Dropped calls - Lame Cell Phone or Lame Provider?

Ya know, I asked my father that same question once upon a time (He was Senior Telecommunications Technician for Southern Co). His answer put it in perfect clarity for me. See the readout on the cell phone that shows the "bars", that is a measure of how well the phone is receiving from the tower, it doesn't actually measure how well the tower can receive from the phone. The cell phone is essentially an advanced encrypted "cell-based" radio. The call placed depends on how well a)the tower can talk to your phone and b)your phone can talk to the tower. There are actually places where you can have a perfect signal and your phone can't connect to the tower. Hope this helps.

 

Ive had Sprint for a many years.
First I had a cheap $50 Kyocera phone that never dropped calls.
I needed internet access so I went with Palm Treo 600 .Very bad with dropping calls in remote areas.
I went to Palm 700p with no improvement.
Im now with a Palm 800w and I dont think Ive had a dropped call yet.
Same carrier but the phones had vastly different reception.

 

my opinion is that it is Sprint
Sprint is like a bend in time-space
it may take days for a voice mail to reach me--and often i am sitting next to the phone--with zero ringing while people are calling----
an imperfect form of communication regardless of the cost of the phone i think------
but what did we do without them?
Froley

 

It could be either - try some googling for your cell phone model. I know some model's out there do have antenna/software issues that cause them to drop calls when they shouldn't. I think gman put it best - the call is a two way street, and both have to be working well for the call to not be dropped.

 

Look at it this way: In many locations there is only one choice for service, even if the area is covered by many providers. This is because one company will typically own the spectrum for a given area and given technology. Everyone else simply pays to use their towers.

If you find yourself in this situation, the only variable that you control is the cell phone. In that case, upgrading the phone is the only viable option.

Keep in mind that the price of a phone is not a good indicator of power and sensitivity. There are many trade-offs in cell phone design. Often range will be sacrificed for smaller size and other features. Do some research online before upgrading to another phone.

Tom