# Stick-on mobile phone antennas **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 7, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395 "2006-02-07T15:52:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/1 "2006-02-07T15:52:59Z")
I’ve had the worst luck with mobile phones. When I was in L.A (L.A. Cellular, then AT&T Wireless) my phone would only work in selected spots of my Westside apartment. I’d gotten rid of my couch (a futon) to discourage a certain person from begging crash space, and I was quite happy to hang out on the floor. Guess where my phone didn’t work? Up here in the PNW there are two places I’m likely to use my (Cingular) phone: In my house, or at the studio. There was a single place in my house where my phone _might_ get a signal. Or it might not. If I wanted to use my phone at the studio I’d have to walk to the corner to have a chance of getting a bar or two. It’s frustrating. I needed to buy a new battery. When I bought it the guy at the kiosk asked if there’s anything else I needed. I said dryly, ‘How about something to boost the reception?’ He gave me one of those stick-on antenna booster thingies. I wouldn’t have bought one since I think they’re a scam, but he gave it to me gratis so I took it. Expecting nothing, I put the sticker into the phone underneath the battery. I have the phone sitting in front of me, in a place where _maybe_ I’d get one bar. The phone is showing four bars on the reception scale. I’ve noticed that sometimes it will drop to one or two bars, but it’s actually receiving a signal! A few days ago I got a call from a friend of mine. He’s been doing an internship in the Caribbean and was on his way home. He got his van out of storage and it wouldn’t start. He desperately needed a little cash. He was in a tight space. I was online, so the only way he could get through was via the mobile phone. I was able to talk to him, and to pay for a new battery over the phone with my credit card. _Just_ when the phone was needed, it came through. I wonder why Motorola, Nokia, _et alia_ don’t give out these little stickers with their phones? Or better yet, why don’t they build better antennas in the first place? In any case, I’ve always thought these stickers were just a way for someone to make money off of gullible consumers. I got mine free, and by golly it seems to work. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/2 "2006-02-07T15:56:56Z")
So you replaced the battery _and_ inserted one of these stickers, and you’re sure it’s the sticker, not the new battery (or, for that matter, removal of the futon), that’s enhanced performance? [Spock]Curious.[/Spock] ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/3 "2006-02-07T16:03:11Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > So you replaced the battery _and_ inserted one of these stickers, and you’re sure it’s the sticker, not the new battery (or, for that matter, removal of the futon), that’s enhanced performance? [Spock]Curious.[/Spock] Reception has been poor since the phone was new. The futon was when I lived in L.A. I removed it and hung out on the floor, where the phone I had at the time (a Nokia) didn’t work well. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/4 "2006-02-07T16:04:06Z")
I remember the commericials for those and figured it was a gimmick. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and since I cannot get cell phone reception in my house, except on my deck and upstairs bedroom ( both SE facing and in very specific situations) I am well and truly phucked. There is a dead zone around our area of at least, but not limited too, two miles or so. It seems to be a Verizon problem, as people with Cingular can receive and make calls in our house, which make us drool like technonerdies. At this stage in the game, I would love to try anything. I’d even wear a tin foil beanie on my head if I could use my cell to call people rather than landline. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/5 "2006-02-07T16:15:27Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > However, desperate times call for desperate measures… Seems to work for me. I still think it’s a gimmick though, and I’m surprised that it’s working. As for home, before getting the gimmick I could get a decent signal if I go down to the beach (\<1/10 mile – just down the hill about four houses). ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/6 "2006-02-07T16:17:54Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > if I could use my cell to call people rather than landline. Fortunately I found a long-distance company that only charges 3¢/minute. Not that it does any good when I’m online. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-on-mobile-phone-antennas/343395/7 "2006-02-07T16:26:26Z")
Colour me a deep shade of skeptical. It’s possible, I suppose, that you have enjoyed an increase in signal strength at the expense of battery life; if your phone is only capable of adjusting its transmission/reception strength in coarse increments, slapping on the sticker might have interfered with reception just enough to provoke it to do so. I don’t believe the sticker will be performing any kind of signal boosting function in and of itself.