It’s happened to all of us at one time or another, it’s always the same story. You are driving down the road talking to a friend or family member on your cell phone, hopefully with a hands free set, and all of a sudden you’re talking, but the other person is not responding. A few seconds later you glance at your phone and once again, the connection has been dropped.

This issue is particularly problematic for those who live in places with wide open spaces and relatively low population, as well as those who live in areas with large amounts of signal interference. Fortunately, there are things you can do which will help improve your cell phone reception, that you have not thought of!

Of course it is equally important to know how you should not try to improve your cell phone reception. There is a product available on many short infomercials for a product called “the internal antenna” which sells for about $20. It is essentially a bent wire attached to an adhesive which you put on your cell phone battery. They claim that the product will nearly double reception, but in our testing, the signal reception was the same with or without using the internal antenna. The reason it does not work is because the internal antenna is no bigger than any standard antenna which comes on cell-phones.

There are however some products which will help you improve the reception you receive for your cell phone, they are a bit more pricey, but a number of external antennas which can improve your reception while on the road. These products which are antennas of 1′ to 2′ in length usually attach to the top of your vehicle, because your car is a bit of a faraday cage. The antennas will connect to your cell phone through a cable, and will often improve your reception rather dramatically.

Some mobile phone companies will soon be asking their customers to help solve their signal issues. They plan allowing users to purchase small devices which they can place in their homes to help boost wireless signal strength in their area. They are a bit like WiFi routers, but instead of Ethernet traffic, they will be transmitting cell phone data. These devices, called “femto repeaters” are not yet available, but will be in the near future. A number of issues are still being worked on, such as what incentives will be given to the customers for installing one of these devices.

Another option you might consider is switching carriers. If your phone company just does not work, perhaps you should ask around and see what other people have and how their signal strength is. If there’s a comparable option, you might consider switching.

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