Knowledge Base

Why can some cell phones in my building make calls while others can’t?

There are many reasons why some phones may operate in a building while others cannot. The two most significant reasons, however, are location inside the building and carrier frequency.

Location inside the building: Cell signal strength varies depending on where you are inside a building. Typically, the closer you are to an exterior wall—or, even better, an exterior window—the stronger the signal you’ll receive. Cell signal strength is reduced, and may be completely blocked, in a building’s basement and interior locations.

Carrier frequency: Each carrier broadcasts on different cellular frequencies. As lower-frequency radio waves pass more easily through building materials than higher-frequency waves, a phone that’s operating on 700 MHz LTE will likely receive stronger signal than a phone right next to it that’s operating on 1900 MHz PCS or 1700/2100 MHz AWS.