Cell Service Going Downhill: Need Help

We want to help shed some light on why you may be experiencing a drop in service, @JHilton. 

Many things can affect your wireless signal, some will surprise you! Learn about what can affect your wireless signal, and what you can do to improve it: 

Environmental Factors - Dead Zones

If there is one spot where you never get calls or text and everything works by moving 5 feet away, then this is known as a dead-zone. These are caused by the environment of your surroundings. Unfortunately dead-zones, in homes or offices, are beyond AT&T's control.

Solution: 

• Move away from dead-zone(s) in your home, near a window or area without electronics.
• Consider using Wi-Fi Calling.
• Know your surroundings. 

Treadmills and Stationary Bikes

Almost all electronics emit electromagnetic interference that not only disrupts your wireless signal, but your Wi-Fi signal. The bigger the device, like an elliptical, the more interference it produces.

Solution:

• Move away from the electronics.
• Check out what the FCC has to say.
• Unplug new electronics and test
• Time of day
• Sometimes, during peak times, AT&T may slow down speed to keep everyone connected. Also, if you see a drop in service, or slow speeds, at a specific time, this could indicate another issue, like equipment around you emitting interference. It could also mean something on your device is causing issues. 
• Check to see if any devices activate around the time you see service drops
  Restart your device
  Check out causes why your device may be slowing down

Phone Damage

Dropping your phone can damage the components inside. This can affect your calls, texts, and internet experience. Having a case is important and I recommend getting one. A drop can also dislodge the SIM card and permanently damage your phone. 

Solution: 

• Purchase a case.
• Replace your device with AT&T Device Protection.
• Secure the SIM card - Learn How!
• Reset the network - it syncs the phone with the towers.

Check out this forums article. It list many solutions for text, calling, and LTE connections on iPhone. 

Thanks for reaching out to our Community Forums! Let us know how this information helps. 

Sydne, AT&T Community Specialist

Hello Sydne @ATTHelp 

Thanks for reaching out. I just want to address some of your suggestions. 

Environmental Factors - Dead Zones

The examples of locations I have provided were just some of the most frustrating situations. I also have these same problems outside & while driving. I’m not in a rural area but I guess there could be dead zones. Not sure why my phones on my plan worked fine a couple years ago and now all of a sudden there is a dead zone. 

Treadmills and Stationary Bikes

I don’t own any treadmills or stationary bikes. I also haven’t bought any new electronic devices in the last couple years that would cause an interference. There hasn’t been any specific times when the calls drop. It’s almost like random times throughout the day when this occurs. I will look into the FCC.

Phone Damage

Both phones on my plan have not been dropped. They also have phones cases and screen protectors. 

I will try resetting the network on one of the iPhones to see if there’s any changes. 

Thanks for your response, @JHilton.

Please keep us updated on how the network reset goes. 

We also encourage you to utilize our Device Support Tool. If you sign in, it will give you the option to refresh your connection or run a complete diagnostic on your device. 

We look forward to helping you through this. 

Sydne, AT&T Community Specialist

AT&T cellular service has gone completely!! If you read @JHilton comments you would see that your ridiculous suggestions have nothing to do with service… I have a brand new phone, not dropped and if/when used in the same exact conditions… it should work the same… yet it does NOT. Something is going on with AT&T and you are not telling us what it is… instead you tell us to buy new phones… which is NOT the problem!