In this article we share recommended ways to boost both your connectivity and then the GPS signal specifically on an Android device from two independent sources. 

Check Your Phone for Damage.  Sometimes dropping a phone, even in a case, can cause the internal antenna to be damaged, which will significantly impact the quality of the cell service that you receive. It's worth taking the case off of your phone and inspect the phone for damage to the back or corners.You can also typically schedule a free appointment with Apple or your carrier, and they can run a diagnostic on your phone to confirm that all of the hardware is working properly for you. If it's not, then the phone can sometimes be fixed or replaced for free, as long as it's under warranty.

Make Sure the Software on Your Phone is Up to Date.  Many times it may not be convenient to update the software running the phone, so we end up behind by one version, and then a few. This can ultimately lead to your phone performing at a non-optimal level, since it doesn't have the newest bug fixes and optimizations for calling, data, and just normal operation. Before you do anything else, you should make sure your phone is updated to the newest version of it's operating system.

Use WiFi Calling When You're on a Reliable Internet Connection.  If you're experiencing bad cell phone reception but you have a good WiFi connection, then you may want to use WiFi calling (if your phone supports it) instead of placing your calls over the cellular network. This is a great, and free, way to quickly solve bad cell signal for your voice calls.

Disable LTE If Your Phone is Showing a Single Bar.  The bars on your phone taking into account multiple things, including signal strength, quality and the load on the nearby towers. If you're showing a single bar of LTE, then this may mean that the tower you're phone is communicating with is highly congested, the signal quality is very poor or the signal strength is very weak. No matter what, it may be worth disabling LTE and using the 3G network instead, which often times is less congested and has a stronger signal.

Upgrade to a Newer Phone.  If you have a very old phone, specifically one that only supports 3G and not LTE, then upgrading to a more modern phone is highly recommended. Even a model a version or two back can be very affordable and will greatly improve your voice calls and data speeds, because it will be able to take advantage of high speed data over LTE, voice over LTE (VoLTE), and WiFi calling, to name a few.

Ask Your Carrier About a MicroCell.  If you have absolutely zero cell signal outside your home, and you have a high quality broadband internet connection (not satellite), then you may be able to get a microcell (also known as a femtocell or network extender) from your carrier.  A microcell will connect to your broadband and send all of the calls made in your home over the Internet, instead of the cell network. It's not a perfect solution, but if you don't have any outside cell signal, it may be your only option.

Change to a Different Carrier.  Last but not least, if there is a different carrier in the area that has great cell service, it may be worth switching carriers and solving your problem that way. Many carriers are now offering incentives or will pay your contract cancellation to switch.

If one of these options did not help with your cell problems, then it may be time to turn to a paid solution to solve your situation once and for all.
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Install a cell phone booster will take a weak outside cell signal, bring it inside the home, office or vehicle you're in, amplify it, and then broadcast the boosted signal to the area that needs it most. They're certified by the FCC and recommended by all of the major cell carriers as a preferred solution to weak cell signal or obstructions that prevent the signal from reaching the areas that you need. With millions of boosters operating throughout the United States every day, they're one of the best options for cell signal problems.

This article was originally posted on https://www.ubersignal.com/blog/7-ways-boost-cell-phone-signal-strength-free/

It’s pretty much a given that if you’re buying any type of Android smartphone, you’ll have internal GPS built into the phone. This allows smartphones to use navigational apps, such as Google Maps, location services to properly tag your geo-location across apps, and other uses.

However, not all GPS sensors are built equal: they have different precision and features. In some cases, it may be the hardwares fault that the GPS sensor isn’t working properly, especially in some of the older devices that first started to incorporate this feature. However, nowadays, poor GPS reception or performance could be based on system settings, current ROM installed, or other easily fixed issues. We’ll show you how you can improve your GPS performance on your Android device!

First and foremost, make sure you’ve got your GPS is enabled on your device. Head to Settings > Location Access. In there, you’ll want to make sure that GPS Satellites and Access to my location are turn on/check off.

One of the things that might be the issue to your GPS accuracy is an improperly calibrated compass. If this is the case, that means that your device is getting improper orientation information which will cause issues when using navigational apps. In order to fix this, you’ll need to calibrate your Android’s compass.

An easy fix is to download GPS Essentials and go to the compass section. If it’s not working properly, you can easily press the menu button and select Calibrate. It will walk you through some quick steps to calibrate your compass and should only take a few moments.

Using the same app from calibrating your compass, GPS Essentials, you can also diagnose to see whether it’s an issue with the software or hardware side of things.

You can use GPS Essentials to see how many GPS satellites are currently within range of your device. If you’re unable to get the GPS signal, the app can easily tell you in a graphical manner whether it is because of hardware/software (if there are a good number of satellites in range, say 8 to 10) or whether you’re just currently out of range of any GPS satellites at the moment.

Sometimes your device will get “stuck” on certain GPS satellites, even if they’re not within range, and this will cause you to either have weak or non-existent signals. A good fix to fix this is to clear your GPS data and to start collecting data over from scratch. For this, GPS Status & ToolBox will let you flush and re-download all your GPS data and re-acquire proper satellites within range.

In the App, head to Manage A-GPS State, tap on the Reset Data, and then tap on the Download button. After this, you should be able to fire up any type of app that uses GPS and see a better lock. One of the downsides, however, is that the fix isn’t permanent. You may have to wipe your data again and re-download it if you continue to have your GPS acting up.

This article was originally posted on http://www.androidpit.com/.
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