Russia Verizon Cell Site Location

[Fish Report]

The following is an email Fish Report received on August 4th from Russia resident Mary Jo High...

Hi Craig –

As you may already know, our village is somewhat a dead zone with several wireless phone carriers. We currently have AT&T equipment on top of the water tower for voice and data. However, Verizon is a carrier that has a lot of subscribers in the area and our cell signal strength in the village is frankly, terrible.

I am trying to get Verizon Wireless to consider Russia for a cell site location, or at the very least, to increase the signal quality in the area. I have made network real estate inquiries on their site in regards to installing their equipment on any agreed upon village-owned property, with the water tower being the most economical site for Verizon. However, it will be quite an uphill battle to do alone. In chatting with a customer service specialist, she mentioned that there has been several customer service tickets in regards to the signal strength in Russia in the last month and said these tickets help Verizon engineers determine the areas that need improvement. And that is why I am coming to you…

With all of your followers on the Fish Report, you would be able to get the word out much more effectively than I can, and perhaps even better than we could on the village website. I am asking for the help of those working or residing in the community and the surrounding area who would like to see a better cell phone signal from Verizon to help “make some noise” so we can be heard. For those who would like to help, please call the Verizon customer service number 1-800-922-0204 or go to www.verizonwireless.com, click the “contact” link in the upper right corner, & then choose the “Live Chat” feature located toward the bottom of the webpage. Let Verizon know that the reception in this area is poor and of any instances of dropped calls or other signs of low reception. We have a better chance of being heard and getting results if they realize there are a large number of customers not satisfied with their service.

I certainly would appreciate it if you could get the word out on the Fish Report. I will continue to communicate with Verizon in an effort to get better coverage in the Russia area. But I really think getting those who live in the area involved will only help get their attention. Thanks Craig.

Mary Jo High

[gaerkej]

Thank you for contacting the Verizon Wireless Chat Team. One of our skilled Chat Representatives will be with you in a moment.
Hello, my name is Courtney. I’m happy to assist you with your question regarding your account.

How can I help you today?
Courtney: Hello, how are you today?
Visitor: Hello Courtney. I am OK. But I do have a problem.
Courtney: Oh no, what is going on?
Visitor: Courtney, the Russia, Ohio area (zip 45363) has HORRIBLE coverage. I'm thinking of switching. My entire family is on Verizon, but AT&T gets much better coverage b/c they have a antenna on the village water tower. Need better coverage, can't get signal at my house half the time.
Courtney: Okay, I understand. What I can do is some troubleshooting and then I can get you the number to tech support. And then they can work something out with you to where they can come test your area and see if you need a network extender or not and figure out what the best option would be.
Courtney: I am sorry to hear that you are not receiving the best service where you are located.
Visitor: OK. Great.
Courtney: It is for all lines, correct?
Visitor: Yes. All lines.
Courtney: Great, are there any damages to the device?
Visitor: The devices all work.
Courtney: With no damage?
Visitor: with no damage
Courtney: Great, now are you experiencing any drop calls? Or cannot make calls or receive calls?
Visitor: Yes. Calls can at times get dropped from my house. At other times cannot make or recieve calls. And just this morning, couldn't even send a basic text !
Visitor: Had to wait to get a stronger signal and move outside my house.
Courtney: That is not good! How long have you been located at your address?
Visitor: It is a common complaint in the Russia, Ohio (zip 45363) area. Could be looking at a mass migration to AT&T , as they have great reception.
Courtney: Is this something that has been happening?
Courtney: I see, well hopefully this is something tech can get resolved for everyone.
Visitor: I've been at this address for 5 years. The only reason I went with verizon is that it seems like most others in our area are on it. The coverage map is accurate, but there are a lot of fluctuations from weather it seems.
Courtney: Yes, it does look like the area is 4G LTE covered. I am currently checking off boxes that I need to do on the account
Visitor: Also like to point out that the people of Russia OH are starting to mount an electronic revolt on our community board to express our dissatisifaction with the signal strength... so VZ might be getting a lot more calls and communications about the problem.
Visitor: OK.
Visitor: fishreportonline.proboards.com/thread/167/russia-verizon-cell-site-location
Courtney: Okay, I understand so far with this town this is the first I have heard. This may end up with a network tester coming out to test the area.
Visitor: OK. That would be great. If at all possible, I'd volunteer my address.
Courtney: We really want to get this resolved for your town. Now another question for troubleshooting, can you please turn your device off, take the battery out, back in, and turn the device back on.
Visitor: OK, doing now.
Courtney: Great, thanks when it is back on let me know how the service looks.
Visitor: It indicatings entering and then leaving and then entering service area. 1 bar. For comparison, my work cell has 1 bar as well.
Courtney: Okay, thank you working on a few other things with troubleshooting.
Visitor: Sure. ANything else to help?
Courtney: Currently at this time, no. May I get your name please.
Visitor: Jason Gaerke
Visitor: When do you think I will hear a response, one way or another? I am presently evaluating a new family cell phone plan, so all options are on the table.
Courtney: Thank you, I will get you the number to our tech support. But because you are a member of the account they may need to talk to an owner or a manager, you may needed to get added as a manager. However, you can certainly try talking to them first.
Courtney: The number is 800-922-0204. Then to get to tech you will want to hit 3 in the options.

[gaerkej]

I called Verizon tech support.

Verizon NETWORK (not individual) Ticket # is 793 3799. ANYONE WITH VERIZON IN THE AREA FEEL FREE TO REFER TO THIS NETWORK TICKET at 800-922-00204 or 611 on a Verizon phone. Very clear from tech support that the squeaky wheel gets the grease in this case.

Call if you are having problems, especially dropped calls.

[mrose]

Can Sprint be added to this also? We have terrible service here too. If we just go to Versailles, we get great coverage there but here in town, anyone else with sprint here in town?

[Jack]

I've been calling Verizon for 10 years about the dead area that starts South of Ft. Loramie at Mason Road and extends through Newport. They've been out on numerous occasions to check the signal in the area, but the report always comes back as "weak signal" and that is where it always ended. Last year, we complained enough to get a free "in house" booster from them, which is awesome in the area around our house, but it doesn't solve the problem for anyone else.
We should be getting a strong signal from the tower that is just East of Minster, which is 4.4 miles from me, without any major obstacles in the way. (a tower should be able to reach as far as 20 miles) Apparently this tower is a very low power type, as even most people in Fort Loramie have to move to the porch or similar to get a decent signal.
A new tower South of Newport should take care of both Russia and Newport, but in my opinion, Verizon doesn't care much about the small towns that aren't on an interstate highway.

[Mary Jo]

From what I have heard so far, Verizon apparently applied for a permit to lease space on one of the towers about a year ago and for some reason it has stalled. Whether the permit was denied, or Verizon decided not to pursue the site any further I don't know.

As an update, the mayor on behalf of the council and the village of Russia will be sending out a certified letter to Verizon requesting a cell site location today. For anyone who would want to write a letter as opposed to calling customer service or technical support can send their correspondence to: Attn: Correspondence Team, Verizon Wireless, P.O. Box 5029, Wallingford, CT 06492.

Community support would help a great deal by notifying Verizon about our lack of coverage/poor reception. Network extenders do help, but mostly for just a single residence since the reliability of the device in about 2000 sq ft. Unfortunately, it doesn't solve the issue of poor reception in the village as a whole. As Jason mentioned, you can call 800-922-0204 and select Option 3 if you choose to call Verizon about their service.