Cell Phones, Cell Towers and Area Codes

Moonchilde · ‎05-23-2010

A year ago, I moved 350 mi from my old home to a new area. I kept my cell # because it's very easy for me to remember, and many people already had it. I don't want to change it.

But...whenever people call me at home, the calls drop almost instantly and I can never have a conversation with anyone for more than 5 seconds. Others in the household have an older phone than mine (iPhone 5S vs my 6S) that works fine. I get and send texts fine. I can call out, but those calls usually drop too. And I have a new SIM card - that didn't help.

Was talking to a friend a couple of days ago, and what he was telling me about the way the phones and towers work made sense to me, and I kind of had a "duh" moment.

Do you think the reason I'm having this issue is because my phone is still trying to send signals 350 mi south before they bounce around up here? Could that be it?

Will be interested in your thoughts. I have to go out in an hour for a few hours, but I'll be back.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all

software · ‎06-08-2016

Did you move to a more rural area?

I live in a large metro area and I regularly communicate with people with different area codes, one as far as 1000 miles away with no problems. (the area code is 1000 miles away, the person on the phone is only a few miles away)

There are many variables, it's hard to know but I would contact tech support, could be an easy fix.

@Moonchilde wrote:
A year ago, I moved 350 mi from my old home to a new area. I kept my cell # because it's very easy for me to remember, and many people already had it. I don't want to change it.

But...whenever people call me at home, the calls drop almost instantly and I can never have a conversation with anyone for more than 5 seconds. Others in the household have an older phone than mine (iPhone 5S vs my 6S) that works fine. I get and send texts fine. I can call out, but those calls usually drop too. And I have a new SIM card - that didn't help.

Was talking to a friend a couple of days ago, and what he was telling me about the way the phones and towers work made sense to me, and I kind of had a "duh" moment.

Do you think the reason I'm having this issue is because my phone is still trying to send signals 350 mi south before they bounce around up here? Could that be it?

Will be interested in your thoughts. I have to go out in an hour for a few hours, but I'll be back.

sweetee2 · ‎06-21-2015

That's why I have Sprint. They have a cable system that is beared in the ground so there are no towers to mess with. I have call home from all over the world and in 14 years never had a problem.

jaxs mom · ‎04-18-2012

No I don't think thats the reason. I have no issues with my phone and my number is in another state and with an area code that's 800 miles away from where I live now. My husband also has a cell number for work that never had the number changed even though he relocated and is in a different area code.

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Moonchilde · ‎05-23-2010

@software Yes, I live in a much more rural area. But the older iPhone5S works just fine. Calls sometimes drop on that phone but 95% of the time it's good here, as in usable. But yes, signal is spotty at the house.

The phone is barely a year old. I've taken it to a corporate Verizon store and all my phone settings are as they should be, all updates current - and they replaced the SIM card - which didn't make any difference. So it might be a simple fix, but "the usual" has been tried already.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all

Moonchilde · ‎05-23-2010

@jaxs mom wrote:
No I don't think thats the reason. I have no issues with my phone and my number is in another state and with an area code that's 800 miles away from where I live now. My husband also has a cell number for work that never had the number changed even though he relocated and is in a different area code.

@jaxs mom

My phone works well pretty much any place but in my house. Doesn't matter if I move around to another room, go outside, etc - no effect. But another iPhone in the same household also on Verizon works well, and my phone is fine "out and about."

My new area is rural, hilly, and has fewer than ideal cell towers. Verizon is the only company that gets signal in the area at all. It's almost a wifi dead zone as well.

If it was just the poor cell signal, then the other iPhone should have the same issues - and doesn't.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

There's got to be a reason besides distance. I use the same cell number whether I'm in Florida or New York or ever California. There might be an extra 2 seconds to get a connection when I'm 1000 miles from my home area code, but nothing major.

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

No, I don't think so. It's more likely your phone or your carrier.

People often do what you've done and I have friends with phone numbers from Michigan, Hawaii, California and many other states who don't have this issue.

My cousin moved from the Los Angeles area to the San Francisco Bay Area and she doesn't have this issue. My best friend has a number from his hometown and he lives in works across the state and spends weekends in another state. His phone doesn't drop our calls.

It could be an issue with your specific phone, like an antenna that doesn't work well, or your carrier. Does everyone in the house use the same cell phone service provider? When I visit my parents in California, they are able to take and place calls on their mobile phones, but my sister and I cannot. We either can't make a call at all because we have no service or we have one bar and can make a call only to have it dropped a moment later. My parents and I all have iPhone 6S phones, my sister has some type of Android. My parents use Sprint, I use AT&T, and my sister uses CREDO.

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itiswhatitis · ‎05-27-2016

@Moonchilde wrote:
@software Yes, I live in a much more rural area. But the older iPhone5S works just fine. Calls sometimes drop on that phone but 95% of the time it's good here, as in usable. But yes, signal is spotty at the house.

The phone is barely a year old. I've taken it to a corporate Verizon store and all my phone settings are as they should be, all updates current - and they replaced the SIM card - which didn't make any difference. So it might be a simple fix, but "the usual" has been tried already.

@Moonchilde, it's Verizon! Period. I had Verizon service for a while in the largest city in the country and had dropped calls. I also had the Fios land line and it too had dropped calls in my home. I dumped their phones.

It's Verizon. They want us to believe they are the best, but I know better.

*Call Tyrone*

DrummerMike · ‎02-23-2017

That should not be the problem as your cell phone will try and connect to the closest tower, and as you move away from it, it will get handed off to the next closest. Sometimes it doesn't happen smoothly, or at all. Do you ever restart your phone? When it powers back up, it will lock onto the closest tower, or you could put it in airplane mode and then turn airplane mode off and it will connect to the the closest tower as well. There is also an app called OpenSignal that will point in the direction of the last known tower. Good luck!