How can I improve mobile coverage in my area?
Finding or maintaining a strong cell phone signal in rural areas can be difficult. Those who decided to live away from big cities are well aware of the problems of weak cellular connection, call interruptions, and low data transfer speed. However, did you know that thanks to a signal booster like a BT mobile signal booster, everything can change?
We know that much of this is due to operators tending to saturate the most densely populated areas with cell towers, leaving rural areas neglected. But don’t worry – the solution is here!
Although operators are not expected to expand mobile coverage, there are practical and fully functional solutions that can compensate for the lack of mobile infrastructure for those living in remote areas. Here we will look at how to solve your problem of poor mobile coverage.
Why am I not covered?
To make a call or a data connection, we need our mobile phone to receive a signal from at least one base antenna of our operator. This connection is permanent, in fact, even if we are not making a call, our phone periodically receives and sends signals to the operator, which serve to indicate that our phone is active. If this connection is lost, we will lose the ability to make calls and will not be able to connect to the Internet.
In most situations, the problem with the coverage is not so much that we are not getting enough signal from the broadcast tower, but because the radiation power of our cell phone antenna is not enough for it to be clearly captured by the base antenna. For this reason, sometimes we hear our interlocutor (the signal coming from the antenna), but he does not hear us well or does not hear us at all.
It should be taken into account that mobile operators install their antennas according to profitability and service criteria. So if the area has a small population or the population fluctuates a lot seasonally, they will likely install only a low-power base antenna or simply none at all.
However, on the schemes of regional roads, railways and highways, we can find repeaters with sufficient power. Therefore, in rural areas far from villages, we most likely receive a voice signal and 4G/3G from an antenna located on any of the aforementioned roads.
The main factors affecting signal quality
We decided to highlight the most important factors that affect signal quality. Let’s take a look at them:
Distance to the antenna
Mobile communication companies’ base antennas are usually installed in the immediate vicinity of cities and towns with a larger number of users. The further away from the emission towers, the lower the strength of the mobile signal received, and therefore, the less coverage inside the houses. Modern cell phones are set up to work well mostly in urban environments where the phone companies have enough antennas to cover the entire city and surrounding areas. Under such circumstances, the radiation power of our device is more than enough to establish a connection. As we move further away from the transmitting antenna, the call quality will decrease along with the viewing speed. It is worth noting that the radiation power of the new generation smartphone does not reach more than 3-5 miles.
Orography of the region
The orography of the area plays a decisive role in the quality of the signal. Mountains as well as forests act as screens for the 4G/3G signal, for this reason, houses located in valleys and surrounded by mountains have problems with coverage. We can establish a connection with an antenna located a maximum of 5 miles away on flat terrain, but if we are between mountains at a distance of 2 miles, we will probably lose the connection. In general, low-lying areas receive less signal and therefore have lower coverage.
New models of smartphones.
The first mobile phones were equipped with a small antenna that protruded from the body. This antenna made it possible to significantly improve coverage in remote locations. Eventually, the manufacturers decided to sacrifice the antenna in favour of a more refined design and to fit it in a pocket. As a result, mobile phones of the latest generation cannot make calls where the grandfather’s phone usually does.
What are the ways to improve the mobile network signal?
To improve coverage inside the house, we need to resort to equipment like a BT mobile signal amplifier or booster by UCtel. Such a device works in the following way:
On the one hand, it receives the signal from the operators’ towers and amplifies it to then relay it inside our house and surroundings. At the same time, it picks up the signal from our mobile phone, amplifies it, and throws it at the cell towers. Thanks to this dual receive-broadcast process, we can have call service and 4G/3G connections in places where it was not possible before.
Which mobile coverage booster is recommended?
The decision will be made taking into account these factors:
- Connection type for data received outside the home: 3G (H+, H) or 4H (LTE). If the connection we receive in rural areas is 3G, with a BT mobile signal repeater by UCtel at 900 MHz, we will improve both voice calls and 3G connections. If we receive a 4G signal on our mobile, we will need to amplify two frequencies: 4G carrier frequency: 800 MHz; as well as the carrier signal of voice calls: 900 MHz.
- Signal level outside the house. The amplifier works by multiplying the signal received from the outside, the lower the signal, the higher the gain (amplification factor) we will need to serve the same area.
- It is necessary to provide lighting in the open area. If we want to have coverage around the house: an orchard, a swimming pool, a terrace, a playground, it is better to choose a higher power amplifier that allows you to feed both internal and external antennas.
Conclusion
Cell phone coverage in rural areas can be pretty poor, and living off the grid is fun for a while, but you’ll need to keep in touch with friends, family, and even colleagues and clients, so a constant phone signal is essential. But we give you valuable advice on how to improve your own situation. We hope that these ways to strengthen your mobile signal will help you avoid problems with calls or texts.
