iPhone 5 lte signal/reception problem

One more update - San Jose, CA have experienced 3G and "o" states and data that barely moved while AT&T was flying at 30Mb/s+. I took some logs and will report to Apple as well as part of my case with them. So while coverage out here seems much better than Metro Boston/NYC, still finding coverage gaps vs. AT&T.

This location is -98 dBm RSSI (3G/o) and -112 to -118 dBm LTE

Also took logs of toggling airplane mode where phone locked from "o" to low signal LTE and included this in my Apple case.

I believe that what you have mentioned is just an aesthetic display bug in iOS 6. I see the same thing, but I believe the phone is just showing 5 bars for no reason before it shows the real value, I don't believe based on the dBm readings that it ever should have showed this, so I think you can safely ignore this false bar reading and not assume it means anything more. Best way to determine your signal strength is to go to field test:

*3001#12345#*. Note that 3G readings will be RSSI and should be ~23dBm better than RSRP reading for LTE/4G.

I'm on the Rogers network in Ottawa. I have been turning off the LTE when I am not using the phone to browse because my battery drops quite rapidly when LTE is on. As soon as I use LTE, the connection speed is wicked fast. The experience from that standpoint is awesome. As soon as I turn on LTE, the signal strength drops to 1 or 2 bars, very sporadic, often bounces back and forth between LTE/3G and the battery percentage drops by 10% per 30 mins of web browsing.

Does anyone else see a link between LTE on and drastically reduced battery life?

While on 3G, my I5 easily outlasts my I4

I am hoping this is a carrier coverage/software issue that will be issued ASAP. Apple stated the same battery life on 3G and LTE, this hasn't been my experience....

I haven't seen the type of drain you are talking about, but I can confirm that my battery life with LTE does not compare to my iPhone 4S w/ 3G. The iPhone 4S could sit idle all day and still be 95%+ battery life at the end of the day, even while on the cellular network, the iPhone 5 is 70%+ battery in the same situation.

Two things to try:

When I got my phone, I noticed poor battery life as well, I let the battery drain down to 5-10% and then I let it charge fully. If this does nothing, check your Usage and see how the phone Usage under Settings->General->Usage compared to Standby. Mine is reporting 2.5 hours Usage and 7 hr 51 minutes Standby. If the Usage and Standby are very similiar, this means that something is causing your device to not sleep properly. You can try to delete and re-add your email accounts and turn off notifications to see if something if causing a problem. If not, you may need to restart the device from scratch (Settings->General->Reset->Erase All Content and Settings) and reconfigure it (when doing this, I recommend you configure from scratch and not restore from a backup from the same device or prior iPhone model)

If you're in a low LTE signal strength area where signal keeps bouncing off LTE, this will result in excessive battery drain, although I don't know whether or not it would be equal or not to what you are reporting since I have never attempted to measure this.

Pete,

Sounds like the more you investigate this, the more it appears that Verizon just has (big?) holes in the LTE coverage. They need a more accurate LTE coverage map. Maybe a "heat" map like I've seen on the T-Mobile site (which for the record, I've found to be pretty accurate).

I'm curious how often you are seeing super slow "o" (2G) on VZW in Boston? I would hope not often. While 3G is a lot slower, at least it is usable. 2G is joke for web browsing.

I can confirm that AT&T's coverage map on their public website is not accurate. The internal map that a representative at the store showed me had more gaps than coverage areas. Since I live close to a gap, my phone constantly maintains 1-2 bars and switches back and forth and massacres the battery. I assume Verizon's coverage maps are equally dishonest, but I'm sure there is some fine print somewhere to cover them.

I don't see the super slow 1X in Metro Boston very often, unfortunately I do at my house where the signal is weak even though I'm supposed to be in a super strong LTE area. I do see 3G a lot, most often at indoor locations, but also outside as well when not immediately next to a tower. Did your iPhone 5 show up yet?

Verizon has plenty of fine print:

"These Coverage Locator maps depict predicted and approximate wireless coverage. The coverage areas shown do not guarantee service availability, and may include locations with limited or no coverage. Even within a coverage area, there are many factors, including customer’s equipment, terrain, proximity to buildings, foliage, and weather that may impact service. Some of the Coverage Areas include networks run by other carriers, the coverage depicted is based on their information and public sources, and we cannot ensure its accuracy."

Not yet, still showing 10/26 ship date.

Reading MA

VZW iPhone 5 14.8/3 Mbps -107dBm

ATT GS3 63.94/19 Mbps -80dBm

Im having terrible 3G and 4G connectivity in my house, I have to walk 50 feet outside to recieve a signal. Sure I have wifi in my house but this is not the point. My old android htc Thunderbolt had 4g in my house. I bought my iPhone 5 yesterday 10/19/2012. I called verizon 3 times. I have two trouble tickets. no resolution yet. I'll keep caling until we get a fix. 😟

While none of this will make up for poor VZW coverage throughout areas where they should have strong coverage, it appears that Apple iOS 6.0.1 will have some fixes for some of the flaky behavior.

Per BGR today:

"One of our reliable Apple (AAPL) sources has let us know Apple has begun testing iOS 6.0.1 with different carrier partners in the U.S. and we have a general list of what the first iOS 6 update will entail. iOS 6.0.1 should fix the horizontal lines bug on the screen when the keyboard or app folder is open, and it will also fix a problem with the camera’s flash not going off.

In addition, the new software will improve Wi-Fi support, fix cellular data not working in some cases, add a consolidated cellular data switch for iTunes Match, fix a bug that allowed access to Passbook pass details from the lock screen, and also finally fix the bug that caused Exchange meetings to be unexpectedly cancelled for the entire calendar invite group"

That sounds encouraging. One nice thing about the iPhone, is they seem to get more updates than other phones. I've had a buggy smartphone or two over the last few years, and updates were rare.

My LTE signal (Verizon) was fine for the first week that I had the phone. Two days ago, I noticed that when the phone switched from wifi to cellular data, it would default to 3G even in areas with strong LTE signals. The only way I can get LTE is to reboot the phone.

The LTE reception issues aren't limited to the iPhone 5. I have the same problem on 2 iPhones and the new ipad. I am 400 meters from the cell tower. 3G is 5 bars on the iPad. LTE is 1 bar if it even manages to grab the signal. Usually it reverts to 3G or says no service. I am quite disillusioned with Apple products because of this.