Intermittent service at my home ( but still full signal)

Aaron513 · ‎04-12-2012

Hello after being an AT&T customer for over 2 1/2 years and having constant 5 bars of signal (there is a tower around a mile away from my house). Since last thursday I have had my service go in and out, Not my signal mind you I have full signal most the times but no service, I can not make a call or use the 4G. But I will have service about 5-10 minutes of every hour when I can call or text or use 4G.

Tuesday I had service the whole day, But wednesday I am back to the intermittent service.

I called tech support and I was told that there were no issues with towers in my area.

I actually went to Apple, And Apple being Apple replaced my phone just in case the issue was with them.

I have gotten a new Sim card as well but the issue still persists.

I use a 4s and have had service on it for 2+ months before this problem started happening, when I plug my sim into another phone it has the same issue.

Any one have any ideas? Before I go to the verizon or sprint store.

Aaron513 · ‎04-12-2012

And today it is worse, now it is showing "no signal" and "searching..." and "AT&T E" but I never had enough signal to call or even text.

Tpeltz · ‎01-03-2012

What is your city, state? AT&T may be doing network upgrades in your area.

Aaron513 · ‎04-12-2012

I live in Cincinnati Ohio, it is like a one block radius of good signal but no service

squirrel14 · ‎01-15-2012

All at&t is doing is adding something to the network. There is no reason to switch carriers.

jodytek · ‎04-13-2012

Hey Aaron, I am also feeling your pain. I have an iPhone 4S and live in Cincinnati, GreenHills to be specific and having the exact same problem. To the letter. I can tell you what I have done so far.

First I went to Apple / Kenwood and described my issue. This was on Wednesday the 11th. I was told to get a new sim card and then restore my phone as new, not from a backup. I went straight to the AT&T store in the Kenwood mall and got a new sim. As I returned home, I have no signal at all, phone goes to searching mode then No Service. I went into iTunes and did a restore as new phone. Still having no service or searching for signal. Occasionally getting a E Edge Network signal but quickly dropping out again.

So, I returned to Apple / Kenwood and explained that I did exactly as they said and the issue seems to be worse. They agreed to replace the phone. Things started to go bad from here. As I was leaving the mall I was thinking about the fact that they gave me a White 16GB iPhone 4S. I was pretty sure I had bought a 32GB phone back in October. Mind you I have had fine service since October of 2011. Anyway So Apple screwed me on my phone, my paperwork they gave me did not even have the correct serial numbers on the documents. Pretty bad. So I opened a ticket with Apple care and explained the phone swap and service issues I am having. I was given a case number and advised to go back to the apple store to have the issue corrected and get another phone.

Oh, one important thing to note here is that my wife has an iPhone 4 with AT&T as well and while I cannot get service at all or it is in and out on Edge network. My wife's iPhone has 4 bars of 3G service at all times. I have to use her phone to call customer service. This is really bad.

So, on Thursday morning, yesterday I went back to Apple and took all of my documentation and got the big oh we're sorry it was a mistake and they replaced my phone again after I stood there for an hour. I got a 32GB 4S and had to specifically request them to correctly document the issues before I left. But hey I got the phone and was on my way. At this point I noticed that the phone was at IOS level 5.0.1 instead of 5.1 so it showed the 3G signal instead to eh 4G so I thought, hmm maybe this would help.WRONG. Same issues, but wait there is more. The new 32GB phone I got on Thursday has issues and just shuts to a black screen and gets hot. It has to have a hard reset using the power and home buttons to reset and reboot it. Happened three times in the evening and then twice today (Friday). So back to the apple store I go. This time I was mad and insisted to involve a manager and have my issue escalated. I requested a brand new phone but was simple given a we can't do that we're sorry we will give you yet another phone if you'll just go away. Amy the Manager at Apple. No help at all....

Anyway, I took the phone and left, unsatisfied but what can a brother do. I went home and yet again still no service or searching or in and out Edge service. My wife enjoying here steady 4 bars of 3G service all the while. I did notice as I was out and about today though that this issue is not just limited to my neighborhood. It happened over off of 71 by 275 and also in Mt Lookout.

In the mean time, I got a voice mail from AT&T stating that they closed my case with them, stating there was an issue with a tower and it would be resolved on the 14th. I called AT&T back and explained this is not a single tower, it has happened in at least 3 locations around Cincinnati and also that my wife on here AT&T iPhone 4 gets consistent service so try again and open that case back up. The support engineer asked me to try swapping the sim cards between my wife's phone and mine. So I did that and found that my sim card works just fine in here phone and her's has the same service issues in mine. So it is a hardware issue after all I am thinking. Maybe just a 4S issue right. WRONG.

My next step was to say goodbye to apple, they mad me pretty mad anyway so to heck with them. I went down to my local AT&T store and explained all of this to the manager there. He agreed to wave an upgrade and let me buy a Samsung Galaxy Note. A 4G LTE ready Android phone. So I am thinking, it's a big change but hey, if the phone works I'll be in good shape. I went immediately out to dinner with my wife so I did not play with it until I got home for the evening. And guess what, no service. It shows 4 bars, but cannot make a call and cannot receive a call. No access to web, email or anything without wifi. So it is not a hardward thing is is most definitely an AT&T 4G thing. The worst part is the phone will not even switch down to the same 3G level that my wife is getting. I am pretty much steaming at this point and AT&T service is going to have me on their hands at 9AM when their lines turn on and I am not planning to be nice about it.

Well, I know this has been a lot, I am glad to vent a little here and hopefully you will not have to got to some of the steps that I have.

J0dy

squirrel14 · ‎01-15-2012

It sounds like a 4G issue. If your wife was able to get a good 3g signal, it sounds like it is limited to the 4G network. I would advise you get a 3g phone and see if it works.

jodytek · ‎04-13-2012

I think AT&T needs to correct their problem, seeing as how my service worked fine for the last six months. This is a AT&T problem and they need to own it. They are selling the hardware and claiming service they cannot provide.

[Please keep it courteous]

Tpeltz · ‎01-03-2012

The 4G displayed on your iPhone 4S is not really true 4G, it's just a marketing symbol that AT&T uses on the 4S. Your wife's iPhone 4 and your iPhone 4S are connecting to the same cell site when they are next to each other, the 4S just displays the "4G".

AT&T may be upgrading cell sites in the area and could be causing the network problems.

jodytek · ‎04-13-2012

My iPhone replacement is at IOS version 5.0.1 and does not show 4G is shows 3G. The issue is that they shoould connect to the same tower when side by side, but her phone will show 4 bars of 3G service and mine will keep switching from serching to no service to Edge and back to no service. I am on call with AT&T support, escallated t o supervior and then manager and their recomendation is to downgrade my phone to a 3G phone. Unacceptable....

Tpeltz · ‎01-03-2012

If their response is to downgrade your phone to a 3G phone, they should be fired. The iPhone 4S *is* a 3G phone. It is *not* a 4G phone by any means. They should know this, espeicially a manager or supervisor. The iPhone 4S and 4 both connect to the same UMTS network. The iPhone 4S supports a newer revision of UMTS called HSPA+. The base technology is exactly the same as what the iPhone 4 uses. AT&T is the only UMTS carrier in the world to call their HSPA+ network "4G". It is very misleading for customers.

Maybe you need a new SIM card, my brother had similar issues with his iPhone a few months ago and he got his SIM replaced. No more issues after that.

jodytek · ‎04-13-2012

I completely understand the 3G / 4G HSPA+ thing and totally agree with your comments. Being aware of that fact, I am OK with it as long as I have phone service. The majority of the time I am connected to wifi for data anyway and 3G or 4G LTE doesn't really make much diference from that perspective. The final word I got from the AT&T manager was that I can go to a local store and trade in my phone for a different one and see if that works. I explaned that I have already done that and bought a Samsung Galaxy Note and have the exact same issues. So the best he can do is either let me trade in the Samsung for another phone or revert my contract to the iPhone 4S. They will not honor or release me from the iPhone contact without paying the penalty fee for early termination, or I can just downgrade to a cheaper phone and hope for the best.

This is completely unaceptable, but the cusomter support says they cannot help me.

yax51 · ‎04-14-2012

I'm getting the same issues here in Spokane WA. Trying to get some sort of support has been like pulling teeth. Although we haven't gone through the hassle of changing phones, (mines only 2 months old, Samsung Infuse) but the network issues are the same. Can't make or recieve calls or text, forget about data. We were using the Elevate 4G device, which worked well up until today when it bricked on me, the thing won't even turn on, but thats another story. In any case, switching out sim cards has no effect, even with a brand new one. So if its not a hardware issue (aside from the elevate) that would mean it was a network error, that they were working on the towers or some such thing, but AT&T assures us that is not the case. I wouldn't mind it so bad if we didn't have to rely on having service for our jobs, as well as emergencys, as my wife is pregenet and could be going into labor any day now, and would need to have a way to contact SOMEONE when the baby decides it's time. However, this has been going on for almost a week now, and working on the towers/network shouldn't take that long. I wonder if it's something else completely? If anyone has any insight into this, please let me know if there is anything that can be done on my end. Thanks!!

p.s. It's going to be a boy

Aaron513 · ‎04-12-2012

Jody, Although it sucks that you are having the same issue i am it is nice to know it is not only me and my area, I didnt switch phones because I went out of my neighborhood and called all my friends who are on AT&T to come over, and from the driod Atrix to a lg cu400 (just a flip phone no data) None of them worked here where I am located.

I would go to the BBB website and file a complaint with them asking them to help you get out of your contract with no termination fee, I did that and the people there seemed to think that I was indeed in the right if AT&T is going to change their coverage area for an undisclosed amount of time mid way threw a contract period with out offering an explanation then I should be released. The BBB will be getting back to me mon-tues.

Squirrel, My problem is I have talked to 4people at AT&T and EACH ONE has told me something different,

person 1) The problem is with only my phone, get a new one

person 2) problem is with all apple phones

person 3) There are many towers degraded in my are, we dont know when they will be fixed.

person 4) There is not a problem I just dont know how to operate my phone

( the person my brother in law talked to) person 5) The problem will be fixed in 3-4 days...

It has now been a week and a half, I am paying for something that is not being provided to me. Let us see what happens when I dont pay my bill for a week and a half, I will still owe them my bill plus fees right?

So unless I get a Refund for my time AND a bonus, my "fee" I will leave the company. I find it ridiculous that we wont be told what is going on and a date when it will be fixed.

Aaron513 · ‎04-12-2012

Yax, Congrats! My adivce get a go phone from a different company because if you call AT&T they will not help you, and the best part call them get an "answer" call them immediatly back and some one else will give you a different "answer".

What did the AT&T rep say to you by the way? that there was no issue?

yax51 · ‎04-14-2012

yeah, we spent over 2 hours on the phone with their tech support, reset the phone to default, and put in a new sim card from the store. They did offer up something about routing numbers being screwed up or something like that, but their soltion was to drive 4.5 hours to seattle to get a new phone, or to buy a go phone, or buy a "home tower" thing, but not ofering any real solutions.