# cell phone reception

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-reception/64927>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 10, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-reception/64927 "2001-05-10T00:51:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aceospades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Aceospades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aceospades)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-reception/64927/1 "2001-05-10T00:51:22Z")

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Do those little pieces of metal that you put in the back of your cell phone to make the reception better really work?

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**Author:** ![ptdang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7c8e57/32.png) [@ptdang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ptdang)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-reception/64927/2 "2001-05-11T01:34:02Z")

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According to the posts I’ve seen on the Usenet newsgroup, alt.cellular and alt.cellular.nokia, those stick-on “antenna” don’t work. If it’s too good to be true…

phil

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2001, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-reception/64927/3 "2001-05-11T07:42:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by aceospades \*  
> \*\*Do those little pieces of metal that you put in the back of your cell phone to make the reception better really work? \*\*

Are you talking about that thing that’s being advirtised on television along with the “Wave Scrambler” thing that’s supposed to protect your noodle from harmful cell phone microwaves? I’ve seen that commercial about 50 times in the last month. I can’t believe they’re asking 20 bux for something that’s not worth 20 cents.

As a radio enthusiast with quite a bit of experience in radio reception, I can tell you no little stickers on your cell phone are going to increase your reception nor protect your melon. What a scam!

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**Author:** ![ptdang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7c8e57/32.png) [@ptdang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ptdang)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-reception/64927/4 "2001-05-12T09:36:41Z")

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Here’s the newsgroup thread I mentioned earlier: [http://groups.google.com/groups?lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=6081e45f80ba61fc,4](http://groups.google.com/groups?lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=6081e45f80ba61fc,4)