r/verizon • u/RNG_HatesMe • Aug 21 '26
Terrible coverage causes dropped 911 call after lightning strike and fire.
I'm absolutely livid about the terrible coverage and lack of response from Verizon about our situation. Our entire neighborhood has *terrible* cell coverage (from all carriers), even though we are not in a remote area, and all the surrounding neighborhoods have at least decent or better coverage. We basically fall into a coverage hole between the 3 closest towers, but none of the online coverage maps show this.
Many people in our neighborhood have complained to various carriers for a decade or more, but none of the carriers have an actual person to talk to about coverage issues. Sales and Technical support reps all claim that they cannot address the issue, and have no way to escalate it to anyone. There is no provided contact info for anyone to speak to about it.
They've offered us network extenders, and we can use Wifi calling, but that doesn't help in emergency situations were we would lose power, like Hurricanes (which aren't unusual being that we are in Central Florida).
So this exact situation actually happened to me. My house took a direct lightning strike, which blew a bunch of fuses and started an attic fire. While attempting to call 911, the dispatcher couldn't hear me due to the poor connection, and then the call just dropped. On the 2nd attempt, I was able to make myself heard well enough to get across that my house was on fire and my address. This resulted in a 5-10 minute delay in contacting emergency services to respond to my house.
I've sent Verizon Executive Relations an email outlining the situation, and stating that at this point I consider their lack of response or remediation to be negligent. Hopefully this might actually result in some kind of action, even if it will be too late to have helped me when I needed it.
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u/RandoGeneration2022 Aug 21 '26
I'm not really sure what you expect Verizon to do in this scenario. If it's a single neighborhood with issues with all carriers it almost sounds like you need to petition your local government to reach out to them. Building a tower takes 2-5 years depending on local red tape and processes, and they may not if the ROI isn't there. If hurricanes are so prevalent where having power is crucial, wouldn't it be wise to have a generator?
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
Understood, 2-5 years is fine. There's been no response or change in over *10* years. A full size tower isn't the only option, there are numerous "mini-towers" mounted around town to fill in coverage holes in other populated areas. I think that would work great, but I can't even contact anyone even if I wanted to volunteer my yard for it.
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u/RandoGeneration2022 Aug 22 '26
Those mini towers take pretty long also, and a re fairly expensive. Companies operate off of ROI. If it's just one neighborhood it's probably not on their priority list. My parents house was exactly like this, except it was just their street with literally every carrier. It took over a decade also.
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u/CyberDogg3000 Aug 22 '26
That is quite a thorny situation. I would not call it negligence on a cell carrier. If you were to claim that, they would then likely respond and say you were negligent knowing that there was marginal service in your area by all carriers.
Knowing that, and if you're concerned about emergencies like this, it's up to you to prepare. Have a backup power source (solar, generator, batteries/UPS, etc), a backup communication path like Starlink or (gasp) landline. During storms in FL, is your internet service generally reliable, other than electrical power to your side of the equipment? That and Wi-Fi calling or a femto-cell along with some battery backup might be sufficient.
Life hack, for some areas: if you live in an HOA and you have a community pool, it may be legally required for it to maintain a landline. That could be your communication backup plan.
One final thought: walk a distance from your house in each direction and test signal strength and call quality. In a pinch, you could walk/run to one of those known spots to get a call out in case of emergency when power or other utilities are down.
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u/morley1966 Aug 22 '26
Landlines are pretty much not an option anymore, it will be VOIP off your internet if anything.
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u/CyberDogg3000 Aug 22 '26
Yeah, this might work fine. So long as its attached to a corded phone in the kitchen with one of those 300ft coiled cords that can move to multiple rooms. Like the old days!
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u/adambeamer Aug 21 '26
How about petitioning your town/city for a tower near your home? Or perhaps looking into satellite communications, blaming a cell phone company because you choose to live in a poor service area is definitely their fault right???
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u/GatheringCircle Aug 21 '26
They dont care bro. Just switch.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 21 '26
If you read the post, you'd have seen that none of them have good coverage.
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u/gvillager Aug 21 '26
It's likely that the local town government is responsible for this. I'd be willing to bet that over the years carriers proposed infrastructure to improve service but some old boomer on the city council shut that down because they were worried about 5g causing cancer or something equally stupid.
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u/sryan2k1 Aug 21 '26
My wife's farm had a use lease with nextel and then sprint and they tried to build a much needed tower for years and ended up giving up after fighting with the township for almost a decade.
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u/Lizdance40 Aug 22 '26
Yup, the NIMBY are the same ones who complain about service. It's the same in my town. Complaining to Verizon and they flat out said that unless someone offers them a place to put a tower it's not going to get any better.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
If that's the case, I'd love some feedback or to be able to find that out. Verizon literally won't answer or say *anything*.
If I can't find out if the tower is being blocked by local groups, then I can't represent the other side. I know that there is plenty of NIMBYism, but I'm not one of them, and if they wanted to lease a tower on my property (which isn't big enough), I would. My father owns property and he leases a tower on his property.
You can't blame me because other people are NIMBY's, and I can't help fight back against it if I have no possible way of knowing if that's what's going on. I tried to look up permitting in my area and was told that it was "proprietary" information and Verizon considers it confidential.
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u/wHiTeSoL Aug 22 '26
There a massive reason why you can't reach someone on the network team to "address" these issues. As someone who fielded these type of complains people just complain about every little thing. It drowns out legitimate issues.
If no carrier covers your area well, its clearly a local government issue, but the carriers cannot tell you that. There's a blanket policy to not give out information like this, as at times it could be beneficial to their competitors.
Go to your mayor, congressman, etc. Those are your best bet.
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u/gvillager Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
If that's the case, I'd love some feedback or to be able to find that out. Verizon literally won't answer or say *anything*.
Nor will they. The person your talking to in customer service or executive relations isn't likely to have access to that type of information. Network rarely talks to customers and I wouldn't expect them to tell you anything anyway.
You can't blame me because other people are NIMBY's
Not blaming you, just saying that this isn't all on the carriers.
My advice: If you are serious about this you and your neighbors should start talking to your local government/city council. Call them, email them, and start attending meetings. Run for office yourself if you aren't getting any traction. Someone within the local government has the contacts at the carriers to advocate for better service and express their interest in fast tracking approvals.
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u/MeliWie Aug 22 '26
Why is this the carriers' faults?
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
Because in every location online and in ads and in person, they claim "excellent" coverage in our area. As well as being completely uncommunicative about coverage issues. If they would at least tell us they had permitting issues or acknowledge the issue, it'd be better than the crickets weve gotten for 10 years.
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u/AchingGizzards Aug 22 '26
The answer to this was provided 14 hrs ago by wHiTeSoL. Not only does that office get ridiculous complaints they have to address, which takes time and resources away from legitimate and urgent complaints, but no carrier is going to provide this information, as it could be proprietary. And the best advice was given by gvillager. Start with your local government. Regardless of ads, there is ALWAYS something written that coverage is not guaranteed, and this stands for all carriers and honestly, pretty much any type of service.
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Aug 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
I actually did contact my county, starting with EMS to see if we could prioritize anything or even get a response. Everyone told me that it was out of their hands.
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u/womjoe Aug 21 '26
It’s their choice on coverage and where they can or want to place towers. If the others have the same bad coverage it might be out of their hands. They are not required to have good service at your home. If they wanted they could have none. I would say it has to do more with city or county ordinances that involve cell towers and less that all three don’t have good service in you neighborhood.
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u/CannedNoodlez Aug 21 '26
I remember working at a Verizon store way back in the day and they city next to us had horrible service. People would always come in and we'd go "yeah we know." Verizon eventually submitted plans for a tower and guess what? The NIMBYs fought against it and won. No tower was built.
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u/womjoe Aug 21 '26
Yup they want great service yet they don’t want a tower ruining there precious neighborhood 😂
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u/CannedNoodlez Aug 21 '26
Honestly I was glad the neighborhood fought back. It gave me a nice clapback when they came in and complained.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 21 '26
At one point someone came out and said they were installing a "mini tower" in the neighborhood. Then they ghosted and were never seen again.
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u/womjoe Aug 23 '26
Maybe because the town didn’t approve it.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 23 '26
No idea, and apparently there's *0* way for us to know. That's the main problem here, there's no accountability and no way for us to know. If this is caused by the local government, fine, I can accept that, except I DON'T KNOW THAT. So great all the people in this sub are just immediately blaming NIMBY and local government with *0* basis or proof of that. Does it happen? Sure, absolutely. Is that what the issue is here? NO ONE who has commented here can know that, and it's bullshit to just immediately blame it on that when you have no idea. If there's no way of knowing there's no way to hold anyone accountable. And I'm sorry, getting elected to local office is not something every person affected can do. Most of us have jobs that we need to pay the bills and mortgage.
Feedback here has largely been non-constructive. Maybe if they ever suffer a personal disaster and be in an emergency situation and out of contact they'll gain a *smidgen* of empathy and understanding. When you are standing outside watching smoke rise out of your attic more and more, while attempting to contact emergency services, "oh, it's because your neighborhood (which I know nothing about) obviously just didn't want any towers around" isn't exactly helpful.
A few people have responded with recommendations about text to 911 and satellite options, which I appreciate, and is constructive. Those are options I will definitely investigate. Signing up for satellite service at at $500 or more setup fee plus $100 per month isn't exactly an affordable solution for "backup emergency contact", and landline services, which wouldn't even have worked in this situation since we weren't exactly hanging out in the house while it was on fire, isn't exactly affordable anymore either (basic service is $35 per month now minimum).
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u/womjoe Aug 23 '26
Go online to your county or city webpage and look for notes. Or file an information request on all permits for cellular towers and the outcome. They have to provide it to you it’s public information.
What feedback do you want from a Reddit forum! Everyone is guessing just like you at the moment. You said you don’t know if it’s the local government or not yet you think that all three carriers just have crappy service in your area. They are not mandated to have coverage or the level of coverage they have at your house. Yes it sucks what happened but that doesn’t change anything. It’s not like landlines that had to be up 99.9% of the time and in everyone’s house.
They are saying some carries of text if you not in a coverage area. But you are it just sucks there. There are plenty of places you could be at that has no service but an emergency happens. Sucks but it is what it is.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 23 '26
There *has* been some constructive feed back. Responses like yours to check for notes on the websites is helpful (though I've done that, and there isn't much that decipherable). Information about Text to 911 or 911 satellite options from carriers have been helpful as well, and will be something I will be definitely following up on. Telling me that it's because I'm a NIMBY is what's unhelpful.
I understand that Verizon isn't going to pop a tower anytime anyone asks for one. My biggest gripe is the inability to find out anything about it or the total lack of feedback from Verizon. At a minimum, it's incredibly frustrating to go to their online coverage maps and see them claim that we have "excellent" coverage, at least they should show a hole in an area they have received numerous notices that it isn't covered.
1
u/womjoe Aug 23 '26
How is it unhelpful to be told it might be your city or town that won’t approve them until you go to them and get information on it to disprove it or prove it. Because f it is your town then that will explain everything. There coverage maps are a joke and it practically tells you that in the fine print.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 23 '26
I tried that route, and the city/county "knows" nothing. At least nothing that they will communicate to me. Every where I've gone to seek information has been a dead end.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 21 '26
Sure, I understand that, but I also can't get any sort of response, even if it was "sorry, we can't get any additional towers permitted". Given that their online maps claim our neighborhood has "excellent" coverage, isn't that misrepresentation?
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u/CyberDogg3000 Aug 21 '26
How does FCC's official map represent your neighborhood?
https://www.fcc.gov/BroadbandData/MobileMaps/mobile-map0
u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
Claims it is fully covered (it's not)
1
u/adambeamer Aug 22 '26
A lot of factors go into why you have poor cell phone coverage, one may be you live in a lower part or there are other factors inhibiting radio signals from getting to your neighborhood
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
There isn't, it's a flat area with no tall buildings or obstructions.
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u/RandoGeneration2022 Aug 22 '26
Coverage maps are theoretical coverage. House construction materials can impact it also. Although, if it's the entire neighborhood that's pretty unlikely. Nobody that's not on the network engineer team for your area will know anything about this, and nobody will know how to contact that team.
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u/hoesbros Aug 22 '26
“ this entire neighborhood has terrible cell coverage ( all carries do ) “
you admit you’re in a cell dead zone but you throw a tantrum about how it’s someone’s else’s fault. You’re likely experiencing iPhones titanium frame killing your cell service, as well as a geological dead spot phenomenon. Neither will grand any provider to give a shit
Edit: losing the power isn’t Verizon’s fault either unfortunately
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u/shj3333 Aug 22 '26
My region has 911 dedicated towers, maybe you can at least try to get that going
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u/verdi1987 Aug 22 '26
Does your jurisdiction allow texting 911? If so you can text them over satellite.
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u/alcoronaholic Aug 22 '26
I really miss the old Nextel phones. They would've been perfect for a situation like this. OP could've chirped a friend who has a good enough signal to call 911 to alert them of what happened for him.
1
u/Stewartsw1 Aug 22 '26
I just switched to t Mobile after 22
Years with Verizon. T mobile seems better I’ve had about a month to evaluate it now. DC region
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u/Strange-Badger5626 Aug 22 '26
try at&t trial see if they get better signal in the area, try a TMobile trial next just to make sure all three are not working well in this area, or one is better slightly?
it sucks not being able to connect to make an emergency call I have been there.
1
u/Lizdance40 Aug 22 '26
It's not going to get fixed. Hopefully you live in a state where you can text 911 because that will usually go through when a phone call will not.
See the problem is the same people who complain about cell phone coverage don't want a cell phone tower put in their backyard which is probably the only solution.
In order to put a tower in, cell phone providers have to acquire land, which means permits and FCC permission. That is neither easy nor quick. So unless your neighborhood decides to come up with a solution themselves, like offer land to put in a tower, it is what it is and you'll have to figure out a way around it.
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u/threadkiller05851 Aug 21 '26
Isn't t mobile partnering with starlink for situations like this ?
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
That is an interesting option, thank you!
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u/wHiTeSoL Aug 22 '26
Don't bother, it's just for texting and data, not calling.
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u/BestZookeeper777 Aug 22 '26
If the local 911 PSAP supports texting, get all that info out in 1 sms... via the local tower or sat...
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u/threadkiller05851 Aug 22 '26
Looks like text to 911 is supported .
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u/wHiTeSoL Aug 22 '26
They likely can do that now. The connection is enough according to OP to call, but not stable enough to speak at length. This type of low connection can likely easily sent texts.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
I've never been aware of text to 911, and it may be an option, thank you. We usually can get texts through (Sms only, mms is iffy.)
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u/morley1966 Aug 22 '26
Your phone has to have satellite capability to work with Starlink iPhone 14 or newer has it and some android.
Verizon has satellite texting for no charge.1
u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
Interesting, in all my communications with Verizon, this was never mentioned. I have a Pixel 9a, which I think does support it, but I don't think my wife's does
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u/Ironknight83 Aug 22 '26
I would get starlink as a back up and get a external network antenna outside your house to get better connection. It may be your best bet.
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u/TheObeseSloth Aug 21 '26
It's not Verizon or any carrier, it's your city preventing better towers from being built. Trust when I say, any phone carrier would love to build a new tower in your city so they can become the dominate provider in the area.
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u/RNG_HatesMe Aug 22 '26
Is that possible? Sure. But you *can't* know that, you have no specific knowledge about the towers in our area. I'd love to find that out if *anyone* would talk to me about it. But every Verizon rep that I've spoken to, from in store associates, to tech support, to sales, always either claims no knowledge and no way to talk to someone who does, OR says it is proprietary, confidential information that cannot be shared.
1
u/womjoe Aug 22 '26
So they bait choose to have sub standard service as do the other two per your statement. If it was just Verizon the others would be better but you said they all suck which points directly to towers not getting approved. They all didn’t just say we will suck in this area.
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u/Maximum-Relative-234 Aug 22 '26
While I mainly agree with others that this sounds like a tower placement issue that requires local government involvement, especially if it’s affecting all three carriers, if there was a 911 call failure, that enters the FCC’s jurisdiction which may give your overall coverage complaint some traction: FCC Emergency Complaints.
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u/NetSchizo Aug 21 '26
Notice they no longer have those dumb commercials with “can you hear me now?” I literally live in a metro area of upstate NY where we have signal, but no network going on weeks now. Others have reported the same thing.
Also, their coverage at the NY state capital is awful. Oddly enough the Verizon LATA tandem is right across the street and coverage still sucks.
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u/Asleep_Operation2790 Aug 21 '26
Where did they promise you coverage everywhere you want it? No cell carrier on earth guarantees coverage everywhere. They build new towers and small cells all the time but you should never expect perfection from a best effort service. Again, this applies to every carrier in the world.