Fizz EXT slowly working less every day this week... a downhill slope?

David G. 8208

Hi all...
I am in rural Ontario where there are both Rogers and Bell towers but the Rogers signal is very poor and the Bell signal is decent. One week ago when I arrived, the Rogers Fizz EXT connection worked with data/calls/texts. So did the Bell Fizz EXT connection, except LTE was flakey. 4G worked fine. Up until two days ago this was the state. No real problems except Bell LTE didn't work well, if at all. Yesterday, I could no longer get a data connection on the Bell tower but calls and SMS still worked. On the Rogers tower, all worked. That was up until a couple hours ago. Now I cannot get data on either Rogers or Bell Fizz EXT connections, but calls and SMS still work on both. I also can no longer connect to LTE on the Rogers tower. So it seems like it is slowly failing and going downhill each day this week. Is anyone else experiencing the same?
I have contact Fizz support multiple times who do nothing but tell me to reboot my phone, change network settings, etc... none of which helps. My wife's phone and Fizz connection does the same thing exactly. Meanwhile if I put a T-Mobile SIM that I have in the phone, it has no trouble connecting to any of the towers and working perfectly.
Family on Bell and Rogers who are also here also are having no problem. So obviously it is a Fizz issue. But getting support to do anything useful is impossible. Does anyone else have the same experiences this week, and if so, can you please contact support and post here as well? I am at my wits end...

Mike

You need to pass the first level customer service in order to have same good answer.
Try to force them to open a ticket, however, after that this is not a fast way to have an answer (usually couples of days)

David G. 8208

Thanks, I will keep pushing. What is frustrating about it is they should know from the network side that phones are having issues connecting to different towers / cell sites and it should be automated. Surely there are systems in place that should detect this sort of behaviour. Rather than arguing with customers who have issues. Of course I get that sometimes it is the customer's problem rather than a network issue, but in this case certainly it appears to be a network issue since my phone works fine on the same towers with a different SIM card and the exact same behaviour occurs on my wife's phone on Fizz.
This thread also indicates others having similar issues on Fizz EXT and in the USA, connecting data service: https://www.reddit.com/r/FizzMobile/comments/cevzv2/fizz_down_in_the_us/

Nick L. #7983

I came here to figure out why I wasn’t able to get LTE or any internet on 3G in downtown Toronto. Two weeks ago I was here too, and it worked no problem. I’m at a loss why it’s not working right now. Sounds like the same issue you’re having with Fizz EXT, just in a different location.

Allison W.

Several people have complained about problems with using their phones (data particularly) in the US this week too.

redhead

In the US, I would suggest to buy a local SIM either before leaving or on site.

Allison W.

At the time of year that many people go on vacation out of province (me included next month), I have to say that this is not very reassuring to hear. Bad enough when it was reports of problems in the US, but now other parts of Canada too? A bit daunting when we rely on my phone for gps directions, etc while on the road since my partner and kids have no data on their plans.

Fizzy

Hi David,

Try setting your network mode to 3G only (disable LTE) and reboot your phone. Does the signal work better now?

Also to be sure the issue is Fizz related, try switching your SIM card to another phone.
You can also try using one of your family SIM cards on your phone.

Please keep us updated. Thanks

David G. 8208

Fizzy, thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I have tried all these things and asked someone back in videotape territory to try forcing their phone to Bell tower as well. They see the same, no data on Bell. On Rogers towers it works. So we wonder if Bell has pulled the trigger on blocking roaming data from Videotron ahead of schedule. Whether 3G or LTE it doesn't make a difference. No data on the Bell towers, full service on Rogers towers, both 3G or LTE same behavior. Also it's not my phone or SIM as the same has happened with my phone, my wife's phone, and my friend's phone who I asked to check. So I think there is nothing we can do and it's probably between Bell and Videotron and their spat that is documented in CRTC filings recently... Unfortunately for all of us!

David G. 8208

Seems that after about 4:30pm data on Bell popped back on without any intervention on my part (was driving in Bell only area and had service, but no data, then it started working after not working for 3 or 4 days). Hooray, I guess!