iPhone 5 lte signal/reception problem

Yup, that's a pretty poor LTE signal (not a heck of a lot different than I see here when I lock LTE). Go to the coverage map on verizonwireless.com and look at 4G LTE coverage and see if you are in a very strong area or if there are gaps around you. If it shows strong, call 800-922-0204 and ask for Tech Support and open a tower ticket. From what I've read (I don't claim to be a LTE-guru) is that -120dBm is about the max you can get to and even still hold a LTE signal and -106 dBm is pretty close to there. Turn off LTE under settings and then go to field test mode again and see what your 3G dBM is. While this is a RSSI value (so it should be 20-23 dBm better[smaller negative number]), I'm curious if you also have weak 3G service there or not).

Make sure that you have the tower ticket # text messaged to you, this way there will be a log of this ticket. I have found that when I don't do this, VZW has lost my ticket more than once and had no record of my conversation. Also, while you're at it, get yourself linked to the internal device-forum post "iphone 5 loses 4g lte". Tell the representative that you want your situation posted on that internal device forum post after you explain how your iPhone 5 experience w/ LTE has been in your area.

Here are my home results today where I can barely lock LTE on my VZ iPhone 5. DL speeds are actually better than last week, but upload speeds are still horrible (they were also horrible on a VZW Galaxy S III at same location).

Verizon iPhone 5

6.89 Mbps down, 0.28 Mbps up (-113dBm 2 bars), 3G RSSI (-91dBm)

AT&T Galaxy S III and the "poor" AT&T LTE network

20.14 Mbps down, 18.44 Mbps up (-98dBm 3 bars) 42 asu

I just called tech support from my home. They logged a tower tech but have no idea what the field test mode! They also told me average LTE speeds should be 5-12mbps down and 2-5mbps up!!!! I am so ridiculously unhappy with VZW. It's unbelievable they state they have the fastest network in America.

Pete Boston at some point we should think of a class action lawsuit against there marketing claims if the speeds don't change.

Good write up on RSRP/RSSI values http://rootzwiki.com/topic/25921-this-is-why-your-verizon-nexus-signal-*****/

RSRP:

Reference signal received power (RSRP), is defined as the linear average over the power contributions in Watts of the resource elements that carry cell-specific reference signals within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth. Used to measure the signal of your LTE (GSM/4g) connection. In short, it's what's used to determine the best cell tower your LTE device can connect to at the given time. Anything below say -80db is considered pretty good and you're pretty close to a tower. -80db to -90db is average what you should expect most of the time. -90db or above and you're probably in an "extended network" area for LTE and getting close to a likely handoff. -105db and above you would be likely to see a handoff to 3G if your signal does not get better.

Throughput for your connection measured with LTE is estimated to decline between 30-50% if your signal goes from -75db to -90db for RSRP. Above -95db and your throughput dramatically drops. At around -108db and worse, your throughput for download drops to nearly 3G rates or worse. Note that this doesn't exactly represent how strong your signal is, just the potential of how efficiently it will send that data.

RSSI:

Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), is the linear average of the total received power in Watts. This is used to measure the db signal for CDMA (3g/2g [2g being your 1x and voice]) signals and used in determining the "signal to noise ratio". It was what was shown on all devices as the "signal" under the Android settings before Android 4.0. Basically this is how much noise/interference is in your connection. Not so good for measuring the overall power of it. It should be in the range of like -58db and greater (like -32db). In other words, the closer it is to being positive, the better. If it's in the high 80s or 90s, your signal is probably starting to cause some slight battery drain when idle. RSSI has less to do with how great your network speeds are and more to do with how good your potential battery life will be.

FWIW, they made the same claims to me, I believe they all read from same script, sometimes I wonder if I'm speaking with VZW Tech support robots vs. humans who are actually interested in solving my problem. If it makes you feel better, the last tech told me that he gets great speeds on his Galaxy S III in Nebraska. He also went on and on to tell me that VZW has more 4G LTE devices than anyone else (42 he stated), and that it's all of people on the network which is why it's so slow. (Given that my primary complaint with VZW right now is horribly low LTE signal strength all over the place in their "strong" LTE areas, I'm not sure I would blame that on too many people on the network)

Multiple times they have told me "give it some time, LTE is new and we're still rolling it out", but then went on to tell me that my entire area had 4G LTE rolled out at every tower. For a new technology, AT&T seems to be able to make it work properly, which is shocking given all of the problems they had when the first iPhone came out.

I really am at the point where I am wondering if the SW VZW runs on their towers that handles LTE signaling is just broken. It just seems way too hard to believe that VZW just has this poor signal strength almost everywhere when their 3G network is actually better than ATT's in Mass. I realize that LTE is on a different frequency, but you would think 700Mhz would be as good or better than 850 & 1900.

I've been dealing with this on AT&T's network since launch. Same symptoms: 2-3 less bars than usual, especially indoors. My wife has a 4S pulling full signal while I struggle to keep a bar or two. Many times, the only way to even get '4G' back is to reset the network settings. Then LTE comes on at 5 bars and immediately drops to 1-2. Apple has replaced my phone twice. I've set up my device as new several times to ensure that nothing was carrying over from a back up restore. AT&T swapped my nano SIM. I've talked to various levels of AT&T support who verify that everything is fine and that I have 18 towers near me and am in one of the best coverage spots in the state. I am now corresponding through email with an Apple senior iOS rep or whatever the title is. After all of this, I don't believe it to be a hardware or network issue. It has to be an iOS 6 bug.

Where I live I had a Sprint phone before and the service sucked to say the least...once the 5 came out I jumped at the opportunity to move over to VZW for the great "LTE" coverage in my area....the iPhone 5 just won't stay connected to LTE for any descent amount of time...I have dropouts and buffering all the time and it's horrible to say I had better streaming with my Sprint phone on 4g...That being said I don't think it's a network issue because these droid phone I have here is on LTE and it doesn't skip a beat...but the iPhone 5 just keeps dropping out...I have 3 phones here at the moment....iPhone 4s, Droid and iPhone 5

The Droid streams the music fine...no issues at all...and on LTE....the iPhone 5 buffers about ever 20sec and its simply unbearable to listen too....then I'll see it drop to 3g...then back to LTE....etc...the 4s doesn't miss a beat either but of course it's not LTE....There has to be some issue with the iPhone 5 or ios6 and staying connected with the LTE network

InkStrategy - which market and which VZW Android device? Compare RSRP value from your Droid under Settings->Status vs. your RSRP under field test *3001#12345#* on iPhone 5. Have you tried to swap your nano SIM on your iPhone 5? Actually, is your Droid LTE or not? If not LTE, turn iPhone 5 LTE off and then check field test and compare value to Droid (this will be RSSI value). Unfortunately you won't be able to compare RSRP to Droid unless it does LTE.

Also, please call VZW 800-922-0204 and get yourself linked to the "iphone 5 loses 4g lte" INTERNAL device forum thread. Have them text you confirmation this is done. While you're at it, you can open up a tower case (have them text you the case #) for your local tower if you are seeing low perf and signal strength. Check their coverage map and first confirm you have no holes around you in their claimed coverage for LTE.

Thanks for the info Pete - I'll admit some of the information you gave me is over my head...but I'm going to go down the list and do what you have suggested....I do know the Droid device is showing 4g LTE right now on it's connection and it's connected and streaming the radio station perfectly...

I live is Summerfield, NC and every morning I drive from Summerfield to Greensboro, NC to work...down a heavily traveled and open area (highway) and it happens all the way down to the city. Also two days ago I came home and it made it all the way back home without dropping out at all....but I woke up the next morning and it dropped out every few miles....

I'm in St. Louis.

With LTE on: -112 (1-2 bars)

With LTE off: -100 to -107 (1-2 bars)

The 4S showed -99 with 4 bars.

On your Droid device go to Settings -> Status and see what Signal strength reports

Compare this -dBm value to what is reported on your iPhone 5 by going to "Phone"

and dialing *3001#12345#*. This value will be in the top left of your screen after hitting Call.

The lower the negative number [SMALLER NUMBER], the better the signal strength. (For example, -81dBm is better than -90dBm).

If you want to understand what the various dBm #s means, see a few posts earlier where I pasted in a really good explanation someone else had on RSRP values.

Shawn - open a tower case w/ ATT after confirming strong 4G LTE coverage by their map for your location (which sounds like it should be good based on there being 18 towers in your location). -112 is about as horrible as what I am getting at home on my iPhone 5, it is very close to having zero LTE coverage (obviously this could still be a phone problem, but it's not a very good signal). Your RSSI value of -99 is even worse than mine (-91), I'm kind of surprised it is showing 4 bars on the 4S.

Could someone with some technical knowlege answer a few questions for me. FYI, AT&T in a no-LTE service area receiving little or no data service.

1. Since I'm using the exact same network and towers I was using before with an iPhone 4, why would we think the towers/providers are the problem?

2 I too have replaced iPhone & SIM to no avail, so why would we think it was phone hardware? Is it IOS6 that does the aquisition and switching of signals or is it a hardware function?

3. Out of curiosity, are iPhone 4's with IOS6 having any of these issues?

Thanks for any input.

Pete when I do the "test mode" it does nothing...it says -80...when I go to the coverage map I'm in 4gLTE probably 99% of the time and my actual house sits on the 4gLTE and 4GLTE Extended line...North of my road is 4gLTE Extended...South and where my house is shows 4gLTE

But sitting in my house it will bounce between LTE and a frequent 3g notification...

This morning I actually counted it (yes I'm frustrated) and from the time I left my WiFi Network at home listening to Murphy in the Morning (on Live365) I got in my vehicle and drove down to the City of Greensboro and it dropped out 14 times on the way...It would show LTE and then the loading prompt....

Just for clarification - the -80 is currently appearing in the heart of downtown Greensboro, NC...I'll post the reading when I get back home tonight