I spend a lot of time outdoors hiking and biking. Since 2019, I have noticed a serious stagnation -- and possibly degradation -- of phone reception. Used to be, I could send a text and call someone on even 1 bar of EDGE. Now I basically need >2 bars of LTE to do anything -- less than that and my phone isn't usable.
Maybe I need to pick up a 5G device. I am still using an LTE phone from 2016, so there could be some bands I'm missing out on. But my partner's much more recent phone has even more issues.
On my first iPhone, I could get train information on my phone with a 1 bar EDGE connection in a few seconds. Totally impossible in 2022, you indeed need a relatively decent LTE connection. I suspect this has to do with increased congestion on the cell towers.
Maybe I need to pick up a 5G device. I am still using an LTE phone from 2016, so there could be some bands I'm missing out on. But my partner's much more recent phone has even more issues.