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Service Quality and Signal are Worse Daily

  • 7 June 2022
  • 8 replies
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Hello,

   I’m part of a family plan that has had Cricket for 7 years now. The signal for calls, texts and internet has always been a little spotty but it was workable until a few months ago. Recently, every day the signal has been worse and worse, with internet pretty much ceasing during daylight hours and phone calls being dropped from previously reliable locations. I use this phone for to call people for my work and I’ve had to set up a chair far into my yard to get a signal because the phone no longer calls from inside my house. My mom had to drive ten miles away this morning before her internet came back.

   So, we called Cricket and we’re told our phone plan was old and not really being maintained anymore which might account for the poor signal issue that has developed. I wasn’t thrilled to hear this, considering we were never notified that this might occur, but okay, I understand. It is an old plan. So we signed up for an updated plan at 25% more cost. Since this morning, the service is even worse. I wandered up and down our road in various directions for half and hour to send one text message. I checked the 4lte and 5g map online (using a work device with a different carrier) and our area should be covered. It was covered previously and we could both call and get internet from inside the house. Now we’re traveling half a mile or a mile away to send a text, even with the newly upgraded package. I don’t understand why the signal strength has been declining so rapidly for months and now with a new plan for more money is has vanished altogether. Is anyone else having this problem? Is there something going on with towers that might impact coverage? Is there something I should be doing to improve the signal? I’d hate to have to go to another phone company because all our phones are locked in with Cricket.

   Thanks.

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Best answer by CricketSupport 8 June 2022, 03:47

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Hi @mbr60 and welcome to the Community Forum! We’re sorry to hear you’re experiencing service issues. We’d be happy to review the current coverage in your area. Please send us a private message and include the name on your account, your wireless number, and the complete address where you’re experiencing issues.

We’re here to help!😃

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We have experienced the same thing! We have called customer  support  and act like they can just reset stuff and it will start to work BUT it doesn’t !! They don’t have the tower power they used to! Wish they would Bc service sucks and attempting to function  with 1 bar is insane !!! 

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I have been having the same issues seems like it started when they was switching to a fast better "5g" which sucks.. I have a 4g lte Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and a Motorola One 5g and both use to get great service but as of late, one bar just isn't enough... I've called customer service serval times this month and they claim to reset the towers it seems to work better for a few hours then right back to crap... To the point of me looking for other services.. I've been with cricket now for going on 5 years... It sucks I don't want to leave but I need service... 

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Since about september 2022, I’ve noticed a decline in the workability of cellular data. 

At one point I could easily play videos and load maps simultaneously. When i drove for Lyft, there were occasional dead spots. But now its the opposite. I rarely have enough service to load a map. The Lyft app is unusable. 

I have an iphone xr. 

I called and they said they reset the service. i also did the update and the backup as Apple Care suggested.

I tried my sim card on another phone, also a Xr, but had the same issue. 

 

It’s looking more and more like I will have to change service.

 

 

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We've had cricket for about a year and a half. For the first year, it worked decent. Then it started to go steadily downhill. At first they told me they had a degraded antenna. But then they said it was fixed and I should be good. Instead it got worse and worse and conrinues to get worse every day. They tell me they reset the network and I should be good. When I tell them it isn't, all I get is "crickets". (no pun intended) 

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I don’t know how to cross-reference a different posting but I posted a very similar experience.  25% increase in plan back in Sept.  and things have gone worse and worse.

 
Under Settings → PHone → Sim I see the strength of my signal is -110dBm (or lower even). By any standard this is listed as “non functional” IT finally dawned on me that my phone only works for WIFI-calls. My wifi does not come from Cricket (OMG!)

IF you do the conversion this is 1000 to 10,000 times LESS POWER than what’s considered “good”  -80dBm.  
(There is no standard for the number of bars so it could mean anything.. like crickets are green)

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As of March 2023 the cricket service is not any better.  I drive for lyft and daily I struggle to remain connected to the Lyft app.  I am currently trying to find a carrier service that will work with the Lyft app.

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I have been in Private Messages with Cricket for over 30 days.  IT seems after some time period Cricket is instructed to close the case at which time  Cricket unilaterally and unceremoniously  declares they have done all they can do and close the case. You are freed to start another one. 

 Over a 30 day period, I repeatedly asked for a response to specific questions that identify my specific cell tower. The replies have always been vague references to repairs in my service area based on my billing address.  Support seems to not fully comprehend the “MOBILE” aspect of mobile phone.

In any case here are some links and resources that may prove useful to you and other Cricket users.

FCC’’s   consumer complaint site: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us


Federal Regulations Governing Cell Service (note neither Cricket nor FCC provided information about federal regulations when specifically asked)
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47

You might also call your congressional representative.
Mine was initially responsive then bumped me over to the local “Public Service Commissioner”
The PSC claimed this was not something they dealt with. (seems odd to me)

Most recently I was directed to consumer affairs and local attorney general.
The idea is as follows.

“The Service” I’m paying for is well defined. See the Federal Regulations. My household is supposed to be covered based on published maps and advertisements from Cricket
https://www.fcc.gov/BroadbandData/MobileMaps/mobile-map

However the  signal at my house consistently measures poor to unusable  on two different cell phones.
OpenSignal has a phone app that identifies towers and can run tests. I found then initially on an FCC site but they are not part of FCC.   Opensignal maps are referenced in FCC publications
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-188A8.pdf

 

I am paying for service that I”m not receiving.  THere are any number of solutions Cricket could offer  but the only response i’ve had is “we checked our towers” and “signal can vary”… That’s right once the trees turn green again I won’t be able to clearly see the tower I connect to on the hill 1.2miles across the cow pasture behind my house.

Tom

 

 

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