Cheap Tricks to Ease Frustration
Nearly everyone has a cell phone in the US, and abroad the trend is catching on. Many tech pundits predict that land line phones will someday be a relic of the past. Until then, cell phone users are plagued with a suite of reception problems. The list is quite large, ranging from dropped calls, poor connections, weak signals, inconsistent roaming and in the worst case, a complete lack of service. Let's look at what we can do about this, save for changing providers, so that we can prevent unneeded frustration.In Public
There isn't much you can do to affect cell phone reception in public. People do tend to crowd around areas where the reception is decent, if not good. Keep in mind that CDMA and GSM networks may have different sweet spots in terms of service, even in highly populated areas. If you don't travel much, you can do research to see what cell phone provider has the best service in your area, but you are mostly out of luck in terms of improving service while at a mall or at a stadium. Don't fret though! I told you the bad news first, so let's get onto how you can improve service in more controllable locales.
In General
Well, in general, you can choose phones that are reputed for good call quality and reception. That usually involves research, and many people already have a phone that cannot be changed (due to signing a contract, etc). There are still things that can be done with the phone you currently own.
Preferred Roaming List - or PRL is a list of roaming towers that your cell phone provider uses for your phone. I highly suggest updating this periodically, every three months or so. If you haven't done this already, now is the time. This is a free upgrade and some cell providers don't even mention this as a way to improve service. The newer thePRL, the more likely you'll encounter less dead spots when you are out of your home network.
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