Dropped calls, Deep voice, Sprint or iPhone 7?

Question

Level 1

9 points

Dropped calls, Deep voice, Sprint or iPhone 7?

I have had dropped call issues for a while, but it was always bearable until recently. I'm pretty sure the landmark moment was getting an iPhone 7. It may be a coincidence, or it may be Sprint, but I'd like to know if this is common. Not only do I lose a few calls and get some dead spots, but I also get a deep voice and a skipping voice thing...a lot! It drives me crazy! Please help if you can.

Also, if you're certain it's Sprint (which the deep voice thing is hard to believe it's not a phone thing), how do I know which coverage maps are truthful? Because Sprint says I have perfect coverage over my house. Which is complete BS and honestly should be illegal to lie like that. I just don't know how to make an informed decision without the right information.

iPhone 7, iOS 11.1

Posted on Nov 1, 2017 3:09 PM

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Answer 1

madra31

Level 6

9,940 points

Nov 2, 2017 4:22 AM in response to barrknuckle

Are you able to make and receive some calls properly with normal voice sounds at all? If not, the chances are it is a phone problem especially if you did not have it before getting this device.

Have you had the phone checked by Apple for hardware issues?

It is not uncommon for dead spots to exist even in areas where overall coverage is excellent.

If your phone is unlocked, a good test would be to try a sim from a different carrier that you might borrow from a friend or family member and compare calling experience at a specific location. If it is the same, then the phone is most likely the problem. Othwerise, it is likely to be a Sprint coverage issue.

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,840 points

Nov 2, 2017 8:15 AM in response to barrknuckle

Try going to Settings>Cellular>Cellular Data Options>Enable LTE and set it to Data Only.

I suspect the 'slow motion calls' are being caused by issues on Sprint's network handling voice over LTE.

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Answer 3

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,840 points

Nov 2, 2017 11:09 AM in response to barrknuckle

barrknuckle wrote:

I tried responding to this. Not sure why it didn't go through. Mine does not not have voice & data. Only on or off for LTE. It's on. Do you think just turning off all the Roaming will fix it?

Roaming has nothing to do with it.

As the option to control that from the phone apparently isn't available when using Sprint, you'll have to complain to them about it. VoLTE is basically a carrier implementation of VoIP. The problems you're experiencing are typical of VoIP calls over a poor connection.

Poor connectivity and lousy service are pretty much par for the course with Sprint.

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Answer 4

Nov 2, 2017 11:41 AM in response to barrknuckle

There has only ever been one SE. I'm not sure that the model is relevant but you never know. You can find the model number in Settings>General>About.

I think Tim is right that this is a Voice over LTE issue. What I don't know is if there is something wrong with your phone that you can't change the settings or if Sprint just does it that way.

A couple of things you might want to try. Reset your network settings. Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. This doesn't take very long and the only thing you lose are WiFi passwords. The next thing I'd consider would be resetting all settings. Settings>General>Reset>Reset All Settings. That's a bit more annoying. It sets every setting in the phone back to factory default.

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Answer 5

madra31

Level 6

9,940 points

Nov 2, 2017 9:53 AM in response to barrknuckle

You are correct--that is the Sprint setup.

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Answer 6

Nov 2, 2017 11:22 AM in response to barrknuckle

Do you mean your wife has an iPhone SE? Out of curiosity, have you checked her settings and seen if they are the same as yours or if they look like the picture people have posted here?

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Answer 7

barrknuckle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 2, 2017 8:06 AM in response to madra31

If you read my post you would know I lose "some" calls, get "some" dead spots, etc. I have not had the phone checked. That seems to be the next step. I do my updates and restarting. I thought it was a 7 bug, but it's still happening.

Thanks for the comment about dead spots being in excellent areas. That's helpful. Still, it's WAY too much to be ok. That SIM card idea is pretty genius. I'll see if I know someone who will do that. I worry that taking apart an iPhone is too hard and I might hurt it or hurt my chances of an upgrade, but I'll see.

Thanks.

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Answer 8

barrknuckle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 2, 2017 9:15 AM in response to deggie

Wow. A little confrontational. Are you here to help or insult? I'll explain again. He said to go to "Settings>Cellular>Cellular Data Options>Enable LTE and set it to Data Only". After the Enable LTE page, the only way to set to "Data only" is on that page. There is no other page after that. So I assumed "Data only" was Data Roaming, because there is no other option.

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Answer 9

deggie

Level 10

167,525 points

Nov 2, 2017 9:28 AM in response to barrknuckle

No, Data Only is not Data Roaming.

I don't have Sprint so I'm not sure how they control those settings (it is different for each cell provider). When you tap on Enable LTE under AT&T you get 3 options: Off, Voice & Data, Data Only.

This is on an AT&T iPhone 7 Plus running iOS 11.1. Sprint, or your phone, may have different options but I would definitely go back and turn all of those roaming options off.

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Answer 10

Nov 2, 2017 9:36 AM in response to deggie

deggie wrote:

No, Data Only is not Data Roaming.

I don't have Sprint so I'm not sure how they control those settings (it is different for each cell provider). When you tap on Enable LTE under AT&T you get 3 options: Off, Voice & Data, Data Only.

On a Verizon phone, those options are also there.

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Answer 11

Nov 2, 2017 9:39 AM in response to barrknuckle

barrknuckle wrote:

Wow. A little confrontational. Are you here to help or insult? I'll explain again. He said to go to "Settings>Cellular>Cellular Data Options>Enable LTE and set it to Data Only". After the Enable LTE page, the only way to set to "Data only" is on that page. There is no other page after that. So I assumed "Data only" was Data Roaming, because there is no other option.

Go back one screen from the one you showed in the screenshot above. Post a screen shot of that screen.

You should see this:

Tap where it says "Voice & Data" to go to the next, correct page.

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Answer 12

barrknuckle Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 2, 2017 9:41 AM in response to deggie

That makes more sense. I didn't know carriers could affect how the settings look in a phone. Here's what mine does: Settings>Cellular>

Cellular Data

Cellular Data Options

Sprint:

Wi-Fi Calling

Calls on Other Devices

Carrier Services

Personal Hotspot

When I tap Cellular Data Options, all I have is Enable LTE or Roaming. And the Roaming page is what I sent above. I thought it was good to have Roaming on if you have an unlimited plan. Not sure how that affects my calls, but if you think it is, I can turn it off. I never travel outside the country, so International CDMA maybe doesn't help or maybe means nothing. I don't know, but I have all 3 on (i.e. Voice Roaming, Data Roaming, and that one).

If I go back, I have Wi-Fi Calling on. Is that good?

I also have Allow Calls on Other Devices on, but I don't want that, so that's going off.

Carrier Services is just Sprint info.

I understand what a Hotspot is, so that's no issue.

Does this help?

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Answer 13

Nov 2, 2017 10:15 AM in response to barrknuckle

barrknuckle wrote:

I tried responding to this. Not sure why it didn't go through. Mine does not not have voice & data. Only on or off for LTE. It's on. Do you think just turning off all the Roaming will fix it?

No. Roaming being on or off is irrelevant unless you're actually outside of your carrier's coverage area.

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