7 Reasons You Have Bad Cell Reception (and How to Fix It)
Why is My Signal so Low?
Dropped signals have a way of showing up to interrupt life during the least opportune moments. Nine times out of ten, something is coming between your cell phone and the cell tower that’s broadcasting its signal. We’ve identified the top 7 reasons why your cell phone loses signal, none of which are a match for a cell phone signal booster.
Take advantage of our system design and installation services. Learn more or call us for a free consultation: 1-800-969-8189.
#1: Building Materials
Steel, concrete, and even Low-E glass can obstruct cell signals and leave your phone disconnected or running painfully slow. The list of building materials interfering with cell signals is long and includes just about everything it takes to keep a roof overhead. While metal may block out signals completely, materials like drywall might just weaken your reception.
Truth is, if you’re indoors, there are plenty of potential signal-blocking culprits.
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PRO TIP: Try moving toward a window or door, or take a walk outside to see if your signal improves. If so, your building is likely to blame for your dropped calls and weak signal. Fortunately, a cell phone signal booster makes it easy to amplify your signal in any home, office, or building.
#2: Geography
Much like the many man-made structures that can interfere with cell reception, Mother Nature’s creations also make cell signals go bad.
While mountains and hills make for lovely views, they are potential signal killers, especially in the lush valleys at their feet. If your phone loses signal in rocky terrain, there’s a good chance your nearest cell phone tower is on the opposite side of the peak. Even trees are known to cripple cell signals.
PRO TIP: It’s not so easy getting around natural obstructions. While you can cut down trees if on your property, moving hills and mountains out of the way is a little more difficult. A cell phone booster can help strengthen the weakened signal and deliver it stronger wherever needed. You don’t have to go out of your way to remove natural barriers or change locations.
#3: Inclement Weather
Snow days slow down every aspect of life, and poor cell service is no different. Because cell phones utilize electromagnetic waves, weather can easily interfere with their reception. Meteorological anomalies don’t have to be particularly severe to cause phones to lose signal either. Everything from thunder, lightning, and rain to humidity and clouds can affect cell phone signal strength.
It’s not just your run-of-the-mill rainy day that interferes either: add cosmic events to that list, too. In rare cases, solar flares have been known to produce shock waves that disrupt the Earth’s magnetic fields, and mess with your cell signal.
PRO TIP: Weather conditions are out of your control. Regardless, a signal booster can help improve the degraded signal. Before, during, and after inclement weather strikes, you’ll continuously enjoy smooth, reliable talk, text, and data.
#4: Heavy Cellular Traffic
Cell phone towers do have a maximum capacity, and when that number is reached, excess calls are redirected. This means that areas where more people are accessing the network at the same time are likely to get clogged. Like cars on the road, each cell phone tower can only handle so much traffic at once. Thus, signals may crawl slowly along or stop altogether in complete gridlock.
PRO TIP: Your data plan and carrier determine your priority over the network. Users with higher, more expensive plans have greater priority than those with lower ones. Similarly, users subscribed to the big three – AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon – have greater priority than those subscribed to MVNO providers such as Mint Mobile, Straight Talk, Boost Mobile, and more.
For a more consistent connection, consider switching plans or carriers. A signal amplifier can also help by strengthening the connection between your closest tower and cellular devices. A more solid connection ensures better reception even during heavy cell traffic.
#5: Distance from Cell Tower
All traffic aside, if you expect to receive any signal at all, you must be within range of your carrier's closest cell tower. Distance from a cell tower directly impacts the strength of the signal you receive. The further away you are, the worse your signal reception.
PRO TIP: Unless you physically move out of those dead zones and closer to the nearest cell phone tower, the best solution is a cell signal repeater. They’re equipped with powerful cellular antennas designed to communicate with distant cell towers.
#6 Low Battery
While many bad cell signal culprits are beyond our control, there is one small controllable action that can help stretch your connection. That is to simply keep your phone charged.
Bad signals drain batteries while they search… and search… and search. Low batteries don’t allow your phone to function at its optimal performance. It’s a vicious cycle.
PRO TIP: Keep a charger or portable battery pack handy.
#7: Blocked Antenna
While small, all cellular-enabled devices use antennas. Because cell phone antennas no longer stick straight up, yours can be more difficult to locate. Once you do, it’s important to ensure that you’re not blocking it when in use. This will degrade the signal your device receives.
PRO TIP: Cell signal may instantly improve by removing your phone case. Some cases block out cell signals, especially metal ones.
Best Way to Get Better Cell Reception in Your Home, Office, or Vehicle
A study conducted by the Pew Research Center confirms it: access to the digital world improves lives. But it’s only as helpful as your signal allows. Avoiding the plethora of cell phone signal busters is a delicate dance, but easily evaded with a cell phone signal booster.
Cell phone signal boosters capture existing 5G/4G/LTE signals, amplify them up to 32 times, and broadcast them straight to your cellular devices. Talk, text, and data will run smoother than ever.
Our wide selection of cell phone signal boosters makes it easy to equip your vehicle, home, or office with fast, uninterrupted cell service. With options for small houses, large offices, cars, boats, RVs, and more, you won’t have to make excuses for poor cell phone service ever again. Turnkey installation services are even available with enterprise signal boosters.
Here are our top cell booster recommendations:
Most Powerful Home and Office Signal Booster
Cel-Fi by Nextivity GO X
Best for:
- Large homes and offices
- Weak signal environments
- Boosting one carrier at a time
Designed to amplify one carrier at a time, the GO X is our most powerful signal booster. It can boost signal up to +100 dB, making it +30 dB or up to 1000x more powerful than multi-carrier boosters. Under perfect conditions, it offers up to 15,000 sq ft of coverage. It’s perfect for large homes as well as weak signal areas. With the Cel-Fi WAVE app, you can choose which carrier to boost and monitor performance.
Most Popular Professionally Installed Signal Booster for Homes
weBoost Installed Home Complete
Best for:
- Large homes and offices with strong outside signal needing total coverage
- Mid-size homes and offices with weak outside signal needing total or multiple room coverage
- Boosting multiple carriers at the same time
- Those who want a professional installation
While not as powerful as the GO X, the Installed Home Complete is amongst our top sellers. With up to +72 dB gain and up to 7,500 sq ft of coverage, it’s capable of covering an entire home with reliable cell reception for all devices across any carrier. Unlike most boosters, the Installed Home Complete features a professional installation for any residential building. Optimal antenna placement for best performance is guaranteed. If you’d rather install the booster yourself, check out the Do-It-Yourself version.
Best Signal Booster for Small to Medium Homes
SureCall Fusion4Home
Best For:
- Mid-size homes and offices with strong outside signal needing total coverage
- Small homes and offices with weak outside signal needing spot coverage
- Those who want a versatile, scalable booster with strong upgrade options
- Boosting multiple carriers at the same time
The Fusion4Home is our most popular self-install booster for small to medium homes. Like the Installed Home Complete, it has a max gain of +72 dB. That’s about +7 dB more than other units in its class. Depending on your signal environment, the Fusion4Home can cover up to 4,000 sq ft with crisp signal. SureCall’s unique SureIQ technology really maximizes performance. With multiple antenna confutations, it fits any setting. Omni antenna kits are best for those with strong outside signal, while Yagi antenna kits are best for those with weak outside signal.
Best Multi-Carrier Vehicle Signal Booster
weBoost Drive Reach
Best for:
- Any vehicle type
- Urban and rural driving
- Boosting multiple carriers at a time
- Delivering strong cell signal to multiple devices at the same time
The Drive Reach is the most powerful multi-carrier vehicle booster available. It features +50 dB gain and 2x more uplink than other boosters in its class. This allows farther reach to towers and great signal amplification. It’ll keep all cellular devices across any carrier connected relatively everywhere. You can easily install it on a car, SUV, overlander, truck, or boat.
Extremely Reliable Cradle Vehicle Signal Booster
SureCall N-Range 2.0
Best for:
- Cars, SUVs, and trucks
- Urban and rural driving
- Boosting a single device from any carrier
- Reliable hands-free navigation
The N-Range 2.0 is an affordable vehicle booster for a single device. Device must be placed in the adjustable cradle to receive boosted signal. It’ll hold Androids, iPhones, and cellular hotspots from any carrier. With up to +23 dB gain and Extended Range Technology, it provides the most reliable communication possible between your phone and the cell tower. Easy to install, you’ll begin receiving boosted signal in no time.
Best Enterprise Signal Booster
Cel-Fi QUATRA 4000
Best for:
- Large buildings like hospitals, schools, retail stores, and more
- Whole building coverage
- Long cable run installations
- Boosting up to 4 carriers with top-of-the-line amplification power
The QUATRA 4000 is the most advanced multi-band cellular signal booster available for businesses. It’s a scalable, all-digital, hybrid DAS signal booster system capable of covering up to 200,000 sq ft. With up to +100dB, it’s more than +30 dB or up to 1000x more powerful than other enterprise boosters. It’ll blanket an entire large enterprise building with strong cell signals from up to four carriers.
Contact Us to Fix your Bad Cell Signal ASAP!
Signal Boosters is a leading provider of cell phone signal boosters, cellular routers, and accessories. We’re here to assist with any questions you may have. Contact us today via phone (1-800-470-6777) or email (sales@signalboosters.com).
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