# Boosting cell phone reception

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boosting-cell-phone-reception/229891>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 18, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boosting-cell-phone-reception/229891 "2004-02-18T23:35:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boosting-cell-phone-reception/229891/1 "2004-02-18T23:35:38Z")

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Hi all,

I have a wee English Basement apartment. I gave up my landline a while back and have just my cell (Motorola 720i, if it makes a difference). The reception can be ok (at times) in certain areas, but there are a few dead spots.

Is there any type of external antenna or doohickey I can attach/ install that would help? I’ve seen ads for those little metal sticker-like things, but I don’t give them too much credence. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Rhythmdvl

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**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boosting-cell-phone-reception/229891/2 "2004-02-19T02:00:06Z")

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Avoid the postage stamp do-dads. They don’t do much of anything for you but drain you change purse.

An outside antenna and coax feed line, if not too long, would probably improve reception.  
Not sure how to design the antenna other than it being omni-directional…