Hello Everyone,
This is a long time problem that I've had since I've been working at my company for the last 3 years. I've had this problem with every phone I've had since, including my current Samsung Galaxy S5. For some reason, Verizon cell phone reception is very poor in my office building. I get at least 2 bars of 4G right outside, but when I'm inside at my cubicle, my service goes back at forth from 1 bar of 3G, to no service at all. I thought that the building might be steel/concrete reinforced or something. But here's the weird part. From what I understand, only Verizon customers have this problem in our building. AT&T subscribers don't seem to have the problem. Weird.
But anyway, I was wondering if anybody has any idea for what I can do to try to get around this. I've looked into a bunch of different options, but none of them seem feasible; physically anyway. Money's not a huge problem. Here's what I've got so far:
- I tried purchasing a Verizon 4G Hotspot to have at my desk, but it also didn't get any reception, so it didn't help
- I can go by the window if I absolutely need to use my phone, but this is an annoyance. My cubicle is on the innermost wall, far away from the window, so if I need to use my phone, I'm going back and forth a lot
- We do have Wi-Fi in the building that I can connect my phone to, but it's not the best in reliability. Plus, it's filtered so a lot of sites and apps are blocked, including messaging apps, so I can't text over Wi-Fi with the Verizon Messages app
- If I'm trying to text someone, I can use vtext.com, but it's not the most ideal solution
- I've thought about getting the Samsung Network Extender that Verizon offers, but I read that you have to plug it into an internet connection; I do have an Ethernet port at my desk I could use to plug into the company's network, but I don't think I'm allowed to do this sort of thing. They're very strict about what gets plugged into the network, and somebody recently got in trouble for having an unauthorized router on the network. I think this would basically be the same thing. Plus, I don't know if the Network Extender would be filtered out or not
- I've looked into a cell phone repeater, but this would require mounting equipment outside, and wiring a cable into the building. I could ask if this could be done, but I doubt that my employer would be willing to do something like this so that people can use their phone while they work
- I've looked into a number of external cell phone antennas that I could plug my phone into, but they require having a wire go to a window, and since I'm so far away from a window at my cubicle, I probably wouldn't be able to get away with this
So anyway, does anyone know of anything that I can try? I guess the most ideal solution would be to have some sort of booster at my desk that wouldn't have to be placed outside my cubicle. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks so much!
