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Phone doesn't pick up LTE as often as it should

N

NADA918

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2009
6
0
Haven't seen a thread exactly like this. According to the coverage map on vz, I am in solid LTE coverage however my phone typically stays on 3G and the difference in speed is quite noticeable so it surely is displaying accurately.

On a side not I am feeling uneasy that I am on 3G like I was with the 4 and now I am capped for data. 2GB just doesn't seem to be enough for this phone.
 
You can not believe carrier coverage maps. I'm shown in a Ver LTE area and I can't even get a 3G signal strong enough for a phone call.

Same for AT&T BTW. They don't have LTE for me, but they show me in their best 3G coverage. Without my microcell I can not maintain a single voice call. These guys lie like Bernie Madoff.
 
ya, its the map not the phone, come on, you know better. Apple is perfect, its you thats the problem.
 
NADA918 said:
Haven't seen a thread exactly like this. According to the coverage map on vz, I am in solid LTE coverage however my phone typically stays on 3G and the difference in speed is quite noticeable so it surely is displaying accurately.

On a side not I am feeling uneasy that I am on 3G like I was with the 4 and now I am capped for data. 2GB just doesn't seem to be enough for this phone.
Click to expand...

The carriers coverage maps go live before there is true 100% coverage in an area. Some state that LTE is in an area and less than 30% of their towers have been upgraded.
 
NADA918 said:
Let me ask a better question.

Yesterday I had lte at my desk. Today I don't.
Click to expand...

I was actually being facetious, but as someone who has had LTE for almost a year now, it can be very spotty. Are you on Verizon or ATT? they may just be having network issues.

However, you may be right and it may be the phone, try and find someone else with an LTE phone and see if they are having issues.

Also try a reboot, but hold the power and home button together and dont let go untill the apple logo comes on, that's a hard boot.
 
Last edited:
I did the hard reboot and it went straight to lte. I have Verizon.

I thought the original comment was funny. Don't worry.
 
ggmissmolly said:
You can not believe carrier coverage maps. I'm shown in a Ver LTE area and I can't even get a 3G signal strong enough for a phone call.

Same for AT&T BTW. They don't have LTE for me, but they show me in their best 3G coverage. Without my microcell I can not maintain a single voice call. These guys lie like Bernie Madoff.
Click to expand...

Same in my area.

Both AT&T and Verizon show strong coverage across the board but it is rather comical how off they are in terms of actual coverage and especially speed
 
No joke here.

I called AT&T today to inquire why I don't have lte but rather 3G. Sometimes I see lte for 5 min- the. Back again.

She looks up the map and proceeds to tell me- well, we have two maps in our system, one shows you have it (a tower about 1/4 mile) the other says its not available.

I turned it off. I must have it if I sometimes see it, but 1/4 mile must be too far away for my phone.
 
I know my iPhone 5 gets the same signal my former droid razr Maxx did in my house. They both bounce back and forth between LTE and 3G. At least unlike my razr Maxx, my iPhone does not completely lose signal when it switches back and forth. That was really irritating to me.
 
Olivia23 said:
I know my iPhone 5 gets the same signal my former droid razr Maxx did in my house. They both bounce back and forth between LTE and 3G. At least unlike my razr Maxx, my iPhone does not completely lose signal when it switches back and forth. That was really irritating to me.
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Why not get a cellular amp and external antenna and stop your complaining
 
ROLLTIDE1 said:
Why not get a cellular amp and external antenna and stop your complaining
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Yea, I mean...when are people going to stop expecting service providers to provide actual good service?

Good grief people....just go out and spend more money on additional devices made by and for the service providers....and THEN you MIGHT have semi-decent service

Duh :rolleyes:
 
DiamondMac said:
Yea, I mean...when are people going to stop expecting service providers to provide actual good service?

Good grief people....just go out and spend more money on additional devices made by and for the service providers....and THEN you MIGHT have semi-decent service

Duh :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I do lots of traveling and an amp and external antenna are must have items
 
I have had very strong consistent LTE connectivity for several months now on AT&T. It's a geographical situation. If you're in an area with good coverage the iP5 stays on LTE. I've never had any lapse of LTE on either of my Androids.

Now the same holds true for Apple. You either have good coverage or you don't. If not then hunting between 3G & LTE is bound to occur.

If you're in an area with zero LTE, then you will not see the hunting occur.

Both AT&T and Verizon are spending huge amounts of time and money to implement LTE in the majority of areas, just like they do with 3G. Once that's done you'll notice a very nice increase in both connectivity & speed.
 
ixodes said:
I have had very strong consistent LTE connectivity for several months now on AT&T. It's a geographical situation. If you're in an area with good coverage the iP5 stays on LTE. I've never had any lapse of LTE on either of my Androids.

Now the same holds true for Apple. You either have good coverage or you don't. If not then hunting between 3G & LTE is bound to occur.

If you're in an area with zero LTE, then you will not see the hunting occur.

Both AT&T and Verizon are spending huge amounts of time and money to implement LTE in the majority of areas, just like they do with 3G. Once that's done you'll notice a very nice increase in both connectivity & speed.
Click to expand...

and an increase in battery life, searching for signal kills the battery.
 
Was just going to say that. Battery life would go up significantly if we turned LTE off.

I've had the phone only a few days and it says my cellular usage is over 600mb's. I'm not happy abou this 2GB limit. Is there any way to get vz to grandfather me back to an older plan? I do not like the feeling of not using my phone because of overages.
 
I've noticed this on AT&T around Los Angeles. There will be times where I am getting slow speeds and if I put it in airplane mode or turn cellular data off and then back on, I'll get a decent LTE signal that my phone said I didn't have just a few seconds ago.
 
wake6830 said:
I've noticed this on AT&T around Los Angeles. There will be times where I am getting slow speeds and if I put it in airplane mode or turn cellular data off and then back on, I'll get a decent LTE signal that my phone said I didn't have just a few seconds ago.
Click to expand...

This is a normal characteristic of cell phone performance. When any phone first connects it operates at full power. Once connected it reduces down to a power saving level. This holds true for a 3G or LTE connection, there is no difference.

If either speed fails to send a strong enough signal, or if their is an issue with the phones chip set then the connection is lost.
 
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