I am living in a cell dead zone temporarily and thanks to Arc’s Freedom Antenna, I can at least get a few more bars of signal strength and actually hear my callers. The antenna is about four inches high and has various cables to attach to a few different phones — you can search the company’s Web site and find out if yours is covered. In my case, the Razr has a small rubber plug on the back that pops out and can be connected. It is a bit cumbersome, and I still leave the antenna by the window to pick up the best signal, but the arrangement works. The antenna is less than $30 at major online retailers.
Heh heh, I’ve had to use a cell phone antenna for years, as Verizon seems more interested in focusing their power toward the freeway than into our neighborhood. Other services appear to be no better (visiting friends),, yet we are in the city of Mesa, AZ, not in the weeds. Here’s the rub:
About a year ago, Motorola E815 phone suddenly stopped working. I discovered that it would work if I was very near a Verizon tower. It only took a second to discover that it always worked fine when the external antenna was plugged in. I concluded that the internal antenna had stopped working. A trip to the local Verizon service center confirmed it .. a trace had broken next to the external antenna jack. The service tech told me that they don’t support the use of external antennas because of that problem! With some effort I argued that it is a feature of the phone and thus I should get a warranty replacement.