Forum Discussion
Went from 3 bars to 1 after upgrade
I upgraded to the Iphone 12 almost two years ago. Since then I had 3 bars in my house across all devices. Now as of September 2022 after "upgrades" to towers I now have 0 bars in my house across all devices. Turn phones off an on again, updating software does not work. I look at the online coverage map it says I should have 4G. I contacted customer support they said their was a service lock on my phones and transferred me to technical assistance. The person I talked to says they show no service in my area. This is unconscionable. How can my family go from 3 bars to none after T-mobile network upgrades to towers as of September? How can T-mobile show bright pink coverage for my address and yet no service according to your tech support? Is T-mobile forcing phone upgrades if they want signal. What has happened and what am I paying for?!!
I'd recommend finding somewhere to call 611 or use the TMobile app to find out what is going on. Make sure you have a ticket filed.
Have you tried setting the network to LTE/3G/2G in your phone settings (effectively disabling 5G?) It might be the 5G just isn't reaching your home well enough.
Have the same problem just two years later.
What did you upgrade to? Not all cellular modems are as good as others. As an example, the Intel models Apple has used in some devices are some of, if not the worst cellular modems in the smartphone business outside of devices sold on North Korea.
Sometimes software updates do adjust the radio in your device. That isn't always for the best depending on your situation. With area upgrades, sometimes towers are reduced in their output for the safety of those working on the sites. There might also be a new source of interference in your neighborhood. There are so many reasons and variables to why reception in a location can change.
Yes there can be a multitude of variables. In my case after multiple support calls to T-Mobile including a tower technical case and Apple support for our phones (13 pro and 13 mini, no issues and current), the bottom line is in our area T-mobile through multiple tower maintenance upgrades has deemphasized 4G LTE in favor of 5G. The result is in our home, 4.5 miles between two T-Mobile towers, we went from 2 bars of reliable calling and texting to 0 bars, SOS, or an unreliable 1 bar if we're lucky. At our distance 5G is not available within our home. T-Mobile's solution at our home was to offer a hot-spot that, in their words, requires a land internet connection which we don't have or want. They can't use our T-Mobile Home Internet - which btw is not a good as pre tower upgrades.
Since we also have seen less reliable coverage at other geographic locations in our rural area, interference isn’t the cause at our home.
As a loyal long time T-mobile customer we're left with the decision to stay with the current less than marginal service at home relying entirely on wifi calling, try third party signal boosters, or change to another carrier. Yes I've tested another carrier via dual e-sims on both our phones and we get reliable cell service with the other carrier within our home.
Trust me I know a good deal about troubleshooting complex problems after a 3 decade career in IT and have tried everything suggested by T-Mobile and Apple Support and other sources.
If you're close to a tower, T-Mobile is fantastic. In the marginal areas not so much.
