier (T-Mobile), and have issues. Especially when the test drive was promising.
Like other have said it is the crowd of phone users that is the problem. If T-Mo gives you a better deal than Verizon some would put up with it if it only happened at these events. I have been at Football games, too with AT&T and never had a problem getting of receiving texts or calls but it could happen and it would not make me want to change carriers.
Why? What if t-mobile had a weak present at that festival? Now you change carrier and next time and with a different festival they have a low present?Typical.
These things can happen with every carrier.
It's odd to me that two phones on the *same* network, one an iPhone and the other an Android phone would perform so differently. It does suggest a problem with the iPhone.
This happens to me at crowded events on AT&T every time. Basically, my network is unusable--though I haven't compared my performance to an AT&T user on an Android.
This happens to me at crowded events on AT&T every time. Basically, my network is unusable--though I haven't compared my performance to an AT&T user on an Android.
I would tend to think it has something more to do with the network. Although it's a bit weird how your sister didn't have reception issues with her phone and you did. My girlfriend and I were a pretty big music festival earlier this summer (we're both on AT&T), we never once had any issue with reception. Data would load slow for apps like Instagram and Twitter, but we had no issues making phone calls and sending texts to friends/family.
Never heard of such a thing, especially for just sending texts. I have been is congested areas where I could not make a call but can not remember it being so bad I could not send a text.
Are you sure you are hitting the SEND button?
Try attending the World Series. No calls, no data, no text everything was so swamped.
Were these texts SMS or iMessages? For SMS a basic cellular connection is needed and not much more (not LTE or even 3G), while for iMessage a data connection is needed (be it cellular or WiFi), which can be trickier in (over)loaded areas.
Never had a problem at any of our NFL games so far but then I do not spend a lot of time on the phone.
Depends on the carrier and where.
When the Sox won the World Series in Fenway, AT&T and Verizon users had no problem because they were on the DAS at Fenway and the area has dense coverage from both carriers. T-Mobile and Sprint users were struggling at that time.
I was in a bar across the street from Fenway and had no problems communicating with everyone on AT&T.
This is a logical explanation. The OP's sister was obviously not using iMessage and the OP could have been. The obvious question is: Was the OP texting another iPhone user?