Is My Mobile Network Operator to Blame for Poor Cell Signal?

Weak cell phone signal can be frustrating, and for households that depend on cell phones as their primary source of communication, it could even be a security or safety concern. But when you find yourself running around shouting “hello, hello, can you hear me?” trying to find the best spot to make a call, who can you blame for your frustrations?

By default, we tend to push the blame for bad cell reception onto the Network Provider. However, signal strength isn’t always in your mobile network operators control. In this blog we discuss what causes weak cell signal and what you and your network provider can do to resolve it.

What Are Some Causes for Weak Cellular Reception?

Weak cell reception can be a temporary issue or a plague that seems to hover around your residence. Some commons reasons for issues with cell signal can include:

• Being too far from a tower. Being too far from a tower can degrade your phone’s connection with it. The signal weakens over distance, and the farther it travels, the worse it is until it’s nonexistent. Poor signal can lead to weak connections and dropped calls.
• Landscape elements. If cell signal can be obstructed by concrete in the walls, it’s not surprising that a mountain, a valley, or even a grove of trees might cause a problem. If the landscape rises up substantially between your home and the nearest cell tower, then it may reduce how much signal actually reaches your devices.
• Materials that interfere with cell signal. Certain kinds of building materials can obstruct cell phone signal. Certain types of glass, metal, and even thick concrete can all disrupt cellular signal.
• Heavy traffic on the network. Each tower and the network associated with it can handle a certain amount of calls at a given time. If you’re in an area where a lot of people are using the same tower, signal can be distorted. That’s because your phone has to wait its turn before connecting.
• Certain types of weather conditions. Changes in weather conditions can change how cell signal moves through the air. Thunderstorms may seem like an obvious culprit, but even heavy humidity or a very cloudy or foggy day might reduce cell signal performance.
• A low or poorly performing cell phone battery. Your phone needs power to make connections, and if it’s running low on juice, it might have trouble maintaining a solid connection with signal of any kind.
• Actual problems with the network or cell service being provided. Some temporary problems are the carrier’s fault — or at least within their scope. If you’re having sudden issues with your cell service, a tower might be in disrepair or something else might be wrong with the network.

When Might It Be Your Carrier’s Fault?

If you’ve never experienced an issue with signal in your area and nothing’s changed — including your network, phone, or the building materials used in your home — a sudden change in cell signal could mean something’s up with your Mobile Network Operator.

There are other things that could be causing this, such as high levels of traffic to the network or extreme weather. However, giving your network operators customer service department a call, isn't a bad idea.

Let the Network Operator know what is happening so they can run any trouble-shooting processes they have. If they come across any issues with the tower or service, they can work on fixing them to help increase the performance of your cell signal.

What Can You Do to Improve Cell Performance in Your Home?

If your Mobile network operator can’t give you better cell signal once they fix a problem, then you may need to take action into your own hands. After all, your Network provider isn’t going to take on problems that aren’t their fault, such as mountains or the fact that your home is on the fringes of a tower’s reach in a rural area.

Here are a few tips to improve weak cell phone signal:

• Charge your battery and keep it at 25% or more. If you’re someone who finds themselves with a 10% or less phone battery on a regular basis, consider changing up your charging routine. Your phone may not have enough power on a regular basis to support a quality connection.
• Remove barriers that you do have control over. Some phone cases can block cell signal, especially if the signal is already weak. If you get better performance after removing your case, then you might try a slimmer case or one made of different material.
• Try various areas around and outside of your home. If either building materials or the landscape is an issue, then you may find better signal in another area. Stepping outside on your front porch could make calls clearer or using your phone from a second-story room could help you bypass the interference of a hill.

A Cell Signal Booster Is a Better Solution

Stepping outside every time you want to make a call can be frustrating. And while an organised person will usually keep their phone charged, life is busy, and you can’t always be concerned about whether you can charge your phone or not.

Instead of trying to put a plaster on your cell signal problems, consider installing a cell phone signal booster.

An amplifier is a device that boosts the signal received from the nearest tower — even if the tower is located far away. As long as you have some signal outside your home, a booster amplifies it to be strong enough to support calls and cellular data use.

How May We Help You?

Bolton Technical is a leading provider of cell phone signal boosters, devices that amplify 4G & 3G LTE for any phone with any carrier for home, office, or car. We’ve boosted over 1,000,000 m² of signal for homes, buildings, and vehicles across America and Canada and now that same power is boosting signal across South Africa.

• Free consultation (ask us anything) with our South African-based customer support. Email us or Call us today.
• Free shipping over R500 to Major South African cities. Usually ships same day.
• 30-day money back guarantee. You want to make sure you're satisfied.

Our goal is simple: keep people connected. Ask us anything and we'll be glad to help.