What are my chances of getting a free network extender from Verizon?

[assmunke]

So I signed up with Verizon under the pretense that their coverage map is accurate, and since my house is smack in the middle on a sea of red I figured I would be able to use my phone trouble free while at home. Well, I get anywhere from 1-2 bars 3G and 0-1 2G reception bars at any given time, plenty of dropped calls and audio dropouts when I'm talking on the phone and the internet is spotty at best. I came from T-Mobile, which was adequate everywhere else but let me use UMA through wifi for perfect service when I was at home. I think Verizon needs to subsidize a network extender for my home as I pay well over a hundred bucks a month for two phones, and I went with them specifically because the other providers coverage apparrently was more honest with their coverage map and showed my house as being in an iffy area. Love the Droid, I get flawless service everywhere else but I am pissed that I can't use my phone as intended where I live. Before you say it, I have updated my tower list via *228, and my wife's phone sucks too (Samsung rogue)

 

[CorvetteAustin24]

Are you able to steal one? :-D Jk.. I would call them up, explain your situation, if the first level of support is unable to help you, don't get frustrated, this is the worst way to go about having customer service continue to help you. Ask politely if there is a supervisor you could talk to regarding the issue, if they are unable to help you, ask one more time as I'm sure Verizon has a level 3 support. Unfortunately you are in the 30 day return policy, so they may opt you towards that option instead of wanting to spend money on you.

If they are unable to help you the first time you call, you could possibly go around your neighborhood and get signatures and numbers of people who live close to you and also have verizon and wish to have better service. Call them up again, and ask again for supervisors and explain your situation again. Let us know how it goes.

 

[lschicky]

what is the coverage like standing outside of your house? Sometimes it's a matter of the building materials in your house.

 

[assmunke]

what is the coverage like standing outside of your house? Sometimes it's a matter of the building materials in your house.

Marginally better, certain areas in the front yard will go back and forth between 1- 2 bars of voice coverage.I'm definitely between towers or something as the coverage is hit or miss within a few block radius of the house. Signal strength is always between 98-101 dBm

 

[Backnblack]

Never heard of anyone getting one for free.
Signal issues at home is a reason for the 30 day trial.

 

[hookbill]

Doesn't mean you shouldn't have them try and fix it for you. I started getting 1x about a week or so ago. I called and it took them a few days but they sent it to an engineer and they came out to my area. Apparently a problem with one of the towers.

 

[GaryMorrison]

Coverage

I have battled Verizon for 5 years about coverage. If I have my cell phone in the second floor of my house in my office, I can use it. It is useless elsewhere in the house for anything. If I drive around my neighborhood, I loose the connection completely--literally a dead zone.

After many calls, I was told to move to the other side of the freeway as the towers are pointing that direction. I live in a large metropolitan area in the "red."

My wife's AT&T Blackberry works fine.

Gary

 

[Vulcan1600]

I can tell you that they will laugh in your face if you demand a free Network Extender. As Black said the 30 day trial is set up for situations where if it doesn't work out for you, then you return it. If you're outside of that 30 days, you can do what I did, BUY ONE. Don't get me started on this everything should be handed to us topic.

 

[hookbill]

I have battled Verizon for 5 years about coverage. If I have my cell phone in the second floor of my house in my office, I can use it. It is useless elsewhere in the house for anything. If I drive around my neighborhood, I loose the connection completely--literally a dead zone.

After many calls, I was told to move to the other side of the freeway as the towers are pointing that direction. I live in a large metropolitan area in the "red."

My wife's AT&T Blackberry works fine.

Gary

You mean to tell me that for 5 years you've put up with no coverage? And your wife's AT&T phone works great but you don't switch? Well, if I were in that position I certainly would switch. I mean that's common sense, isn't it?

It's always nice to hear about how great AT&T's coverage is. We get so few of those stories over here.:icon_ devil:

 

[MNTNBKR]

I've heard of people getting discounts (like $100 off the price) on the network extenders, and I did have a discussion with one person on this board who got the extender for free. I personally paid $250 for the one that I had, and it turned out to be EXTREMELY unreliable, to the point that it was worse having it than not. Maybe I got a bad one, I'm not sure, but I sent it back and didn't ask for anther one.

Good luck!

 

[MNTNBKR]

I should also add, just in case you didn't hear, that verizon is apparently going to be enabling calling via Wi-Fi next month. It is yet to be determined how / if this will help people like us who have spotty (at best) coverage in their homes.

It's possible right now to make Wi-Fi calls using the Droid, but it isn't supported, and takes some serious setup. And it isn't as seamless as I'd like either.

 

[andrewdoane]

Man, I love this Droid, but if AT&T had better coverage in my area I would be all over an iPhone. The network is so much more important to me than the phone.

 

[Backnblack]

I should also add, just in case you didn't hear, that verizon is apparently going to be enabling calling via Wi-Fi next month. It is yet to be determined how / if this will help people like us who have spotty (at best) coverage in their homes.

It's possible right now to make Wi-Fi calls using the Droid, but it isn't supported, and takes some serious setup. And it isn't as seamless as I'd like either.

Link to Article?

 

[MNTNBKR]

I should also add, just in case you didn't hear, that verizon is apparently going to be enabling calling via Wi-Fi next month. It is yet to be determined how / if this will help people like us who have spotty (at best) coverage in their homes.

It's possible right now to make Wi-Fi calls using the Droid, but it isn't supported, and takes some serious setup. And it isn't as seamless as I'd like either.

Link to Article?

Sorry, I mis-spoke (er...mis-typed). I meant Skype calling...which, from what I've read, may work over Wi-Fi, but that's not guaranteed.

 

[assmunke]

I can tell you that they will laugh in your face if you demand a free Network Extender. As Black said the 30 day trial is set up for situations where if it doesn't work out for you, then you return it. If you're outside of that 30 days, you can do what I did, BUY ONE. Don't get me started on this everything should be handed to us topic.

While I am in agreement that Verizon has every right to follow business practices that ensure profitability, they are misrepresenting their product in my area. Why should I shell out 250 bucks to supplement their lapse in coverage? I think its garbage that I am basically forced to buy this equipment if I hope to use my phone to make calls (imagine that...) At least let me use my own WiFi router & UMA if I can't use the network I pay for every month, the fact that they lock that down and sell the extender is greedy in my book. Overall Verizon's network is great, but at least T-mobile was fairly honest about their lapses in coverage and gave you a good alternative.