Is anyone having an issue with a weaker LTE signal with their new iPhone models?

[imwjl]

The more I use the phone, the more I discount a lot of comments on radio performance. It might be v 12 of software or the new phone reporting things differently but in real use I'm not finding any problems.

Work has me in areas where WiFi and cellular coverage can be poor. I've not yet been with an associate using another phone working when mine has not. I'm guessing I'm a demanding user in the spectrum of what's out there. Sr IT admin in a place with 750 employees has me getting voice calls, using web apps, and using VoIP and video conferencing. I'm in a data center that is a challenge for all phones and WiFi. I'm around coolers and compressors that are a challenge for devices.

Nothing has made me think the phone has real problems except for the funky behavior with some 2 meter long non-Apple Lightening cables.

My advice to non-owners worried about the Intel vs Qualcomm news that has been out there is chill or wait for more reviews testing this modem against others. Even if something does have an edge, all I can sense going from 7 Plus to the Max is performance is generally better and same at worst.

 

[mogelijk]

Apparently Apple is reaching out to various users of the XS that are complaining about poor signal, to try and figure out what might be going wrong and attempt to solve the issue. I'm curious if Apple has talked to anyone here about their experience with LTE on the XS Max?

 

[Annie_M]

It might be worth [URL="https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html#mn_p]submitting feedback to Apple[/URL] if you haven't already!

 

[anon(1733)]

I ended up returning mine today. It will not stop dropping phone calls. Haven't had that problem in a long time. I'll try again down the road.

 

[lv1]

Apparently Apple is reaching out to various users of the XS that are complaining about poor signal, to try and figure out what might be going wrong and attempt to solve the issue. I'm curious if Apple has talked to anyone here about their experience with LTE on the XS Max?

Apple has been in contact with me about the issue. My WIFI falls back from 5GHZ to either 2.4 GHZ or to LTE in some parts of my house where I have not had problems in the past. Also sometimes I get loud crackling soumds on phone calls where the LTE signal seems to be very good. There are many complaints on the Apple forum and Apple has reached out to a number of people to diagnose the problem. Apple called me last weekend and asked me to install some diagnostic software.

 

[C6TX6]

"Bars" are useless...
I really miss having actual dBM displayed all the time. This feature was removed in iOS11.
You can still put your phone in field test mode to see actual signal levels but compared to having your real signal displayed where the signal bars are, it's a huge setback.

Probably done on purpose.

That said, coverage seems similar but if I were to guess LTE throughput doesn't seem as high but I haven't tried any real tests to prove it. Wifi throughput is better on the XS / XS Max vs. X, however.

 

[Tarah Sorber]

My max had horrible reception if it lost reception I would have to restart the phone to get it back. I would ask others if they had signal and they said yes.
Once I got the 12.1 update I’ve had no issues getting signal in places I didn’t have it before the update.

 

[torbach1]

My max had horrible reception if it lost reception I would have to restart the phone to get it back. I would ask others if they had signal and they said yes.
Once I got the 12.1 update I’ve had no issues getting signal in places I didn’t have it before the update.

I’ve got the same, even after the update to 12.1. I even had the phone replaced and the new one also seems to have the same issue. 12.1.1 came out today. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, I’ll switch back to Android reluctantly. I’ve tested signal against the OnePlus 6T carrying it with me all day. It doesn’t have these issues at all. Neither does my wife’s Galaxy S9.

 

[imwjl]

I’ve got the same, even after the update to 12.1. I even had the phone replaced and the new one also seems to have the same issue. 12.1.1 came out today. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, I’ll switch back to Android reluctantly. I’ve tested signal against the OnePlus 6T carrying it with me all day. It doesn’t have these issues at all. Neither does my wife’s Galaxy S9.

What carrier? My phone is Verizon and it's been great all over but no international travel yet.

 

[joemd60]

When at home, my 8 Plus is no bargain for signal strength on Verizon.
If my memory doesn’t fail me, it used to be a lot better.
I sometimes get complaints from certain people of the inferior call quality.

 

[torbach1]

What carrier? My phone is Verizon and it's been great all over but no international travel yet.

T-mobile

 

[imwjl]

T-mobile

That might be your problem.

We have 700+ employees, dozens of company owned devices, and the BYOD (bring your own device) trend has had more and more people interact with IT over using enterprise applications.

Starting with Android users who moved to fi and then a group of company phones over to US Cellular people who had reliable cellular phones lost it. One of the owners had an iPhone 7 that went from Verizon and then got a Max on US Cellular. He with some others got fed up and moved back to Verizon. Now they have reliable service again. Bars on the phone screen didn't really report issues the way they just had crappy service overall.

At a high level and across carriers I think these work fine overall. There are only a few of our hundreds of employees who do not use the HR system or Office 365 on their phones. At this point I see a lot of the use the late model phones. The all screen and camera make them stand out. I'm not believing a top tier product would be released with a liability such as all of then not having a core function that works well.

More and more I believe WiFi is a problem for users. There's fi, people who set their phones for WiFi calling, and in recent months the Spectrum (Charter) users are showing up. I provision absolute state of the art networks and it's still a challenge. Every day I see 90 - 400+ users using some of the WiFi networks. The Internet connection is symmetrical 250 Mbps fiber. The hardware is new state of the art Cisco gear. It is a must to have short leases and traffic shaping. For home users I often find they have crappy stuff that works better after a reboot. In my home office I feel the difference using the Internet before 6 AM vs peak times. Now we have more and more people relying on that for voice calls.

 

[TylerLV76]

That might be your problem.

So you think the issue is the carrier even though other devices work perfectly on the same carrier in the same area? Seriously?

T-Mobile isnt what it was years ago. Here T-Mobile destroys Verizon in coverage and speed.

The issue is the extra antenna and intel modem. People are having the problems across all major carriers including Verizon. The problem has been reported at large since launch and apple has reached out to many people to ask them to install diagnostic software in hopes of fixing the issue.

 

[bamf-hacker]

I now have an eSIM from AT&T and nano SIM from Verizon so I will be able to compare signal strength.

 

[torbach1]

That might be your problem.

We have 700+ employees, dozens of company owned devices, and the BYOD (bring your own device) trend has had more and more people interact with IT over using enterprise applications.

Starting with Android users who moved to fi and then a group of company phones over to US Cellular people who had reliable cellular phones lost it. One of the owners had an iPhone 7 that went from Verizon and then got a Max on US Cellular. He with some others got fed up and moved back to Verizon. Now they have reliable service again. Bars on the phone screen didn't really report issues the way they just had crappy service overall.

At a high level and across carriers I think these work fine overall. There are only a few of our hundreds of employees who do not use the HR system or Office 365 on their phones. At this point I see a lot of the use the late model phones. The all screen and camera make them stand out. I'm not believing a top tier product would be released with a liability such as all of then not having a core function that works well.

More and more I believe WiFi is a problem for users. There's fi, people who set their phones for WiFi calling, and in recent months the Spectrum (Charter) users are showing up. I provision absolute state of the art networks and it's still a challenge. Every day I see 90 - 400+ users using some of the WiFi networks. The Internet connection is symmetrical 250 Mbps fiber. The hardware is new state of the art Cisco gear. It is a must to have short leases and traffic shaping. For home users I often find they have crappy stuff that works better after a reboot. In my home office I feel the difference using the Internet before 6 AM vs peak times. Now we have more and more people relying on that for voice calls.

I hear you, but my issues mostly occur when I’m driving and on major highways where the signal is fine on Android phones tuned to use Band 12 on T-Mobile. I would be ok if it just disconnected the phone. But it’s not acceptable that the signal stays off until I reboot. I’ve heard from colleagues experiencing the same thing that turning cellular data off and back on again will have the same effect. But I’m driving at the time, usually on work meetings which don’t require screen sharing. So taking my eyes off the road, saying “I’m not driving” and then swiping down to do all this is not safe.

So far since 12.1.1, this hasn’t happened to me on the road yet, so I’m hopeful. But if it starts again, I’m going to be pretty unhappy with Apple, and may switch back to Android.

 

[imwjl]

I hear you, but my issues mostly occur when I’m driving and on major highways where the signal is fine on Android phones tuned to use Band 12 on T-Mobile. I would be ok if it just disconnected the phone. But it’s not acceptable that the signal stays off until I reboot. I’ve heard from colleagues experiencing the same thing that turning cellular data off and back on again will have the same effect. But I’m driving at the time, usually on work meetings which don’t require screen sharing. So taking my eyes off the road, saying “I’m not driving” and then swiping down to do all this is not safe.

So far since 12.1.1, this hasn’t happened to me on the road yet, so I’m hopeful. But if it starts again, I’m going to be pretty unhappy with Apple, and may switch back to Android.

That sounds like my boss’ problem with same phone with US Cellular and then it disappeared with Verizon.

I don’t know that much except there was a time when we (work project) had to work with carriers on the way AAA was working for the consoles in vehicles to keep working correctly. We eventually moved to Verizon but 3rd tier Sprint tech support were working with the roaming carriers in a specific area to make sure the dispatch and payment app + console in each vehicle would authenticate and roam better.

This also makes me think of a time when one of my kids used a MNVO and friend who used a MNVO that used Verizon and ultimately switched to Verizon. It was obvious there could be a difference.

I guess my test might be coming with an overseas trip where in the past I struggled between CDMA and GSM carriers and less so when that place had LTE but went back to problems where there was no LTE coverage.

Good luck. All I can say is my Max bought on pre-order day so first wave of owners has been great since Apple’s first software update. It can display the connection differently than the 7 Plus now used by my daughter but it works great.

My neighborhood bank branch is in the shadows of a US Cellular tower and I’ve always struggled to have service in the lobby - have to open LastPass locally. The Max keeps a connection when my iPhone 4, 5, 6, 6S Plus, and 7 Plus did not there, at a trailhead I frequent, and a basement data center.

Our executives in two metro areas who’ve bought XS models and the XR with Verizon all think they have the best phones and best service ever while employees with same phones on US Cellular think they have jinxed iPhones. There very well might be problems as you describe but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my pointing out the carrier can make a difference.

I would be frustrated if my phone were not reliable this far in but also frustrated to go back to Android because I rely on some Apple platform features and really value one particular Apple only app. Also iPad and Surface families have been better in our enterprise environment.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Are these new devices displaying a weak signal in the status bar or are they frequently dropping calls and/or connections?

 

[imwjl]

Are these new devices displaying a weak signal in the status bar or are they frequently dropping calls and/or connections?

My boss and I have same Max phone but different carriers.

His losing the network or not getting it back right away stopped moving back to Verizon. The company phones are Verizon or US Cellular.

My phone’s displaying the signal differently than the 7 Plus got better with the first 12.x software update. Actual call reliability has always been good. It seems like the “Gigabit LTE” has my new phone working better in some areas than past phones or other phones.

There might be issues but I don’t see much if anything said in some tech news I follow as an enterprise IT network manager. We use some Cisco enterprise platform products and at times that’s had bulletins or software updates about phone radios - something important for MDM and the WiFi. IOS 12 started problems with an order picking system we use. Careful analysis now shows it’s the app and not any device losing the connections. If something’s going on it sure is hard to see any difference in the way radios are associating and disassociating.

One for sure issue I’ve seen in troubleshooting cellular problems is sticky WiFi. Our delivery vehicles travel all over in a metro area. When I’m a passenger I can see my own phone see many hotspots. Users who are in a retailer’s hot spot plan or have home ISPs with that can have issues. It looks like the MNVO people’s phones are always looking for Google and Charter Spectrum WiFi sources.

 

[Tarah Sorber]

Ok so I thought mine was fixed with the 12.1 update. Guess not. I had lost signal at a restaurant. Figured I’d get signal once I left. Nope 2 hours later I was like man my phones been quiet. Yup it never regained signal and I get full bars in my house.

 

[TylerLV76]

Are these new devices displaying a weak signal in the status bar or are they frequently dropping calls and/or connections?

From the one I returned it would show signal but when trying to connect to anything online it said no internet connection.

The problem is when you get to a low signal area it tanks and has a hard time reconnecting.

The issue between carriers being discussed above is not the issue people are having with the phone. It happens regardless of carrier and only on the XS series. I switched the XS Max out for an XR which uses one less antenna and the same modem as the X and the problem does not exist.