Forum Discussion

mr__ed's avatar
mr__ed
Explorer
Sep 10, 2020

Verizon cell signal lost at night

I’m having a curious situation with my cell phone that often occurs late at night. I’ve had Verizon for years, and it’s always been great. Lately I find that if I need to make a call later at night the call doesn’t go through and I get a message that “cell service not available”. The phone shows a strong signal (5 Bars). I needed to make an emergency call about 12:30 AM and couldn’t . This has never happened before to my knowledge. I’d prefer not to change providers, but if this continues I may need to. I’m wondering if any of you have had a similar experience?

I plan on contacting Verizon, but decided to post this thread first. In a late night emergency, the phone could prove useless.
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    Did you check with any friends/neighbors who have Verizon to see if they have a similar problem?
    It could be something with your particular phone?

    It's probably best to contact VERIZON. Apparently there are several things that can cause your problem.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Sep 10, 2020
    I would ask how strong the signal is. If you have an Android there is an app (Network signal info) that gives a much more precise measurement than 1-2-3-4-5 bars.

    There are some differences in how radio signals travel (Propagate) between day and night. If you are "on the ragged edge" this might be enough to matter

    Yesterday I went and did the electronic paperwork for my new residence since this motor home is totaled.... When I got back my T-Mobile was not working.

    Had to Reboot it . And then 4 Bars (Strong signal).
  • p220sigman's avatar
    p220sigman
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    If your phone is older, you might experience weird actions. I find that I have to restart my phone more often now that it is older. It will start dropping calls or having calls not go through. I can restart and it works fine after that for a while and then happens again. Seems to be about every three weeks or so right now.
  • Tyler0215's avatar
    Tyler0215
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    Cell phones are weird. I have 4 bars in the front of my house. 20 feet down the hall: nothing. Call Verizon. they will probably say they can't explain it.
  • RayJayco's avatar
    RayJayco
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    Some may laugh, however,...reboot your phone...
    It needs that once a week, like sweeping out your house. YMMV
  • jcpainter's avatar
    jcpainter
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    Have you tried putting your phone in "Airplane" mode for a few minutes? This causes renegotiation with the towers and sometimes produces good results.
  • mr__ed's avatar
    mr__ed
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    gbopp wrote:
    Did you check with any friends/neighbors who have Verizon to see if they have a similar problem?
    It could be something with your particular phone?

    It's probably best to contact VERIZON. Apparently there are several things that can cause your problem.


    That's a good suggestion, but I'm living in a long-term hotel at this time and not too familiar with the neighbors.
  • mr__ed's avatar
    mr__ed
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    Thanks for the good suggestions friends. I'll try out those suggestions when necessary. Problem is, in a real emergency, following through takes precious time.

    Why don't I use the land line phone in my room? Because It isn't readily accessible and I'm handicapped and use a wheelchair. The phone has been put in an inaccessible place and disconnected so I'm not bothered by calls when I'm sleeping. I mainly rely on my cell phone, which has always been reliable until now.
  • coolmom42's avatar
    coolmom42
    Explorer II
    Sep 10, 2020
    Are you operating off your Verizon signal, or (possibly inadvertently) off of a wifi signal? To check, turn off the wifi on your phone. If you are using a wifi signal off of a router, the router may be shutting you down.

    Otherwise, do a hard power down on the phone, leave it off a few minutes, and restart. You may be in need of a system update that is waiting for a restart.

    Also see if this varies with location. Inside, outside, far enough away to run off of a different tower... all those variables.

    And, make sure you are not set to global service vs LTE.
  • mr__ed's avatar
    mr__ed
    Explorer
    Sep 10, 2020
    wa8yxm wrote:
    I would ask how strong the signal is. If you have an Android there is an app (Network signal info) that gives a much more precise measurement than 1-2-3-4-5 bars.

    There are some differences in how radio signals travel (Propagate) between day and night. If you are "on the ragged edge" this might be enough to matter

    Yesterday I went and did the electronic paperwork for my new residence since this motor home is totaled.... When I got back my T-Mobile was not working.

    Had to Reboot it . And then 4 Bars (Strong signal).


    Thanks for the suggestion, wa8yxm. I just installed the app and it's working fine. It shows a max strength signal at this time, but could change late at night. At least I can check it now.

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