Q: iPhone 5 lte signal/reception problem

One quick data point from my hometown (Metro Boston). Not only is VZW providing weak coverage to my home which is located in a strong LTE area on their map, but when you walk closer to where the tower is so that LTE works at all on the iPhone (-91dBM), VZW iPhone 5 = 9Mb/s, while AT&T Galaxy S III = 50Mb/s today.

Pete boston,

How do you get access to the "internal device forum"?

What process should I go about to post?

You can't get there directly. You need call 800-922-0204 and ask for Tech support who has access to this internal-only database. When you reach Tech support, tell them that you want an issue added to the "iphone 5 loses 4g lte" internal device forum thread and not just a trouble ticket opened which is tower specific. Once they supposedly do this, ask them to text you confirmation as this will put a record on your VZW account of this correspondence so that they cannot claim you never contacted them.

Pete boston,

Just took care of it and got a text.

People please call! They told me the more that call and log this issue the more resources they will put behind it. It takes 10 minutes...

Thank you, I was almost ready to give up hope that anyone who posts on these boards actually cares about getting their problem resolved. Very frustrating to see almost 20 pages of complaints and the fact that only one other person bothered to call VZW and follow through on this. My Tech Support person at Apple has seen similarly few complaints in their databases as well. They are at 800-MY-APPLE if you want to file a case with them as well to report your problems. Going to an Apple Store is not a good use of your time as they will hook up your phone to their computer and tell you everything is fine, when it obviously is not.

I think the other problem is for a person who has never had real LTE service like the 20-50Mb/s I can see on my AT&T Galaxy S III regularly in the 3 states I have used it, perhaps they think that 1-3Mb/s and/or falling back to 3G in "strong VZW LTE coverage areas" is actually acceptable because Facebook loads when they click on it.

One thing that still stumps me is how VZW can put out all of this advertising and tell us how great their LTE network is vs. the competition, yet consistently get clobbered by AT&T (with a Galaxy S III) in my real life tests all over Massachusetts and now NYC.  Even AT&T's "low speed" network (HSPA/HSPA+) is providing faster transfer rates and significantly more reliable service than I get with my VZW iPhone 5 in "strong LTE coverage areas".  I would love Verizon or Apple to actually take ownership of this problem and for someone to tell me whether VZW's LTE network (and perhaps other networks from comments on this post) are just awful in these areas (Metro Boston and NYC) or whether the iPhone 5 is simply broken on VZW's network  and can't hold a LTE signal unless you can touch the cell tower.

Agree and there website says "Americas Fastest 4G Network".

http://network4g.verizonwireless.com

It is NOT in NYC and they better own up to their marketing and infographics.

http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/#/infographic

Even their astericks says sustained 5Mbps. I barely get 1Mbps in Times Sqaure.

Phil,

SInce you live in NYC unlike me, I suggest you also get some tower cases open on specific towers (like TImes Square) that you regular access where you are seeing poor performance as well.  I tried to do this earlier today with my 20 data points all over NYC, but since I am no longer in NYC, they wouldn't open tower tickets for me since they need your phone to actively be on the towers experiencing a problem to bother to investigate poor service reports. For tower cases, have them text you the ticket # (unlike the forum post, these will have actual numerical ticket numbers). I suggest you let them know what transfer rates you're seeing and also provide them with dBM values from the field test number.

This makes me laugh. I just watched the video showing 4G LTE vs. 3G on the link you posted. The 3G speeds are pretty much what I saw around many areas of NYC with my iPhone 5 "LTE" and the 4G LTE speeds I only saw once and it was lower than what they were showing in their video.

Guys, after 19 pages of inputs of people with different companies and locations (like me AT&T in PR)  with the same issue that means it s an  iphone software issue. It is similar to the issue the iphone 4 had when first launched. Apple has to make a revision to the iOS6 to solve the issue.

Sorry, but it's definitely not JUST an iOS 6 issue - I tested a VZW iPhone 5 against a VZW Galaxy S3 and they were getting nearly the same speeds in every location I tested.  I have no doubt that there may be an iOS bug affecting some of these users, but I don't think mine was affected since I was producing the same results on an Android phone.

I have an iPhone5 on AT&T and I get questionable cell reception. In my home where I had maybe two bars most of the time on my iPhone 4 I now get no bars, or worse yet, "NO SERVICE". I am not in an LTE area and I have disabled LTE on my phone. The reception doesn't change with LTE activated either. This is unaccptable. Sure the phone does more and is smarter but when I can't make a call, it ceases to be a phone and renders one of the key features non-existent.

Can a Firmware update fix this?

Agreed. Until proven otherwise I will blame VZW for 75% and Apple for 25%. GS3 seems to hold low signal better and have better performance in low strength areas. However VZW seems to have very large LTE holes in strong areas of their map even when 3G is strong in same location.

Enter *3001#12345#* call in Phone mode to enter field test mode and see what dBM it reports.   Do you have problems holding a 3G signal everywhere vs. your old iPhone or just at home?  While unlikely either will help, I would first try a nano SIM swap since it's free and easy.  If that fails, you can call 800-MY-APPLE and request they swap your HW once you explain the situation to see if that improves your signal strength.

I got into Field Test Mode...but not sure what to do now. I think the dbM number is -106.