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Cellular update will not fix this hardware problem

I xxx recall that after iOS 12 on my iPhone SE T Mobile, that LTE was flaky with reduced bars in fringe areas, etc. I [too] wouldn’t be surprised if this is a Wifi Assist issue is with iOS 12, on Xs and Xmax. Apple iOS has had similar issues in the past. I hope these users have identified a target to fix:

From a posting #1:

I’m no expert but I thought I’d chime in with something I tried. I turned off WiFi-assist and it seems it has done the trick. My WiFi speeds are back and cellular issues are gone. Now it could just be a placebo or something but seriously not seeing the issues I had before.

If some of you can give it a try and let me know if you get the same results, at least it’s something we can either pinpoint or rule out.

I am currently now on 12.1 beta 1 and have sent feedback on this issue. But I have had this issue on my iPhone 7 with ios12 betas before picking up my XS. My wife who is also on an ios12 beta on her iPhone 7 is having the same issue and seeing better results with turning WiFi-assist off. Btw, our iPhone 7’s are Verizon phones this have the Qualcomm chips.
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Turn off Wifi Assist:
To turn off Wi-Fi Assist, launch the Settings app and navigate to Settings -> Cellular (Mobile in some regions) and scroll down to the bottom where you will see Wi-Fi Assist [Cell Network Search]. Tap on the toggle to turn it off



From a posting #2:

Turn off Cell Network Search:
Go to Settings, scroll to Privacy, select Location Services, scroll all the way down to System Services; Turn off Cell Network Search


Likely software and conflicting default preferences causing havoc. And/or using old vs. new SIMs with some providers (in the past) keeping an old SIM serviceable for a few days, maybe deprecated, but network expecting the new SIM paired with IEMI.
 
New antenna, that according to the FCC is less effective than previous designs + possible issues with full switch to INTEL modems + the incredibly diverse cellular environment we live in = no easy way for users, independent bloggers, or even tech sites to provide a definitive answer.

This may take a while to resolve until we get some results from a lab. I'm guessing if it's true, Qualcomm releases reproducible results, and if it's false, INTEL?
What I don’t understand is why Apple did not just stay with Qualcomm? If it isn’t broke...... Instead they make a switch and break it.
 
New antenna, that according to the FCC is less effective than previous designs + possible issues with full switch to INTEL modems + the incredibly diverse cellular environment we live in = no easy way for users, independent bloggers, or even tech sites to provide a definitive answer.

This may take a while to resolve until we get some results from a lab. I'm guessing if it's true, Qualcomm releases reproducible results, and if it's false, INTEL?
Unfortunately, the new Apple iPhones are all Intel. So we can't compare a Xs Qualcomm phone with a Xs Intel phone.
 
Back when I had my 6 there was a spot that I would almost always drop a call on the way to work. Once I got my 7 I would then usually drop the 3 times on the way to work. Didn’t make sense to get worse reception with a newer better phone but it happened back then so this doesn’t surprise me.
 
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I xxx recall that after iOS 12 on my iPhone SE T Mobile, that LTE was flaky with reduced bars in fringe areas, etc. I [too] wouldn’t be surprised if this is a Wifi Assist issue is with iOS 12, on Xs and Xmax. Apple iOS has had similar issues in the past. I hope these users have identified a target to fix:

From a posting #1:

I’m no expert but I thought I’d chime in with something I tried. I turned off WiFi-assist and it seems it has done the trick. My WiFi speeds are back and cellular issues are gone. Now it could just be a placebo or something but seriously not seeing the issues I had before.

If some of you can give it a try and let me know if you get the same results, at least it’s something we can either pinpoint or rule out.

I am currently now on 12.1 beta 1 and have sent feedback on this issue. But I have had this issue on my iPhone 7 with ios12 betas before picking up my XS. My wife who is also on an ios12 beta on her iPhone 7 is having the same issue and seeing better results with turning WiFi-assist off. Btw, our iPhone 7’s are Verizon phones this have the Qualcomm chips.
[/div]

Turn off Wifi Assist:
To turn off Wi-Fi Assist, launch the Settings app and navigate to Settings -> Cellular (Mobile in some regions) and scroll down to the bottom where you will see Wi-Fi Assist [Cell Network Search]. Tap on the toggle to turn it off



From a posting #2:

Turn off Cell Network Search:
Go to Settings, scroll to Privacy, select Location Services, scroll all the way down to System Services; Turn off Cell Network Search


Likely software and conflicting default preferences causing havoc. And/or using old vs. new SIMs with some providers (in the past) keeping an old SIM serviceable for a few days, maybe deprecated, but network expecting the new SIM paired with IEMI.
Tried all this. Had no effect on the wonky WiFi behavior.
 
while there will always be some issues with new products, without a question, what internal beta tests happen at today's apple?
A lot certainly. How many more issues would there be if they did no beta tests?
 
You tell someone to call the person that lives the furthest away to check call quality? That's not how it works. You could have a strong signal, your friend has a strong signal, both connections are great, and the sound quality will be great. Distance has nothing to do with it. It's all digital now.
 
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You tell someone to call the person that lives the furthest away to check call quality? That's not how it works. You could have a strong signal, your friend has a strong signal, both connections are great, and the sound quality will be great.
 
You tell someone to call the person that lives the furthest away to check call quality? That's not how it works. You could have a strong signal, your friend has a strong signal, both connections are great, and the sound quality will be great. Distance has nothing to do with it. It's all digital now.

Oh for goodness sake it was a tongue-in-cheek post...lighten up!
 
I noticed my iphone7 on ATT started switching from LTE to 4g anytime I would make a call after I updated to iOS 12. Before the update I always had a strong LTE signal in my metropolitan area. Currently anything using purely data related items such as checking the weather, stock quotes or news sites remains on LTE. But when I now make a call it switches from a strong LTE signal to a weak 4g signal. I tried it several times to several different contacts with the same results. Since the new iPhones come with iOS12 I wonder if it’s iOS vs a hardware issue. Also after updating to iOS12 I was notified that I needed to update the carrier settings. Later I received a text message that to complete the update to I was required to turn off the phone and turn it on to complete the setup process. Has anyone else also noticed the change after upgrading iOS?
 
You tell someone to call the person that lives the furthest away to check call quality? That's not how it works. You could have a strong signal, your friend has a strong signal, both connections are great, and the sound quality will be great. Distance has nothing to do with it. It's all digital now.

Did you also let the glue cure and reindexing to complete as those also have an affect on reception, call quality and data speed?
 
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I noticed my iphone7 on ATT started switching from LTE to 4g anytime I would make a call after I updated to iOS 12. Before the update I always had a strong LTE signal in my metropolitan area. Currently anything using purely data related items such as checking the weather, stock quotes or news sites remains on LTE. But when I now make a call it switches from a strong LTE signal to a weak 4g signal. I tried it several times to several different contacts with the same results. Since the new iPhones come with iOS12 I wonder if it’s iOS vs a hardware issue. Also after updating to iOS12 I was notified that I needed to update the carrier settings. Later I received a text message that to complete the update to I was required to turn off the phone and turn it on to complete the setup process. Has anyone else also noticed the change after upgrading iOS?
I believe I'd noticed more 'No Service' issues when I first updated to iOS 12, but since then I've had a carrier update (KDDI in Japan) and haven't noticed anything since. There are too many moving parts right now for easy analysis.
 
iPhone XS - I have no LTE where I used to have 50mbps. It also has an issue with connecting to 5ghz over the 2.4ghz band on my network.
 
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I’m having a little bit of a problem with it also. Hard to get an exact read on it as I no longer have the old phone to do a direct comparison, but it does feel like I am lacking reception in a lot of the places that used to be fine. More often than most, I am only showing 1 bar, yet nothing is happening, no data etc - T-Mobile, 256max, in MD
 
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This is my iPhone Xs Max, my signal at home is never over two bars with Verizon, but haven’t had problems to upload and download, here my sped test over LTE and Xfinity

C9B8145B-A2D7-4A1E-894F-30AC862BB0F2.jpeg
 
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