iPhone 5 lte signal/reception problem

Here is what I noticed, if I get an LTE signal (even just 1-2 bars) the Internet is fast 9obviously much faster on 4-5 bars) but I can't even make a phone call in some places, the call will fail. If at that moment I turn off cellular data the signal keeps being just 1-2 bars and the call issues persist. If I switch to 3G from LTE by turning LTE off, I will get 3-5 bars and good Internet speed even if slower than LTE and no call issues. If from being on 3G I then turn cellular data off, it will keep a good signal with about the same amount of bars and still no call issues. If it has LTE on with poor signal that switches to 3G on its own, the signal stays weak unlike if I turn LTE off myself, calling issues appear and turning cellular data off stays on the weak signal with the calling issues remaining.

So it seems that when LTE is on and weak, it affects everything else, the 3G (when switched to by the phone) is slow and there are calling issues.

LTE strong = fast Internet speed = no calling issue

LTE on but weak = calling issues = even slow 3G = still low signal even with cellular data turned off, meaning that you have to turn LTE off even before turning data off to regain a good signal.

I hope this issue is resolved soon.

Have a Verizon iphone 5 with similiar issues (trouble holding LTE in an LTE area, signal, etc). One thing that I learned from Verizon Tech Support when dealing with the same issue on Droid devices (iPhone had not transitioned to LTE yet) is that Verizon is leveraging technology called eHRDP to bridge transitions between CDMA/EVDO and LTE. When I experienced similiar issues with Droid phones, they tended to point to eHRPD as a potential cause. When going between CDMA/EVDO and LTE, there are often lags where the phone has trouble moving between the two technolgies due to eHRPD. While I assume since LTE must still operate along side CDMA/EVDO in Verizon areas, eHRPD is still operational and may still be causing issues. With Droids, you had an option to turn it off, but with iPhone it appears you can't. AT&T didn't have this issue since as everyone knows they are based on the GSM model and their phones can move between 3G and 4G GSM based technologies without the need of something like eHRPD (so this wouldn't explain all issues).

Hope this helps.......

I've researched this exhaustively on the Web after getting no answers from Verizon. I have turned off LTE on my phone and am using the 3G to see if that works. But even if that solves the signal problem it still means we got a bum phone that doesn't work like it should.

Yep! I've been having the same iPhone 5 LTE issues. My phone drops calls, goes straight to V/M and doesn't connect to the internet with solid LTE signal. I have to reboot or switch airplane mode off and on to correct issue. This is my second device, I prolly called AT&T and Apple over 20 times and they just blame each other. I had no problems with my 4s. I wish someone will do something quick! Those windows 8 phones are looking mighty yummy...lol

Watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbie3MWNpPQ it fixes the issuE !!

I have identical issue with Koodo in Niagara Falls. I honestly tought that this was my Iphone5 crapping out and got replacement from Apple store. New (replaced) phone is acting just the same. Changed simcard, no satisfation.

Only LTE off will fix this.

One observation: No Rogers customers complaints, I was with Rogers before i switched to Koodo, no problems at all, solid LTE signal.

Hope this helps somebody!

I had this same issue in Los Angeles County (Long Beach) California. Long story short: seems like a hardware issue that was fixed by getting a final replacement for iphone 5.

This issue only started after I got my 1st phone replaced for an unrelated issue, so I was already suspecting a hardware issue.

The Problems

On the new phone there was reception issues when LTE was turned on. It would show 2-3 bars, then 1, then Searching, No Service, Activation required. This kept cycling.. maybe once every hour. Turning LTE off helped make this issue better and data was pretty fast temporarily. Later on this cylcling started happening even with LTE turned off.

This also caused the battery to drain about 20% overnight on standby.

Attempts to fix it that DID NOT work:

reseat SIM card

reset all phone settings

reset network settings

power off/on

DFU restore, and then NO itunes restore from backup. then reset network settings, reset phone settings.

DFU restore, then restored from my own backup. then reset network settings, reset phone settings.

swapped sim card, reset network settings, power on off.

Updated IMEI for new phone with AT&T, reset network settings, powered off/on

What DID work:

After being able to reproduce the issue with a tech at Apple, he gave me a replacement. The issue was fixed immediately without any restore/reset needed. Definitely a hardware issue. LTE works perfectly now and properly switches to "4g" when LTE signal is not there instead of "no service".

This is after having swapped out my phone for out for out-of-the-box cosmetic damage 4 times. Volume/sleep/power buttons are loose on ALL of the phones I saw, to varying degrees. Quality control on these new phones are very frustrating.

Interesting you say that. After my original post I had my iPhone 5 replaced as well, while the symptoms of this issue "got better" my phone still drops LTE when I make a call even though my carrier supports this, and rarely but I still see the no service appear. After contacting my carrier, Bell, I was told that there is a lot of people with the iPhone 5 experiencing this issue and that there is a master ticket created for this issue with Bell. I was also told that this is most likely a software issue and Bell hopes the next version of iOS resolves it. I'm hoping it does, as most others I'm keeping LTE off for the most part so I don't miss phone calls in the 3-5 seconds no service appears.

That might've solved your issue, but not the issue I'm having, your SIM card wasn't seated properly, I tried your "fix" but it didn't fix anything.

Have you updated to ios 6.1 ? I wonder if the update improves LTE for verizon or if we are doomed forever.

I upgraded to 6.1 and the same issues remain. It looks like there is a deeper issue with the hand over between LTE and "3G"... Extremely disappointed. LTE remains turned off on my phone.

To accurately measure the antenna field strength then you should go into the Field Test Mode:

Dial *3001#12345#*

Works on any iPhone

You'll see a dBm signal strength number displayed in the upper left corner. The larger the number, the lower the signal. (e.g. -130 is weaker than -90)

Hello, the signal with edge has 5 bars for example but when 3g is on it's 1 or 2 bars. And when i'm turning off cellular data and leave 3g on it's still that 1 or 3 bars. But the interesting part of this when cellular data and 3g both is off the signal is better. It's always 4-5 bars. What kind of problem do I have? Is it normal? And do you guys have something like that?

So my wifes iphone5 was the exact same...about half the time I would call her the phone would drop. She was having all the same issues that have been talked about on this thread. I replaced the phone last saturday (worried that it was really a software issue as some people have thought on this thread) and the difference is night and day. The phone is now reliable and her battery life has also increased tremendously because the phone isn't constantly searching for networks. Her's was most definately a hardware issue.

Sadly I found that by turning of my LTE my signal bars go up and stay that way everywhere I go. I'm with Verizon and like many here this makes me upset, so much for the so called "fastest and most reliable LTE in the Nation" Verizon's customer service said that I have low signal levels in my neighborhood, but still that doesn't explain why even downtown I can't seem to get a decent signal level.