Has Verizon's service suddenly degraded for you?

[The_Chief]

We live in the Middle Tennessee area, in a largely rural region between Nashville and Chattanooga. GSM service has historically been spotty and marginal at best; but Verizon always had commanding coverage with full bars and solid data everywhere.

In the last few months I've noticed a severe degradation in coverage: there are places in downtown Manchester (right along I-24) and on the highway between Manchester and Tullahoma (whiskey trail on the way to Lynchburg) that are now complete dead zones with zero bars and no data.

Thinking the SIM in my Z Fold 4 was worn (wouldn't be my first experience with that problem), I went to the Verizon corporate store in Tullahoma and told them about the problem. My SIM was dutifully replaced, but no one said anything about a change in coverage. The problem wasn't resolved, however - in fact, on the way home I got to a no-signal spot and looked at the Darling Bride's new S23 Ultra... no signal! This is not a device-specific issue.

When we arrived home, I got onto a chat at Verizon and went through three reps. While Agent 2 was a total loser who suggested that our lines may be in a low priority queue with the towers because of our older XL Plan and tried to upsell us a new 5G plan (in an area with virtually no 5G service), Agent 3 assured me that we're either connected or we aren't; and there are no turbo queues for customers with the latest & greatest plans. Agent 3 did, however, note that our devices showed "Fair" coverage outdoors and "Poor" coverage indoors. Agent 3 said that Verizon does move resources around based on demand... but our area can't build homes fast enough for the number of people trying to move here. If anything, Verizon should be moving more resources in here, not moving anything out!

What's your recent experience with Verizon coverage in your area? Have you noticed an increase in poor coverage spots and dead zones? Our coverage with Verizon has always been our only reason for paying their exorbitant rates. If they're no longer king of the airwaves, perhaps we need to try a MVNO and see if GSM coverage is improved.

 

[AugieTN]

Why don't you pickup a pay as you go AT&T or T-Mobile card and try one of them for a month on your eSIM?

 

[ocnbrze]

Could not be happier here in LA with Verizon. 5G is almost every where. But they're dead zones where most of not all carriers will not get reception due to it being in the hills and cantons.

 

[Clementine_3]

Verizon is the only carrier that works in my area. By works I mean you get a bad signal and are happy, right now I'm at -110 dBm. Ugh. I can make calls and data does work but yikes. It's worse in the summer when the trees are full of leaves, signal will drop driving down the street sometimes but it's mostly barely useable. They're buildings a new development at the end of my street, that doesn't bode well.
The whole issue is that I'm close to the airport so there are tower/height issues and my neighborhood is in a dip so no hope in site but the town keeps making promises...

(I voted unchanged but it's going to)

 

[olbriar]

Verizon is solid here and has the area covered better than other provider. I've not noticed any change in the service, good or bad.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Verizon is the only carrier that works in my area. By works I mean you get a bad signal and are happy, right now I'm at -110 dBm. Ugh. I can make calls and data does work but yikes. It's worse in the summer when the trees are full of leaves, signal will drop driving down the street sometimes but it's mostly barely useable. They're buildings a new development at the end of my street, that doesn't bode well.
The whole issue is that I'm close to the airport so there are tower/height issues and my neighborhood is in a dip so no hope in site but the town keeps making promises...

(I voted unchanged but it's going to)

Same here, how come in my own home I cannot talk with people, but in town, I can call up the entire universe? This really sucks, there is nothing around the farm what so ever to block any type of signal.

 

[olbriar]

My Version signal is in the dirt at my cabin. Stepping out onto the deck it is much improved. The signal is just weak but the cabin is in the middle of nowhere. I have no complaints. The service is good enough to receive calls and texts. Surfing isn't a priority while in escape mode.

 

[The_Chief]

I'm sitting outside on our front porch, roughly 4 miles from the interstate, and my signal strength is -100 dbm. Inside the house is -107. I told the Darling Bride today that if we're no longer getting any better service from Verizon than some GSM-based MVNO, there's no point paying for it.

As @AugieTN suggested, I'm tempted to get a test SIM card from one and try it for a month.

(But I will never, ever resort to T-Mobile. The way they screwed us in 2015, I'll go back to landline-only before giving those pukes another dime)

 

[Clementine_3]

Verizon's having a terrible awful very bad no good week or year lately. Activations aren't working, new customer/lines and porting is broken, leaving people with no service, service is abysmal and they are trying to kill off older plans by raising rates on them - $2 per line! Joke's on them in my case, their stupid rate hike is still less than a new inferior plan would be for my old family plan. I honestly hate them but they are my best choice for my peeps all over the country and cheaper/same rates as MVNOs.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Thanks for the heads up everyone... hmmm... More and more I know, better chance of getting one soonish.

 

[mikedt]

To answer the OP question.

Has Verizon's service suddenly degraded for you?​

Verizon's service has never been any good for me.

 

[Michael0999]

I have the same opinion. It was never good for me either.

 

[The_Chief]

It's clear from working with Verizon that resources have been moved out of our area. Service has dropped from "excellent" coverage to "fair" with some spots "poor". Yet our bill has never been reduced! No sense paying a full, premium price for half the coverage... so we've found an MVNO that can work with all providers' towers to find the best coverage for each customer. They have already FedEx'd the SIM cards and I look forward to Verizon's feeble attempts at damage control and salvaging our business. Pay for your own stadiums, VZW. We're out.

 

[Clementine_3]

Who are you switching to?

 

[olbriar]

I've seen no degradation of service coverage in my area. I pay dearly for the four lines I have with them. I'd drop them in a heartbeat if their service wasn't the best to be had here. I'm certainly paying a premium price for service and I expect it to be stellar.
I will say this, there is no verizon 5g in my area but so what.

 

[The_Chief]

You may want to check around because Verizon has shifted resources out of our area, and other providers have increased coverage here. We're moving to an MVNO that shares our values; guarantees the best coverage; we keep our devices and numbers; and our bill will go down 41% while service gets better.

 

[olbriar]

You may want to check around because Verizon has shifted resources out of our area, and other providers have increased coverage here. We're moving to an MVNO that shares our values; guarantees the best coverage; we keep our devices and numbers; and our bill will go down 41% while service gets better.

I have no desire to make a change though I'm over paying. If I saw a decrease in service, I'd definitely be shopping. My plan has certainly increased through the years and most notably the last couple of years. My service hasn't improved but it's been stellar and continues to be the best in my area.

 

[The_Chief]

I'm very glad to hear that @olbriar my friend. I hope it continues to be stellar for you!

 

[AugieTN]

Well there are only 3 carriers, T-mobile and Verizon are out, so it must be AT&T you will be testing.

 

[The_Chief]

It's an MVNO that has access to all the towers, and will send us SIMs to match the best coverage in our area. If that changes or turns out to not be the case, they'll send us SIMs until we find the best service possible.

 

[olbriar]

I hope the change is all positive for you Chief. Just curious, is that 40% savings long term or a timed incentive? With better service and substantial savings it certainly sounds like a win win deal to me.

 

[PitCarver]

We've been with Verizon for a lot of years now. My first Verizon device was actually a beeper/pager as I couldn't bring a cellphone into work with me. We've had great service with them through all this time. My oldest daughter has shopped around for cheaper phone service but always seems to have inferior service.

 

[olbriar]

If I recall correctly, my first mobile (Motorola brick) phone was with Cellular One. Whoever it was sold to Verizon within that first year. I've been with Verizon ever since. I have not shopped them but they haven't given me a reason. I have local friends that started their cell journey with a cheaper service but all migrated to Verizon over time. They are not cheap but they have the best coverage in my area.

 

[Clementine_3]

I started with Sprint, they were great until they weren't. Coverage around me tanked so I went to Verizon and as much as I hate them I've always had usable service. The kid traveled all over for school and work, went to some pretty isolated areas and only once had no service (WiFi and Google Voice to the rescue). I have too many lines all over to coordinate a switch and it's not worth it for me anyway, still get a decent (ha) price on my ancient plan. I'm always keeping my eye out though.

 

[AugieTN]

In the western Chicago suburbs AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all work fine. I've had all three. Verizon was the most expensive. I was paying $120 a month for a single phone on Verizon, but that was a while ago