Q: After showing a dropping a few not-so-subtle-hints, I just upgraded my mom from her flip phone to her first smart phone. She's picked up how to use it well enough, but one thing is killing her experience: poor reception. It's not the carrier or the phone specifically, because she lives out in the suburbs, and connections just stink for every provider and phone we've tried out there. Is there an affordable way for me to boost the reception so she can stop asking "can you hear me now?" like a Verizon commercial?
Sent by Zero Bars
Editor - A few providers offer what they call a signal booster, like AT&T's 3G MicroCell, but getting one on your provider's dime can be a bit of a crapshoot (if you're a longtime customer with a high monthly bill, it's a whole lot easier to convince a rep to send you one for free). T-Mobile is about to launch a T-Mobile Cel-Fi Signal Booster Program at zero cost, but you'll have to be on contract.
If you don't want to be locked into any program or resort to begging customer service for help, you can take things into your own hands and install your very own hands by installing your own signal booster. The model we're looking into for ourselves is the zBoost YX540 Metro, which has a coverage of 1,500 square feet and is compatible with both 800 & 1900 MHz devices (no 4G). Setup looks fairly easy without need for an outdoor antenna like other models, and you can find the device online for under $150. In fact, we're ordering one for our own mom, because we share the very same issue. Of course, any or all of these solutions are bandaids, and one such expect a possible improved signal, but not necessarily amazing trouble-free connections...we'll report back how this ends up working.
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We had terrible cell reception at our house on the far eastern edge of a Seattle suburb, and made do with comcast's bundled phone service for the duration of the promotional pricing. Once that expired, we dropped the phone service to keep our bill roughly the same, and got a Sprint Airrave femtocell, which connects to our broadband connection. We had to pay for the equipment, but there is no monthly fee, our signal and range is infinitely better (both calls and 3G data), and if you have problems their customer support is surprisingly friendly and responsive. I highly recommend it if Sprint is your carrier.
Oh, you young whippersnapper - "she's picked up how to use it well enough". It might interest you to know that I had to show my son AND my granddaughter how to use their iPhones :)