How to improve smartphone reception at home

We can’t always make a call or send a text message from our cell phone when we’re at home: the radio signal is too weak. Here’s what to do to optimize it

It often happens that you walk around the house with your smartphone in your hand looking for a signal. Like any wireless device, in fact, even the cell phone can encounter reception problems, with the result that we are unable to make calls, send SMS and even surf the internet.

A very frustrating situation, especially if we are waiting for a very important phone call. There are a number of problems that prevent the cell phone from receiving the signal in an optimal way. Problems that affect everyone, even people who live in big cities. Before talking about it, it is useful to try to understand in broad terms how a cell phone receives the signal. As it is known, at the base of everything there are radio waves, that the device receives and exchanges with a repeater mounted on a high building or on the so-called towers. Unfortunately, the repeaters are not always arranged on the territory in a homogeneous way and consequently the signal may be weak in certain areas.

The reception of a smartphone at home can be hampered by other factors. It is possible, in fact, that the signal is covered by a mountain or that the house has thick walls that cancel or weaken the radio waves. A bit like what happens with the Wi-Fi connection. What to do in these cases? Put into practice a series of simple tricks that can improve the reception of the smartphone at home.

Tricks to improve reception

We start with some very simple and basic tricks. As seen, the signal can be shielded by the conformation of the house, which decreases the strength of the radio waves even if the repeater is located a few miles away. In these cases, the advice is to get as close as possible to the windows, leaving them open and thus making the signal “enter” the apartment.

Another very useful solution could be to buy signal repeaters, devices that basically amplify the radio signal and improve the reception of the smartphone. Their operation is very simple. In the same way of devices that amplify the signal of Wi-Fi, signal repeaters capture the external radio waves – those transmitted by the towers to be clear – and then transmit them enhanced inside the house. The system is also very useful to reach parts of the house that are usually not covered by the radio signal, such as the basement.

It is also possible that the reception system of the smartphone, for a variety of reasons, has gone momentarily “on tilt”. You could try turning airplane mode on and off. By doing so, the phone will start looking for the radio signal again. If the trick doesn’t work, restart the smartphone. Also pay attention to the battery: normally with little charge the signal reception is less optimal.

Let’s move on to the “extreme” measures. What if the problem is really the smartphone? Not all cell phones, as it is known, are made of the same “dough”, especially if the device is a bit ‘old. In these cases, it is better to buy a new one. And not only that.

Let’s take a small step back. Earlier we talked about the spread of repeaters on the territory. There are some areas, in fact, that are not sufficiently covered by some operators. The only way to improve the signal reception, in these situations, is to change phone operator.