iPhone 5 lte signal/reception problem

Im on telus in mississauga ontario. I've called them twice about this issue and they just got called me back after I threatended to switch to a competitor. They confirmed with me that the problem is actually the phone! Its a problem with the LTE chip. Apple chose to go with a single chip that receives both LTE and 3g signals. The problem is that the software in IOS6 will choose the 3g connection if it perceives it as the stronger signal. Telus is trying to mitigate the issue by tuning their 3g signals so that they are weaker than the threshold that apple set for 4g signals.

He also said that apple is fully aware of this and its happening to any iPhone 5 on a carrier that supports HSPA+. He also said apple will be addressing this on their first maintenance update......

We all know we're the problem lies its with the carriers found that out once i switch to lte off

Thank you apple for building a iPhone to what I wanted and more

Only thing i complain about it Siri on iPad 2. I paid big bucks for it and not having Siri on it is a rip off

It may very well be the phone or SIM card. The proof was right in front of me at futureshop, 850 PM EST in ottawa.

Was checking out cases and they activated two new iPhone 5s with Bell. They had full strength LTE signal. Mine, turned it on, said one bar then NO SERVICE. Side by side, theirs worked not mine. As I also pointed out, 3GS appears week on my phone.

tech support: SIM card swap first. If no resolution, swap phone. But clearly was not LTE where I tested.

I'm from Ottawa and its bell network

Hi, In Ottawa as well. Get sporadic LTE but then drops to 3G and then sometimes No Service for long periods in downtown Ottawa. Hope it is fixed soon but will call Bell to complain as service and battery taking a hit.

I have seen this happen to multiple iPhone 5's now including myown. I think

this is cause apple put everything the wifi,cellular,3G and LTE into one single chip

so when you turning on your LTE it will consume extra of the chip causing other

services running on the same chip to slow down or be reduced.

HI all, In toronto here and just got a 64gb ip5 yorkdale mall. All looked good and LTE was fast close to 50mbs downloads outside the mall. I reached home which is 10 mins off 401 from the mall and inside the house i was like..why is it 3g. I'm on rogers btw.

So i guess ill switch to my slow basic rogers home internet wifi lol for now.

Will test it tomorrow when im out and about.

I havent talked on it and read on other forums ppl having issues about speaker/mic, and I have 15 days to return so will see so im glad.

I feel like this is like a huge debug society where we all have to scramble to find fixes right out the box. Expectations expectations and competition yeilds hald baked goods.

I do like the phone tho 🙂 and i got a case and screen protector right off the bat.

and oh yes, LTE eats data like a tiramisu pudding..fast!!

In Calgary with Bell and signal is horrible; I have turned off LTE. 3G is also slow and minimal signal. Not sure why this is happening, battery drain is horrible as well. Where do we go from here?

I'm getting very discouraged... To date, I have owned every iteration of the iPhone and I was always impressed at how Apple stepped up to provide amazing support for virtually any issue I ever had. That being said, I haven't had a luck of support from Apple, Bell or anyone in a capacity to answer questions or give clarity to why there are so many reception/battery issues with the iPhone 5.

If things don't resolve within a week, I'm bringing this hone back and reassessing my situation. I don't think this is bad enough to be switching manufacturers over, but its highly likely that I will go back to the 4s and wait for the 5s before I try upgrading again.

Does Apple ever comment in these forums?

I am having the same issue you are with the switching.. I comparing to other devices and its hard to because there not running the same programs and such.. I did a DFU on it which basically wipes it out and installs the software from scratch witht he device with no software on it.. The Techs at apple do this.. I believe you are right, I think it is a software issue prob, I took to a store and they ran tests on it and it was fine, they said it prob not a hardware issue, they advised to do a wipe so I did and it helped slightly but still get issues with it switching and inaacurate signal sometimes until you actually do something on device such as make a call or use web and this it shows accurate signal..

I exchanged the phone. the new was scratched out of the Apple box, hey, they told me all are like that. But I like patina on black aluminum. Like vintage planes it is a classic feel. BUT same problem with LTE/3g that was not solved

So ladies and gents here are your options.

- Force the cancellation of the contract. Hard to do if you spoke more than 30 min

- Try to force a small claims court cancellation (after notifying your carrier in writing) and get reimbursed all fees

- Move, pay the huge bill and recoup it in court vs your carrier (try to return phone though) OR

- Call and get credit for the service you are not receiving- pending a resolution of the issue. I got that. Essentially, since I do not have any relaible 3GS/Data, they are now covering it for free.

Also attaching screenshot. Seek a representative that understand and will get it done from a supervisor. Although the calling list may seem lengthy, you will need technical notes to the effect you contacted. Replacing the phone is another thing. Could also be a legacy issue. Or some users may not have LTE data enabled on their account.

In the end, my proble is semi solved. Have a data plan but am not paying for it. And waiting for Bell/Apple in combo to address issue. For all i know this can happen with Rogers too.

Hi Beisarius,

Good strategy...***** that you have no 3G or LTE data but at least you are not paying for not having it. I still have solid 3G so I can wait a while longer...

I have found that when LTE works, it generally works pretty well. At Bayshore (where there is now an Apple store) I am getting about 15-16 MB down and about 14-15 MB back up. In The Glebe today it was about 12 MB down and 2 MB up. (For those non-Ottawa people those are local neighbourhoods that should both have full-on LTE accessibility.) What I am seeing reinforces what I heard from a Bell rep...their network has simply been overwhelmed by the number of new LTE devices and at the moment cannot keep up. What they cannot say is how long to fix it...will it be hours or months?

My feeling is they will get this fixed very quickly. The SGS4 is supposedly coming in March 2013 and that will only add another incremental increase of LTE devices into the pool. Prtetty hard to shill your LTE network as being the biggest in Canada when it only actually works in a handful of those locations.

Are you sure the problem is the Bell Network and not iOS 6. I've read one posting where someone spoke to a Telus rep and was told that it was a software glitch. I'm on Bell in the Coquitlam area (suburb of Vancouver) and I don't get LTE at my house, inside or outside. If I go to a major shopping mall, I get LTE sporadically. Everything else about my iPhone 5 (3G included) is great, just LTE is giving me troubles. I went through the typical Bell & Apple Tech Support to no avail.

I'm thinking of cancelling my Bell contract, since I've had it less than 14 days and less than 30min talk time, and jumping to Rogers. There seems to be better LTE reception with the Rogers network.

Unfortunately no, I am not completely sure...I have also read that the problem is with iOS 6. Given the scope and magnitude of the issue, it is no surprise at all that the carriers and Apple would point at each other and say "not my issue, it's the other guy". Who would want to admit to making that big a mistake?

I would tend to believe it is the carriers only because when it works, it works quite well. As I said in an earlier post I have had pretty good LTE service in one part of Ottawa, fast download and slow upload in another part and no LTE at all in a third, all in areas that are supposed to be fully LTE enabled. It would be quite the iOS bug if it only happened on some cell towers and not others!

I am definitely not a Bell fanboy (or of any carrier for that matter) but before jumping ship I would give Bell a chance to fix the issue. You may want to give Bell a call and ask to speak to their Retention/Loyalty team and speak your mind. You could probably give them a deadline of x days or weeks to fix the problem otherwise you are taking your business elsewhere and would like a full refund. Carriers hate to see customers leave and will likely be fairly open to you as long as you are polite and somewhat reasonable. They may also give you an incentive to stick around if you ask for it. Be polite though...cursing is definitely out!

Good luck!

For what it's worth, I'll add to the thread.

My Boston Mass Verizon iPhone 5 hasn't worked right on LTE since it arrived 8 days ago, I have tried in about 30 towns/cities all close to Boston and where 3G data works fine with a strong signal (4-5 bars). Phone is primarily locked on 3G, I even see some 2G. If I get LTE, it's usually 1 or 2 bars and i'm lucky if I can pass any data when it's on LTE. In 8 days, I have had one strong LTE signal and it's likely because I was right next to the tower. Verizon told me that they have a Massachusetts "critical" case open on this, but gave no indication as to whether it is an iPhone SW bug or HW problem or a VZW tower bug. Sounds like whatever the problem is, it's impacting more than just VZW customers. Interestingly enough, I don't hear any AT&T customers complaining, so it may only impact the CDMA models. Hopefully Apple and VZW can come up with a fix soon as I'm tired of having unusable data on my $450 phone. In the same locations, my AT&T Galaxy S III pulls 25-35 and even 50Mb/s reliablity. Unfortunately I don't have another VZW LTE phone to determine whether these problems are or are not iPhone 5 specific