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newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,127
3,030
East of Eden
I wonder if the carrier settings update is to force the phone to use only one band (e.g. to stay on band 13 only and not to switch to band 4 or band 2). For those of you that have phones that have been fixed by the software upgrades, what bands are your phones using?

I haven't followed which bands the cell radio is on.

Have they had that many? There was one or two out with an iOS update or two, but that's about it based on what I recall.

I think so. Going by possibly weak memory, I think I recall 25, 25.somethihng, 26 and 26.1 within the last month or so. I wouldn't swear to that, though.
 

mhollandnyc

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2014
25
6
To everyone saying it's not a hardware issue I literally had two wildly different performing iPhone 7 plus models in relation to signal strength and could never get them to align. One was always weaker than the other, regardless of power cycling or software.
 

4451

macrumors newbie
Jul 6, 2015
25
6
Yes, and many other reports on this thread suggest a hardware issue too. Can only report on my experience as described above. The volume on this thread has slowed way down too which suggests this is solved for many.
 

jkozlow3

macrumors 6502a
Jul 16, 2008
973
658
To everyone saying it's not a hardware issue I literally had two wildly different performing iPhone 7 plus models in relation to signal strength and could never get them to align. One was always weaker than the other, regardless of power cycling or software.

It's entirely possible that you had a truly defective phone - a small percentage of brand new iPhones are defective right out of the box every year.

Many of us replaced our phones at the peak of the problem (in the first few weeks after the iPhone 7 launch) and saw no improvement whatsoever. My wife's iP7 phone and my iP7 both exhibited the same problems. Replacing them did nothing. Then somehow the problems seemed to mostly go away. I haven't seen a signal dropout for a couple of weeks now. I kind of feel that Verizon was silently tweaking their network (i.e. updating software on towers), as no single software/carrier update seemed to bring an instant fix. The problem just kind of faded gradually with fewer and fewer occurrences over time.
 

DCIFRTHS

macrumors 65816
Jan 25, 2008
1,192
588
To everyone saying it's not a hardware issue I literally had two wildly different performing iPhone 7 plus models in relation to signal strength and could never get them to align. One was always weaker than the other, regardless of power cycling or software.

Both Verizon (Qualcomm) phones?
 

JoeyD74

macrumors 6502
Oct 31, 2014
396
214
There is a handoff issue from Volte to the network as it goes in and out of good areas. I shut it off when in buildings and in other poor reception areas to avoid it, it's not fixed that's for sure.
 

jim29411

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2016
82
56
Have all the reception problems been resolved? Is everyone now happy with their iPhone 7/7+? What about new iphone 7s within the past week? Can I get a new iPhone 7/7+ from the Apple Store and not have to worry about reception problems?
 
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jkozlow3

macrumors 6502a
Jul 16, 2008
973
658
Have all the reception problems been resolved? Is everyone now happy with their iPhone 7/7+? What about new iphone 7s within the past week? Can I get a new iPhone 7/7+ from the Apple Store and not have to worry about reception problems?

Depends on who you ask. For most of us, the problem seems to have pretty much gone away and that's why this thread has slowed WAY down over the past several weeks. I don't know that the problem is 100% fixed (maybe 98%), but it has definitely gotten better over time.
 
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newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,127
3,030
East of Eden
Depends on who you ask. For most of us, the problem seems to have pretty much gone away and that's why this thread has slowed WAY down over the past several weeks. I don't know that the problem is 100% fixed (maybe 98%), but it has definitely gotten better over time.

I agree. When I compared my daughter-in-law's 6S a week or two ago my 7 actually got better reception, as long as it had any signal at all. (The 7 showed "no signal" when the 6S was receiving 1X, but in real life that isn't really very useful, nor does it seem to be common at all.)
 

JoeyD74

macrumors 6502
Oct 31, 2014
396
214
I had to shut off my wifi calling as well, the phone can't go from wifi to cell. Not sure if it is suppose to or not though. The reception issue when on Volte is still crap when it goes out of an area and I'm not talking rural mountain areas.
 

jag812

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2016
7
0
Albuquerque, NM
My T-Mobile phones have gotten much better with the iOS updates. My wife's iPhone was having major issues with the GPS functionality and throwing the Maps app into a frenzy. This also has been fixed with the iOS updates, albeit we are also on the beta program. As a side note, these are still my original iPhones from launch, and I have 4 of them.
 

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,095
8,630
Any place but here or there....
So far, my wifi / LTE reception on my 7+ has been fantastic. Vastly superior to my 6s. 3-4 dots at home (I was lucky if I consistently got 2 with the 6s and during my commute was showing 4 dots except when we passed from NYC into Long Island, but it picked up again a few minutes later.

Looking forward to seeing improved reception in my building for both; but if not, I'll chalk that up to my building because reception has always been spotty in the building and my room regardless of carrier or wifi vs. LTE.
 

GeauxBears

macrumors newbie
Dec 10, 2016
13
6

For some reason my picture won't upload from my phone so I'll post it when I get back to a computer.

The problem is not resolved. I have a side-by-side comparison for any doubters. YMMV of course, but this is my 3rd 7 Plus device. This only happens in areas of low LTE signal.

Toggling to airplane mode and immediately disabling it pushes the phone back to LTE.

I'm headed to Apple to figure out how to unwind my AUP in favor of a 6S Plus.

Sad day for Apple. Don't care whether it's VZW or Apple's fault, but I'm hard pressed to believe the problem is VZW's considering the 6S works and the 7 doesn't. Clearly a hardware issue that they are desperately trying to ignore by tweaking carrier settings. The bottom line is the radio can't hold the signal.
 
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jim29411

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2016
82
56
For some reason my picture won't upload from my phone so I'll post it when I get back to a computer.

The problem is not resolved. I have a side-by-side comparison for any doubters. YMMV of course, but this is my 3rd 7 Plus device. This only happens in areas of low LTE signal.

Toggling to airplane mode and immediately disabling it pushes the phone back to LTE.

I'm headed to Apple to figure out how to unwind my AUP in favor of a 6S Plus.

Sad day for Apple. Don't care whether it's VZW or Apple's fault, but I'm hard pressed to believe the problem is VZW's considering the 6S works and the 7 doesn't. Clearly a hardware issue that they are desperately trying to ignore by tweaking carrier settings. The bottom line is the radio can't hold the signal.
[doublepost=1481473688][/doublepost]Why do you believe that it is a Verizon problem rather than an Apple hardware problem. I don't understand your rationale.
 

GeauxBears

macrumors newbie
Dec 10, 2016
13
6
[doublepost=1481473688][/doublepost]Why do you believe that it is a Verizon problem rather than an Apple hardware problem. I don't understand your rationale.

I don't. I said I believe it's an Apple hardware problem.

What could possibly change from a carrier perspective between a 6S and 7 that would cause call drops and signal issues of this magnitude after so many attempts to resolve from a software perspective?
[doublepost=1481479549][/doublepost]
I don't. I said I believe it's an Apple hardware problem.

What could possibly change from a carrier perspective between a 6S and 7 that would cause call drops and signal issues of this magnitude after so many attempts to resolve from a software perspective?

Attached is the comparison picture I referenced a few threads up. My 7 Plus on the left (sorry for the white background where the 3G is, making it hard to see) and my wife's 6 on the right. This scenario existed until I enabled and disabled Airplane Mode, which "reset" the modem back to LTE functionality.
IMG_0202.jpg
 
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GeauxBears

macrumors newbie
Dec 10, 2016
13
6
How many times have you swapped the phone? What do you see as the next option?

As mentioned somewhere above, this is my 3rd 7 Plus under Apple's AUP program. Next step is I am making an appointment to figure out how to unwind myself from the 7 Plus and back to a 6S Plus.

Really sucks.
 
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dckhouse

macrumors newbie
Dec 11, 2016
6
12
I have been dealing with all these issues with a vzw iphone 7 since 9/16/16. I tried to work with VZW for a new replacement device and they sent me a scratched device that was older than my problem device. So I sent that back and started dealing with apple directly. They promised to send a "new" device but the device that I received had fingerprints on it which could not be a new device; also came in a white box. Some D#bag at customer relations David Wright claimed it is normal to have fingerprints and claimed the device was new even though it may have been worked on. Call or email this d*bag if you like to hear used car salesman mentality. This guy will not last long. He is with apple customer relations.

Thank you for speaking with me today. If you have any questions, my phone number is 877-388-0879 ex. 1101051 and my normal office hours are Monday - Friday 1:30 - 10:30pm CST.

If I’m unavailable when you call, please leave me a voicemail or send me an email. I’ll follow up no later than my next day in the office.

Best regards,
David Wright
Apple

My not new replacement from apple at home with lte reads -102 db. Verizon claims cell tower is .75 miles from house. No change if I go outside. When traveling phone changes between lte, 3g and 1x. If it stays on lte signal decreases in well covered areas to -120 db. Airplane mode togle improves signal strength but speed test on VZW lte is less than 2mbs in advanced lte area. All 3 iphone 7's that i have had acted the same. Original device was week 36, scratched replacement from VZW week 35 and week 40 "not new" device from apple. I don't know what to do from here. I previously had an iphone 6 VZW which had better signal strength everywhere. Apple customer care claims this is a known issue which they are working on 12/10/16. When asked for an ETA they clam up and give no known resolution. Clearly in this case a hardware issue that has not been improved by carrier updates and ios updates.
 
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JoeyD74

macrumors 6502
Oct 31, 2014
396
214
I'm back to toggling the airplane mode just to get to emails and the internet. It will just stall out trying to load an email or web site. This is not constant but enough it's aggravating.
I hate swapping my phone out as it's very time consuming and text messages don't seem to just swap over.
 

GeauxBears

macrumors newbie
Dec 10, 2016
13
6
I have been dealing with all these issues with a vzw iphone 7 since 9/16/16. I tried to work with VZW for a new replacement device and they sent me a scratched device that was older than my problem device. So I sent that back and started dealing with apple directly. They promised to send a "new" device but the device that I received had fingerprints on it which could not be a new device; also came in a white box. Some D#bag at customer relations David Wright claimed it is normal to have fingerprints and claimed the device was new even though it may have been worked on. Call or email this d*bag if you like to hear used car salesman mentality. This guy will not last long. He is with apple customer relations.

Thank you for speaking with me today. If you have any questions, my phone number is 877-388-0879 ex. 1101051 and my normal office hours are Monday - Friday 1:30 - 10:30pm CST.

If I’m unavailable when you call, please leave me a voicemail or send me an email. I’ll follow up no later than my next day in the office.

Best regards,
David Wright
Apple

My not new replacement from apple at home with lte reads -102 db. Verizon claims cell tower is .75 miles from house. No change if I go outside. When traveling phone changes between lte, 3g and 1x. If it stays on lte signal decreases in well covered areas to -120 db. Airplane mode togle improves signal strength but speed test on VZW lte is less than 2mbs in advanced lte area. All 3 iphone 7's that i have had acted the same. Original device was week 36, scratched replacement from VZW week 35 and week 40 "not new" device from apple. I don't know what to do from here. I previously had an iphone 6 VZW which had better signal strength everywhere. Apple customer care claims this is a known issue which they are working on 12/10/16. When asked for an ETA they clam up and give no known resolution. Clearly in this case a hardware issue that has not been improved by carrier updates and ios updates.

So you are saying Apple has confirmed to you as of 12/10 that this is still an open issue? That's positive from my perspective...I was worried they would just drop the mic and walk off stage after 10.0.3.
 

dckhouse

macrumors newbie
Dec 11, 2016
6
12
So you are saying Apple has confirmed to you as of 12/10 that this is still an open issue? That's positive from my perspective...I was worried they would just drop the mic and walk off stage after 10.0.3.
yes this is what the advisor said
JonathanAlright thank you for letting us know about this $%^, just so you know we were notified about this situation happening with some iPhone 7 devices, so as of right now Apple is currently investigating the situation and as soon as we get a resolution we will be informing our customers.

JonathanAs I previously mentioned this is a known situation, so we’re working along with phone carriers to determine what the issue is.

If their advisors admit to it call this guy to get further resolution
Thank you for speaking with me today. If you have any questions, my phone number is 877-388-0879 ex. 1101051 and my normal office hours are Monday - Friday 1:30 - 10:30pm CST.

Best regards,
David Wright
Apple
 
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Maarked

macrumors member
Mar 6, 2011
75
31
Right there with you guys, it's several times a week for my iPhone 7 and my 7plus that we have to cycle airplane mode to data back. Since the 10.0.3 update it has only masked the issue by reporting LTE even though it isn't working. Although I've had 4 replacements, I'm going to go to apple and get new phones... sure it won't help. So pissed at apple.
 
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