Forum Discussion
Good signal/bars but no or weak network connection
Dear T-Mobile Support,
I am writing to report a significant issue I've been experiencing with my T-Mobile service over the past few weeks. I am using an iPhone 14 Pro Max, and I have noticed that whenever I visit the area around Walmart and Sam's Club on Battlefield Blvd in Chesapeake, VA, as well as other stores in that vicinity, I encounter severe data connectivity problems.
Despite having a full 5G UW (Ultra Wideband) connection, the data service is almost nonexistent or incredibly slow to the point where it becomes unusable. This issue persists across different locations within that area, which suggests there might be a problem with the tower servicing that region.
Could you please investigate this matter? It seems like the tower in that area might need maintenance, or perhaps the capacity needs to be increased to handle the traffic more effectively. I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide some insight into what's going on and what steps T-Mobile is taking to resolve this issue.
Richard
Is there some sort of interference you are encountering potentially? We were last at that Sam's on August 3rd. Both of us have s23 Ultras. Mine from T-Mobile and one from Samsung directly. You might want to see if Apple has an app, like CellMapper, that can help you see what your signal strength actually is in relation to the towers in that area.
You can always reach out to T-Mobile Support by calling 611 from your T-Mobile line while over there to see if they can diagnose any specific issues as you are experiencing them.
I am actually familiar with that area. I have never had any issues with my s23 Ultra from T-Mobile over at that Sam's, where we go every couple of weeks.
Signal bars are not an accurate way to interpret your signal strength and network connectivity. There is no standard for how much or little a signal bar represents so it not only varies by device, but manufacturer as well.
Is your iPhone fully up to date? Have you tried a network reset on your device from within the settings? How old is your S? If it is more than 3 years old, you might want to have it replaced.
This is a brand new iPhone 14 that was replaced by Apple. Everything is updated to the latest iOS version. In all other areas, I'm getting at least 400 to 800 Mbps download speeds. However, in the area in question, out of 10 speed tests, only 2 were able to connect, and those had speeds of less than 1 Mbps. I confirmed this issue with my wife's phone (iPhone 13 Pro) as well-exact same problem. When I was there this morning, I had no data service until I left the area. This is the only area where I'm experiencing issues, so it seems to be a tower-related problem.
Is there some sort of interference you are encountering potentially? We were last at that Sam's on August 3rd. Both of us have s23 Ultras. Mine from T-Mobile and one from Samsung directly. You might want to see if Apple has an app, like CellMapper, that can help you see what your signal strength actually is in relation to the towers in that area.
You can always reach out to T-Mobile Support by calling 611 from your T-Mobile line while over there to see if they can diagnose any specific issues as you are experiencing them.
It's more than likely an Apple device issue. Do you know of anyone else have issues there with their devices not iPhones? When was the last time you updated the carrier files?
below is how to manual check you are up to date from Apple.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/109324
