6 Tips To Give You A Better Signal On Your iPhone - Anywhere

If you struggle to get a signal on your iPhone, don’t despair - there are solutions which DON’T involve cancelling your contract.

It’s definitely worth trying these before forking out for gadgets such as signal boosters - which promise stronger phone signals indoors, but are expensive and not always reliable.

Try switching to 2G

If you’re having problems with phone signal, and your main goal is to make and receive calls and texts, you might want to try switching to 2G.

You can do this in your iPhone, by going to Settings, Mobile, Voice and Data and selecting 2G.

This’ll force your iPhone to use the old 2G network - which is far slower for data, but more reliable at penetrating buildings to let you make calls and send texts.

Use flight mode

Sometimes, the problem you’re having is that your phone is ‘holding on’ to a weak signal from a mast.

If you turn your phone to Flight Mode (quicker than turning off), then back on, it will have to reconnect - and will hopefully pick up a stronger signal.

Work out where you get the best signal

If you want to get really scientific about it, you can try out Apple’s Field Test Mode - which offers detailed numbers showing exactly how strong the signal you’re getting from your nearest mast is.

Go to your iPhone’s phone-dialling panel and enter ‘*3001#12345#*’, then press ‘Call’.

This will put your phone into field-test mode. Then hold down Power and Lock until the power down screen comes up.

Now press the home button for six seconds. This brings back the home screen - but with numbers instead of bars for the signal.

The numbers are displayed in negative, and the higher the number is, the better your signal will be.

So, for example, a rating of between -40 and -77 is a solid, five-bar signal while anything above a -100 is going to be a weak, one-bar signal.

If you want to turn the numbers off again and go back to living in blissful ignorance, all you need to do is input the *3001#12345#* code again, hit call, and it will be disabled.

Use an app

Apps such as Opensignal offer a way to get to grips with why you’re getting a bad signal - and what you can do about it.

It features a dashboard showing which mast you’re currently using, with a compass pointing towards it (you can also view it on a map) and dials displaying the signal strength for voice and data.

A ‘refresh’ button prods your phone into switching masts.

Go upstairs - and open the window

It’s all about getting a clean ‘line of sight’ to the mast – which you’re more likely to do if there’s less stuff in the way.

Simply going upstairs can work, especially in country areas - and opening a window can offer a boost to your mobile signal.

Some ‘insulating’ panes in particular can interfere with mobile signals.

Try witchcraft

Now, we’re not 100% vouching for this tip - but many people swear you get better reception on iPhone by putting your phone in a glass.

It’s not entirely clear why this might work.

Other physical tips which people swear by are taking an iPhone out of its case - and using a Bluetooth headset and leaving it on a flat surface, so the aerial can do its thing.