How to Boost Cell Phone Signal at Home For Free

You're not alone. Spotty cell phone reception and limited cell signal are common problems in the digital age. According to a Pew Research Study on mobile phone problems, 72% of Americans drop calls and 77% of them experience extremely slow internet speeds on a weekly basis.

With the growing number of smart-enabled devices and slow development of cell phone towers, mobile internet bottlenecking is the new traffic jam of the 21st century. This is why we have developed a thorough list of free and paid options to help improve your cell phone reception and coverage. Have a look!

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1. Find Out Which Part of the House Has the Best Reception

Do you know where your cell tower is located? If not, find out. The area of your house closest to the cell tower gets the best signal.

The best way to find cell phone signal strength is to look at decibel (dB) reading. The bars on your phone vary from one company to another. For example, what might be 2 bars on Verizon, may be 1 bar on AT&T and full bars on T-Mobile. Confusing yes?

There's no industry standard for bar readings. However, cell phone signals are radio frequencies that work in a certain range: -50 dB to -110 dB. -50 dB is great signal, full bars. -110 dB is basically a dead zone.

While you could use a dedicated signal meter for super-accurate results, any iPhone or Android phone can show dB readings just fine. To see how strong your signal is, use the following instructions to see dB reading if you own an iPhone:

Find your dB on an iPhone:

Walk around your house and look for the number closest to -50 dB. Once you do, you will have found the best area in your house for cell service.

2. Find Open Space

Cell signals are basically radio waves, the AM/FM kind. They're great for covering long distances, but they're terrible at penetration. Almost everything can affect cell signals. Here's a not-so-complete list:

All these and more can impede or block incoming cell signals. To avoid this, get near a window or balcony and be elevated. The second story of a home likely gets a better signal than the first floor, and basements tend to be even worse.

3. Avoid Tower Congestion

Ever noticed your cell phone starts crawling even slower in public places, especially at venues and crowded events? That's because cell towers are only able to hold a certain number of connections simultaneously.

If you're in a densely populated area you can also experience tower congestion. Look at the bars on your phone. One or two bars in a crowded area with LTE showing usually means that the network is too busy. Have you ever tried to make a phone call at one minute past twelve on New Year's Eve and not been able to get through? That’s a great example of network and tower congestion. To get around this you can disable LTE on your phone and go with plain 4G, which may be less congested.

4. Keep your battery fully charged

This is a bit of surprise, but it's true, especially with today's smartphone. It's not just a phone, but an internet device, music player, calendar, book reader, game player, etc. With so many resources and just a limited battery, your cell phone needs to use more battery to not only make a call but also find a signal.

So it's best to keep your phone fully charged and at least above 10%. After that, your phone may go into conservation mode and affect its performance.

5. Use WiFi Calling

While apps like Skype and WhatsApp have been doing internet calling for some time, the major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile) are embracing WiFi calling. iPhone and Android owners can go to settings, type “WiFi calling” and the option will show up right away.

Instead of using your cellular signal, when connected to Wi-fi, your smartphone will use it instead to make and receive calls.

6. Get A New Phone or Hotspot

Keeping up with the newest technology allows you to make the most of cell networks. If your phone is outdated, then it's likely that you will have bad signal

Other Ways To Boost Your Cell Signal

1. Get a Cellular Signal Booster

Cell phone signal boosters (also known as repeaters and extenders) are powerful devices that take an incoming weak signal, amplify it, and then rebroadcast the boosted signal to an area in need inside the house.

Booster options vary from cheap one-room repeaters to multi-story building coverage, although the most popular is a whole house booster like the weBoost Home MultiRoom. Most of them work on all phones and all carriers, although some are carrier specific. Cell amplifiers have gained in popularity the past few years as people without broadband internet depend on just their cell signal as their only means toconnect to the internet.

Cel-Fi GO X + Long Ranger Bundle

SureCall Fusion4Home

weBoost Installed Home Complete - 474445

2. Get a Femtocell & Microcell

A femtocell (also known as microcell) is like a mini cell tower in your home. They work by using your broadband landline internet and converting it into cell signals. While powerful and convenient, there are some drawbacks.

First, it's only carrier-specific, meaning an AT&T Femtocell will only work with AT&T phones and service. AT&T refers to theirs as Cell Booster and Verizon calls theirs Network Extender. So in order to make your investment worth it, try not to switch carriers. Femtocells can cost between $200 to $700 and need a monthly subscription fee on top of your internet and phone bill. You’ll also need an internet speed of at least 10 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload for it to work properly.

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3. Change Carriers

After you've done everything you could, it just may be time to switch carriers. With today's easily transferable phone numbers and competition paying for you to switch carriers, it just may be the right time to make the jump and possibly get a new phone in the process.

Does The *3370# Secret Code Boost Cell Phone Reception?

You may have seen a Tik Tok or heard rumors about a secret Android code that will boost signal. But does it?

We all love a good mystery. And so, when the “secret” code *3370# burst onto social media, people were understandably intrigued. The claims were that the code could access a secret battery reserve and boost cell signal. Now firstly, those two things are not the same. Sure, a fuller battery is better for cell signal than an empty one, but it won't improve it. Secondly, there is no such thing as a “secret battery reserve”. If there was don't you think phone companies would want us to know about it?

The truth is that many years ago certain old Nokia phones had the ability to switch to a different mode after the user punched in a “secret code”. The first mode sacrificed battery life for better voice quality, and the second sacrificed voice quality for more battery. The keys *3370# turned on the Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) mode which gave you a battery boost. No modern phones have the ability to do that.

Let Us Help You Get Better Signal

Signal Boosters is a leading provider of cell phone signal boosters for homes, vehicles, and commercial buildings. We specialize in consumer-friendly kits as well as customized RF systems for cellular, public safety two-way radio, DAS, and WiFi.

We’re here to help with any issues you might be experiencing with poor cell service. Contact us today, or call us at 1-800-470-6777.

Interested in Learning More? Check Out Our Cellular Info Hub / WiFi Info Hub