# How can I get cell phone coverage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033 "2020-12-27T19:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/21 "2020-12-30T06:36:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > This morning at 0300 my mobile phone went nuts. El Jefe sent out Christmas greetings to the employee cell phone list – presumably on Christmas Day. And yet, I only received the text and the answering texts this morning. Sixteen of them. At three in the ayem. While I was trying to sleep. ‘Deedle-deedle! Deedle-deedle!’ over and over again. Settings \> Do Not Disturb \> set the DND schedule for when you go to bed or whenever you don’t want to be disturbed. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Incidentally, my phone says I’ve used 5.8 GB, which is a little more than the 0.1 Boost Mobile says I’m using. If you’ve never reset your usage statistics, that 5.8 GB is basically for the lifetime of the phone, not your current billing cycle. In other words, if you got your 6S the day it was released in 2015 and you’ve never reset your usage statistics, it’s taken you 5 years to download that 5.8 GB. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/22 "2020-12-30T15:39:00Z")
Current Period 6 Hours, 45 Minutes Lifetime 6 Hours, 45 Minutes Last Reset Oct 1, 2018 at 14:40 Yep, that would be around the time I got the phone. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/23 "2021-01-04T04:42:22Z")
We just got my wife off Boost. It was a nightmare, can’t warn people from them enough. Porting out was easy enough, but their outsourced CS told her 3 separate answers and promises about unlocking her phone and the solution seemed to be to sell the phone and get a new one. In some cases, I don’t know whether to blame them or Sprint (which T-Mobile inherited from) but it was no way to run CS. There are basically 3 networks to choose from now: Verzion, AT&T, and T-Mobile. You might want to ask in a local app what people use, I don’t know about WA but T-Mobile and Sprint coverage is spotty in Oregon. Don’t rely on the maps. You don’t have to go with these companies though, there are many MVNOs (like Boost) that piggyback on their network. Wifi calling may or may not be supported by your phone even if the carrier does, look up how to online based on your phone’s model. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/24 "2021-01-05T15:46:37Z")
Tangent regarding wi-fi calling: It’s the bee’s knees, with one exception: if my iPhone gets even a whisper of a crappy cellular connection, it uses that for certain things, ignoring the perfect pristine wi-fi connection. One specific example: ordinary SMS-based text message often don’t come through or fail to send. The fix: enable airplane mode while in my home. I wish they would make “wi-fi calling” work seamlessly, but at least when I turn on airplane mode then everything goes through wi-fi calling and my phone works perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/25 "2021-01-05T16:22:26Z")
I have a booster antenna on the roof or our house. You need to run coax to a repeater inside. That seems to help quite a bit. Now, you do need to know where a tower is that you can point the antenna at, or at least point it in the general direction (there are cell phone apps for that) We got rid of our land line because it became so unreliable and would go out for a week here and there. We where the only people connected to that trunk, so not on their list for good service. Don’t really blame 'em. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/26 "2021-01-05T16:43:58Z")
If you’re seeing towers but not getting service, your phone may not have the type of radio that talks to modern upgraded 4g/5g towers. I had a Galaxy Note 4 of ~2014 vintage that had good service at my house. Then about the middle of 2020 the signals got really bad, I could barely place a call. I thought Verizon took out a tower or something. But when I got a new 2020 Moto G Stylus, my signal is back to where it was before if not better. So that might be something to test. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/27 "2021-01-05T16:52:16Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If you’re seeing towers but not getting service, your phone may not have the type of radio that talks to modern upgraded 4g/5g towers. From Boost Mobile: > We see that we have very low coverage in that area with varying spots of inactivity. Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer an immediate solution as we do not offer signal boosters. Our engineers are always working on improving our towers and expanding our coverage area. However, we can not provide an estimated time as to when these updates would reach your area. We apologize for the inconvenience. Let us know if there is anything else that we can do for you. TL;DR: ‘Sucks to be you.’ ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/28 "2021-01-05T18:08:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > We live in the northwest corner of Washington, four miles from the Canadian border as the goose flies. Except for Point Roberts, we’re as far northwest you can get in the contiguous United States. w/o reading the entire thread, and not specifically your question, but do you ever get charged international roaming fees? In 2019 we were visiting northern Vermont. Just a couple miles from the Canadian border. My husband went on a hike with some friends, and while he did NOT violate international law, his phone thought he had, and flashed up a “Welcome to Canada” message. I never did check to see if we got charged the daily roaming fee. It might have been buried among days where we actually DID cross into Canada. Whatever you wind up with, check into whether your plan will include calls “in” Canada without extra charge, if you think this might be an issue for you. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/29 "2021-01-05T18:50:59Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If you’re seeing towers but not getting service, your phone may not have the type of radio that talks to modern upgraded 4g/5g towers. Well not really ‘seeing’ towers. I do know that one is down the valley about 18 miles ‘thataway’. I installed the exterior antenna on the roof so there is mostly a clear line of ‘sight’ to the tower between obstructions. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/30 "2021-01-06T16:41:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > We see that we have very low coverage in that area with varying spots of inactivity. Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer an immediate solution as we do not offer signal boosters. > > TL;DR: ‘Sucks to be you.’ May be worth verifying, but I don’t read their statement as saying that signal boosters **won’t work with their network** ; rather, that **they** don’t offer them directly. Maybe a commercially available signal booster **would** (help to) solve your issue. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033/31 "2021-01-06T17:16:26Z")
Probably. But at the price of my current plan a booster would represent at least six months of service. It looks like I can get better coverage for the same cost or one-third or two-thirds of the cost (depending on the plan) if I switch to Xfinity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-cell-phone-coverage/929033.md?page=1)