6 Ways to Improve a 4G Signal Indoors and Solve the Most Common Issues

In today's digital world, it is crucial to stay connected to not miss out on any opportunities. Dropped calls, interruptions, slow internet speed, all these problems are pretty common for indoor spaces like homes and offices. Even 4G technologies with fairly high official speed and throughput rates aren't protected from connectivity problems. 

In this article, we will discuss the most common reasons for a bad signal and describe solutions for how to boost a 4G signal indoors in the UK. So, stick around and resolve your issues with a low signal strength once and for all.

Why is Your 4G So Bad: The Most Common Reasons

Before answering the question, “How to boost a 4G signal indoors in the UK?”, let's clarify why you might encounter a low-signal issue. 

Network congestion

Heavy usage in a certain area can lead to network congestion, resulting in slower speeds and reduced performance for anyone connected to that particular mobile signal tower. During peak hours or crowded events, increased demand on the network can result in slower data transfer rates.

Physical Obstacles

Obstacles, such as tall buildings, mountains, thick walls, or even trees, can interfere with your cellular signal. These physical barriers can weaken the signal strength and make the overall network performance less efficient.

Low battery status

The first thing you need to check is the charge level of your device because it often degrades the signal. The fact is that at a very low charge, mobile devices switch to an energy-efficient mode, spending less energy searching for coverage than in a normal one.

Charging your phone can boost the signal by helping the phone to maintain a good signal with the cell tower. Your battery life is also affected by the signal available. If the phone is kept in an area with strong signal, it requires less power to maintain a good connection.

Incorrect device settings

If everything is fine with your device, check its current settings and updates. In particular, it may be in flight mode, or you may have accidentally turned off the ability to transfer packages via mobile data wireless communication channels. Also, mobile signal failures often occur due to a mismatch between the date and time on the device in your time zone. 

Finally, to boost the 3G, 4G, and 5G office mobile signal, you should check if the antenna settings in your device match the signal standard in your area. If all this does not work, try resetting the device to factory settings.

Distance from cell tower

Signal strength and quality deteriorates as you move away from the cell tower. If you are far from the nearest tower or in an area with limited coverage, you may experience weaker 4G signals and slower data rates.

Interference from the surrounding objects

Any radio coverage may be subject to interference. They are usually caused by physical obstructions, such as concrete walls and some electronic devices. In particular, these devices may emit radio waves that may cause interference due to the same radio frequencies as the 3G, 4G, or 5G signal standard.

How to increase 3G, 4G, or 5G speed in this case? To reduce the level of interference and get a better mobile signal indoors, you may need to move the interfering devices to another building or at least clear one room of them completely.

Device failure

Another common cause of poor phone signal is the physical malfunction of the device. The most easily repaired faults include improper installation or damage to the SIM card. In other cases, to get a better 3G, 4G, LTE, or 5G signal indoors, you will probably have to contact specialists to repair your device.

Blind zone

The building you are in may be out of network coverage or in low signal areas. This usually happens outside the city, in a predominantly open area (for example, in a field or forest).

Problems with the network provider

Occasionally, a network provider may experience technical issues, maintenance, or upgrades that result in a temporary degradation in the quality of service. The ISP usually resolves these issues, but they can affect signal performance during downtime.

Device restrictions

Older or low-end devices may not support the latest 4G technologies, resulting in slower data transfer rates. Also, if your device is outdated or experiencing hardware or software issues, it may have difficulty maintaining a stable connection or using the network's full potential.

Weather

Extreme weather conditions such as heavy rain, snowstorms, or strong winds can interfere with the 4G signal and cause temporary service interruptions or performance degradation.

How to Boost 4G Signal Indoors in the UK?

Let's find out how to boost a 4G signal indoors.

Disable battery-saver mode

The battery-saving modes on some phones can limit the phone's performance, including its ability to maintain a stable cellular connection. Disabling battery saver mode can potentially help you with improving the signal.

Updating the device software

Keeping your phone software up to date ensures that you have the latest bug fixes and improvements, which may include signal reception improvements. Keeping your device up to date may help you improve a 4G signal indoors.

Check the SIM card and slot

Make sure your SIM card is correctly inserted and installed in the SIM card slot. A loose or incorrectly inserted SIM card can result in a weak signal or connectivity issues. Also, check if there is any debris on the SIM card and in the slot because this can also negatively affect the signal level.

Get a new device

If you have gone through the checklist from the previous paragraph and found out that your device isn’t functioning properly, it’s obvious that you will have to replace it (or repair it, if possible). Otherwise, even the highest quality wireless coverage will not be able to help you transmit and receive data using wireless communication channels.

Use external antenna

If the problem of a poor office signal is beyond your control and is the fault of the wireless network service provider, you can install an external antenna that will work as a repeater and help boost a 4G signal. Note that you will need more than one antenna for large buildings, and their placement must be carefully planned to avoid blind spots.

Install a signal booster

Together with antennas or separately, you can also use signal boosters that will amplify the signal quality and bring its speed indicators to those declared by the provider. As in the case of external antennas, for the best signal, the placement of such boosters must be planned by specialists.

How UCtel Can Help You

How to improve a 4G signal legally and most effectively? For many years, UCtel has been creating advanced solutions for businesses, providing seamless and stable coverage on all sites. For each project, we choose the optimal model — be it a local solution, cloud, or hybrid — so that the created project fully meets the client's business needs.

At the same time, we are proud of many years of expertise in construction, healthcare, agriculture, and other narrowly focused branches. Thus, today, our specialists can implement the project, taking into account all the nuances of a particular business sector, and they do not have to spend extra time getting acquainted with all its subtleties.

If you want to boost the 3G, 4G, or utilize a 5G signal booster indoors to provide your business with the highest quality of communications, contact us! We will apply our best knowledge and experience to create the perfect scalable solution for you.

Final Thoughts

We hope we have helped you understand how to boost a 4G indoors. Fortunately, in many cases, this only takes a few minutes. If your situation is more complex, and you need to design a solution to improve wireless communications using outdoor antennas, signal boosters, or any other specialised devices, contact UCtel. We will solve your problem in the best possible way!