LTE in Houston unusable

[toptalent]

For the past couple of days LTE on my one x has been pretty much unusable in Houston. The signal bar shows normal decent LTE signals but actual data transfer constantly times out or stops in the middle. Speedtest shows 20+ mbps when the transfer works but would stop to a complete halt every few seconds. Called CS and confirmed that my account isn't being throttled. Anyone else having same problems?

[jsmith11961]

I have the galaxy s2 skyrocket 4g LTE and i am also having the same issues for like about a month. I already got the phone and sim card swaped twice and its still the same. They told me that there were no outages or problems with the network. My internet mostly never works but when it does its really slow and gets network communication errors. AT&T has not been able to resolve the issue. i also live in Houston. If you find solution please post.

[rortizpuig]

I am also having the same issue with my Nokia Lumia 900. It appears not to be working and I stopped by the warranty center on Southwest Freeway and they said that they were aware that there is a network issue.

[medcenterguy]

I'm experiencing the same problems with my Skyrocket in and around the medical center... in fact, over this weekend noticed unusuable LTE in both Humble and Sugar Land as well as West University (where I live).  This is unacceptable AT$T.  

[Ranmaniac]

Same here...  Waiting patiently for AT&T to fix it...  Tapping foot....

Quite a few others are having the same problem in the forum

http://forums.att.com/t5/Android-Discussion-and-Support/No-LTE-Data-Connection-AT-amp-T-PTA-APN-issu...

My personal version...

"Has been going on for 2 to 3 weeks for me.  The AT&T LTE network, at least in Houston, has been very intermittent. I thought it was my phone and took it into the Waranty/Service center in Houston and they said that many have came in with the same complaint, all users of LTE devices. I have the Galaxy Note so they grabbed another Note and inserted my SIM card in it and sure enough, it exhibited the same 4G intermittent behavior. Well, Im glad it's not my phone but the tech could only say that "They are working on it"....." 

As far as stalling,  it does outright stall, rather than slow down.  If you use the app "Speed Test" by speedtest,net, you'll see it stall, and completely drop out and change servers in the middle of a test or network fail all together. 

This really is a pain in the neck...  and shouldnt take so long to fix."

[Ranmaniac]

We should all gang up and do this as well...  from multiple locations...  Maybe they'll get the hint

http://forums.att.com/t5/Network-Coverage/Report-Network-Issues-with-Mark-the-Spot/td-p/3038099

[javar2r3]

Same for me guys...I'm using a GSII Skyrocket; and am kind of relieved to know it isn't my device that's messed up. 

Now if ATT would just get off the fence and do something about it, because I've been experiencing these issues for about 2-3 weeks!

[jsmith11961]

mine doesent work either in Houston or the surrounding areas. i click something and takes about 3 minutes to load, and sometimes it doesnt even work. 

[toptalent]

WOW people this is really unacceptable. We are paying big bucks on long contracts just to use this cutting edge LTE and guess what, they don't care! Taking so long to fix such severe problems at the very early phase of the business, imagine what's going to happen when they have many customers and very crowded networks?

I say we gather up and go to their HQ or some big store in Houston with our phones and send them a message. We can probably ask for a month of data credit back or something.

[Ranmaniac]

Honestly,  I'm usually on wifi so if they'd just fix it, I'd be happy.  I have a feeling that they've only been made aware of it, very recently, because up until a week ago or so, the warranty center was trying to fix people's individual devices with no luck before it dawned on them that it was the network. 

Encouraging news this morning though...  I checked it when I arrived to work and outside in a courtyard area, I got a steady 10 mbps with no pauses or interuptions on 2 seprate speed tests which is par for that area.  We are a bit off the beaten path at work and I get 3 bars there.  I also get a steady 1.4 mbps in my office, indoors, which is also about what I've gotten in the past.  These were taken around 7:00 AM and I usually have wifi in both these areas so I'm not used to checking 4G at that time of the day.  Perhaps it's a peak hours issue...  Perhaps they fixed it.  I'll try again around lunch.

[medcenterguy]

I experienced very slow data rates until around 9:30pm last night then all of a sudden 20mb down, 10 up consistently on speedtest.net.  I woke up this morning and had the same results until around 7:30am.  Now, the speedtest times out and it takes forever to pull up web pages, etc in the medical center.  I didn't experence this issue until a couple of weeks ago...  I'm guessing it's a capacity issue either on the tower(s) (multiple areas in Houston have the same issue) or their backbone.  Regardless, can you imagine how bad it will be once an LTE iPhone launches at the end of the month?!?  I'm out of contract.... maybe I should switch!  

[jsmith11961]

I'm still experiencing the same issues, it started to work normal around 10pm last night, but now its really slow again. -_-

[Ranmaniac]

Yup...  I rechecked it again at 9:20 AM....  It's crapped out....

This is disheartning if it is indeed a bandwidth issue.  I dont believe that it gradually got worse as more phones were added though.  It seems like it started happening over a short period of time and that spells a technical issue, perhaps one that limited bandwidth...  Who's to say...  and I can guarantee that AT&T will never tell us.  I have a ways to go on my contract so my only saving grace will be that I have access to wifi most of the time.  I will however be demanding discounts.  This is unacceptable.  This sort of thing may even be able to be used as a breech of contract to avoid fees. 

I really would prefer a GSM phone because I travel to Europe from time to time though.   

[Ranmaniac]

Check this out...  So I try the "Chat" technical support...  Hoping to gain some perspective on the issue and ofcourse what I got was anti-perspective....  See the chat below...  especially the bit at the end about the SIM card.

The SIM card argument is weak.  If it were a sim card, I highly doubt that it would work intermittently but thats arguable but what really doesnt make sense is that if it were a SIM card, it would exhibit the same problem at all times, not good at 7:00 AM, coinciding with other people's reports from entirely different devices.  I think this onl;ine "Tech" was just looking for an out to a problem she couldnt solve.  

Alesia: Thank you for contacting AT&T Wireless Online Chat for Technical Support! I will be happy to assist you today!
Ranmaniac: So LTE in Houston is just a poor suggestion for a service at the moment. Have a read through this AT&T forum for multiple descriptions... http://forums.att.com/t5/Network-Coverage/LTE-in-Houston-unusable/m-p/3294119/highlight/false#M55468
Alesia : I will be happy to check and see if there are any issues in your area.  What is the physical address where the service issues are happening at?
Ranmaniac: The entire Houston area... but try... XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ranmaniac: But It's no good... anwhere in town that I've travelled
Ranmaniac: I've been to the service center to have my phone checked out and it was good... They were the first to tell me it was a network issue... I just want to know when it will be fixed
Alesia : Let me take a look into the area.
Ranmaniac: Any luck?
Alesia : Are you the only ones having this issue?
Ranmaniac: I'm not sure.. I havent asked anyone outside of Houston
Ranmaniac: Therte is a 2nd forum with what appears to be the same issue and those people havent all identified with living in the Houston area
Alesia : You stay in the best coverage area.
Ranmaniac: http://forums.att.com/t5/Android-Discussion-and-Support/No-LTE-Data-Connection-AT-amp-T-PTA-APN-issu...
Ranmaniac: Well, it used to be great
Ranmaniac: untill about 2-3 weeks ago
Alesia : I do not see any known outage in the area. Have you tried a different sim card? You can try a sim card at any at&t store for free.
Ranmaniac: Well.. when I went to the techs, they acknowledged a network problem and multiple people have came in with the same issue over multiple phones. Some have had their entire phones swapped out, more than onve... Some have had just their sim card swapped... with no luck. They removed my sim card and ran a test on it in another phone with the same results...
Ranmaniac: It also seems to be associated with peak times... As you can see on the forums... all is well during red-eye hours and it was good for me at 7:00 AM this morning but all goes bad around 7:30 - 8:00
Alesia : I am not seeing an issue in the area.
Ranmaniac: Well, your means of detecting problems are inadequate
Ranmaniac: Theres no way that this many people, including AT&T technicians can be wrong
Alesia : I am just providing information that I can see in the area.
Ranmaniac: If it were a slow down during peak times, it might be acceptable... But it simply cuts out causing constant timeouts
Alesia : As far as I can there is no outage you stay in the best coverage area according to three of coverage systems.
Alesia : According to my system you have an out dated sim card.
Ranmaniac: I would hope that the technician that had it in his hand was able to see that, exactly 2 days ago...
Ranmaniac: According to your system, what phone do I have?
Alesia : According to my system you have a samung note. correct me if I am wrong.
Ranmaniac: I do... So, you are telling me that I have a phone that was issued with a new Sim card, only a few months ago, which worked fine until 2-3 weeks ago, and was looked at by an AT&T tech, has an outdated sim card now?
Ranmaniac: When did this change happen? and why wasnt I notified?
Alesia : Yes that is correct the version is out dated according to my system like many customers.
Alesia : We do not notify customers about sim cards. That is why technical support let the customer know to advise them to try another sim card.
Ranmaniac: I'll go back to the service center... with a transcript of this conversation... and give it another try... but franklly... It sounds thin... Especially since the tech acknoldged to me personally that there was in fact a network issue and he personally extracted my sim card, looked at it, and inserted it into another phone...
Alesia : I wish I could show you what I am looking at on my end unfortunately You can not see it. But that is great that you are going to have them give you an undated sim card version.

[edited for privacy]

[medcenterguy]

I was given a brand new sim card by an AT&T store rep Friday and the issue remains. I'm at home right now and my data cuts in and out... And I'm at braeswood and kirby. I'm going to go back by the store and see if they have any new insight.

[medcenterguy]

The store was clueless even though they could reproduce the issue on their devices.  This is crazy!

[toptalent]

Also, do your phones heat up really fast when they struggle with LTE?

Mine does (HTC One X). My guess is that LTE uses lots of power, and the phone had to work constantly during the connection even though the data won't come through.

[Ranmaniac]

OK,  So I've just come from the store in Sugarland Square and they were well aware of the issue.  They were very nice & courteous but, unfortunately, had that "Sorry, there's nothing we can do about it" look on there faces...  rofl.  So I produce a transcript of the exchange above with Ms. Alesia and the store people now had that  "Yeah...  uhhhh....  we'll go ahead and try another sim card but I dont think thats the problem" look on their face...  LOL...  But, she courteously swapped out my sim card...  The new one did have a different appearance than my old one so I ratcheted up hope for a brief moment....  but alas...  to no avail...  the new SIM card didn't work and I feel that Alecia was probably just trying to get rid of me and wasted a whole buncha time & money in the process.

There was 1 silver lining...  While removing my case, the clerk, April, notices that a bit of the rubber on my Speck case was torn and says "If you bought that here, it's covered under warranty!!" and I says "I sure did..."  lol...  I I got an unintended new case...  so theres that...  lol

[Ranmaniac]

I'm not having any heating issues that I can detect

[labbecl]

Ok I am so happy to hear that there are others having this problem.  I bought (2) Samung Galaxy S3

s 3 weeks ago and I have had LTE connectivty issues with both of them.  IT says I have a perfect conncention on the phone but it connects very slowly or does not connect at all.  This is very frustrating.  I had the SIM card replaced (2) times already and finally replaced both of the phones since ATT in the store felt that it was a manufacturer defect on (2) phones.  Well that did not fix the problem.  ATT online opened up a CASE for me.  When I called them this morning, they told me the case has been closed.  They told it was closed beause it was resolved. Apparently ATT called others who were having the same issue and they reported their phones were corrected.  I told them mine was still not working right.  They had to open up a new case and I will be contacted tomorrow.  I cant believe this service.  The credited me my data plan for the month but the problem is still there. 

[jsmith11961]

they told me the same thing over the phone "that others were not having this issue and that coverage was good".

i went to the service center and they told me it was a network issue and not the phone or sim 

[labbecl]

It is going on 3 weeks now.  How can it be taking this long to correct?  And how come the issue is not being reported to the Reps so that they can give accurate information.  I cant wait to hear what they tell me tomorrow.  I am supposed to get a call back on my case tomorrow.  If they try to tell me to troubleshoot my phone one last time, im gonna scream.

[sgvalenti]

I too have been having problems for the past couple of weeks (Samsung Skyrocket). Very frustrating.

[sgvalenti]

FYI from a chat.. Thanks for waiting. Actually, my level 2 network department just told me that they had filed a network ticket in your area. The number is {personal content removed for safety}. Since we just filed this ticket today, we don't have a ETA yet, but normally, our network department is very responsive on ticket issue

[Ranmaniac]

Well..  Its 9M and Im getting 24mbps...  Maybe I should get some sort of night shift job..  LOL..

[jsmith11961]

yup... right now mine is working pretty fast but about 2 hours ago it was still timing out

[labbecl]

They told me the same thing as far as a ticket number and still been weeks.

[labbecl]

My LTE works great at the moment but only because its 10 pm. In the morning it will be gone again.

[labbecl]

My LTE worked great from 10pm til 730am. Now its at a stall again. Arghhhhhhh.

[medcenterguy]

If you do a twitter search for "ATT Houston" you will see numerous people complaining about this exact issue.  I'm fixing to buy a new phone... should I stick with AT&T?