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Cell phone coverage inside house

tomtendo

tomtendo

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 29, 2009
813
933
Florida
Hello,

For about the past 3 years, for some god known reason, my house blocks incoming calls and/or text messages at random. I always have 3-5 bars, but if you try to make a call, it will sometimes just sit there for a good amount of time before it actually starts to dial.

Other times, I won't recieve a call or a text. The person on the other end either had it ring multiple times or the text was sent X minutes ago before I finally recieve it.

Does anyone know what my problem is? I feel like if I have 3-5 bars, I shouldn't be having a problem. What could be blocking this? Is there a device I could use to track down some signal blocker? I know there is extenders or cell reception strengtheners, but... I don't think that's the problem.

As you can imagine, it's very frustrating.
 
Omg I have had this problem with my phone and since I live in an apartment the walls are fireproof and very thick and made with cinder blocks and that really causes major reception problems. Everyone in my apartment complex that have Sprint, has this problem. May I ask what company do you have?
 
Verizon, and not just iPhones. Droid has a similar or worse problem.

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However. This is a house. No cinder blocks. Just wood and siding. I think some sort of device is blocking it.

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There is no way I have bad service in the area. I live in a popular area with Verizon and att being strong.
 
Complex question with no easy answer.

Could be your carrier freqs and home construction material dont play nice together.

In Sprints case they will give you a signal booster for free. Not sure about other carriers.
 
As stated above, call your carrier. It may not even be a coverage/reception issue.

If you step out the door you don't have these problems?
 
Also keep in mind that the bars don't always mean you're getting a good or bad signal. Those only tell you signal strength, which is part of the equation but not all of it. There's other factors to consider too:

1. If the cell site is overloaded with too many users
2. You could be in a border zone, right on the edge of multiple cell sites
3. there could be something inhibiting your phone's ability to get a signal out to the cell site. If the cell sites can't hear you, you can't make or receive a call, even if you're getting good signal from them.
 
There are times when I don't get the best signal inside of my house either. Fortunately, it isn't very often.
 
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