ATT&T Cell Service Suddenly Has Changed?! (Lecompton, Hope: house, neighborhood)

[AttaGirl42]

I'm wondering if anyone else has suddenly began having signal problems with their ATT&T phones? I live in Lecompton, Kansas and in the past 3 weeks, I've begun dropping every call I get, I have no bars and then sometimes no service, and friends tell me they call alot and yet I don't get any calls or voicemails until I go out onto my deck, then I get these tones telling me I have voicemail. I have not changed anything in my home and have had good service here for the past 4 years with Cingular then ATT&T. I gave up my landline about 3 years ago so it's frustrating a little frightening to not have phone service. I have health problems and take my phone to bed with me so I can reach it if need be. Now, I can't call anyone in my home. So heaven help me if I have a heart attack in bed or anywhere else in the house, because I will have to make myself go outside to call for help.

[athfo]

Maybe it's your phone. Have you tried calling AT&T? That would be the next step.

[drjones96]

+1

My previous phone started having issues and my contract was nearing it's end so I just waited it out and got a new phone. New phone has no reception issues that previous phone did.

[KevK]

Look at your phone and see if you have the newer GSM phone (you will see a SIM card in it) or the older TDMA phone. I am a field technician and ATT has for many years ran a "triple service" of cellular service. They ran AMPS (analogue) service which was the first service from the 80s which they finally shut off last year. They ran TDMA which is still up in some places but they are in the process of shutting down that service and soon they will be exclusively GSM (Global System Mobile) throughout the network. So you must have a GSM phone.
If you have a GSM phone and you used to get 4 or 5 bars and now you are getting nothing, your phone has a problem. Borrow another ATT GSM phone and hold it side by side and this will verfiy that your phone has a problem. Often times what happens is that the phone's antenna will malfunction and- they way the phone works- is that it automatically adjust its power according to the signal it gets from the tower it is locked on to and as that signal gets weaker as you go away from it, the phone increases its power until it locks on to the next tower. Have you noticed excessive battery drain recently? If the antenna malfunctions, it will "fool" the phone into thinking it is getting a weak signal all the time and run at full power with no bars. Another thing is to make sure the phone is set for "dual mode". If you have doubts, go back and do a "reset to factory" on it. Hope this helps.

[AttaGirl42]

Thanks for the replies, but it is not my phone. All of my neighbors are having the same problem and it all started at the same time. I have an LG Incite and I did get it brand new, about 2 weeks ago and it is the same. I have to go outside. I know it is not all of our different types of phones suddenly dying. I have since gotten someone from ATT&T store to tell me that he's hearing alot of complaints all of a sudden about the same thing. So, they've changed something or etc. I'm in the middle of great coverage area and also the 3G coverage. I took my previous phone to a friend's house in another town and it got full bars. So, Thanks for trying to help. I apprecate it.

[drjones96]

I used to have issues when I lived in Fort Worth. Standing in my house I would get NO bars. Walk outside and would maybe get 1-2 bars if we were lucky. Drive about a half mile to the west to the nearest major street and we'd get full bars. Only thing I could figure was that the cell towers must have been 'thin' in my general area. It was crazy...we'd make the turn into our neighborhood and imediately drop the call we were on.

[ittybitty27]

Hey AttaGirl42...

I live in Los Angeles,CA and in the places I used to have full 3G covereage now only have GSM or worse. And when, I'm not receiving all incoming calls...and it 2 out of 3 times I dial out, I get the "Call Failed!" display and that annoying beeping. I thought it was my phone (BlackBerry Bold), but my friends in Los Angeles and San Francisco with iphones (the older generation) are having the same problems. Its absolutely driving me nuts. How can I have full 3G in the exact same spot for 2 years and then suddenly have nothing there for the past 3 months? I'm gonna switch carriers

[TinaMcG]

Kev, thanks for those great tips!

AttaGirl, I've had problems with AT&T service for the past month or so. I can hear people but they can't hear me, which makes the phone virtually useless unless I just use it to tell time! Mine is an ancient Samsung flip phone that I really need to replace. I figured it was the phone having a problem, and then I got a call from our vet last week and voila! She couild hear me and I could hear her. So I don't know what the problem was...or is.

[MikeT1]

if a lot of people are suddenly experiencing the same issue, i'd have to think it was a problem at the tower since it doesn't appear to be a software issue in the phone. at&t should be able to confirm this.

[tlcat42]

We're having the same problems here in Arkansas! at&t plans to give us $100 off our next bill but it does not help the fact we can't carry on a conversation(got dropped rtalking to att&t) and she told my wife later that it gave a "no longer a working number" message after it dropped me. It's att&t service and they better figure it out or they are going to loose alot of customers! Maybe they are overloaded and can't handle all the phones!