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March 11, 2021
Rural areas hit hardest overall
Research from Uswitch.com has revealed that around 29 million people regularly suffer problems with the signal inside their homes.
According to the survey, over a quarter of people (27 per cent) report having to move to another room because of poor mobile reception, while 19 per cent use a messaging service like Whatsapp or iMessage instead. One in seven (14 per cent) leave the house in a bid to get a better signal.
When mobile users asked their provider for help with reception issues, well over a third (37 per cent) were recommended to make calls over their Wi-Fi instead.
Nearly two-fifths (39 per cent) of respondents regularly use Wi-Fi Calling, while more than a third (35 per cent) don’t know what it is.
Reception issues are worst in semi-detached houses, with nearly one in three residents (30 per cent) enduring a substandard signal.
Rural areas suffer the biggest connection issues and are almost 50 per cent more likely than residents in suburban regions to face failed calls. More than four in ten residents (40 per cent) living in the countryside complain of dropped calls, which falls to a third (33 per cent) for urban areas and a quarter (27 per cent) for suburban regions.
Residents in London, Edinburgh, and Belfast are most likely to endure failed calls due to signal issues (18 per cent).
Mobile users experience the most problems in the living room with almost four in ten people (39 per cent) having signal issues there. The bedroom (31 per cent) and kitchen (29 per cent) were next worse while one in ten people (10 per cent) complained of poor reception in the toilet.
Uswitch.com telecoms expert Ru Bhikha said: “There’s nothing more frustrating than having to march around your home in a vain bid to get a decent signal, but it’s a struggle experienced by 30 million of us.
“The digital divide stubbornly persists, with residents in rural areas almost 50% more likely to suffer dropped calls than those in suburban areas.
“If you’re having problems getting a good signal through your mobile reception, your best bet could be making calls over Wi-Fi instead. It’s easy to do, but you’ll need to check whether it’s supported by your mobile provider.
“The mobile reception in your home will be determined by a huge number of factors including the coverage in your area, the thickness of your walls, and the presence of materials that can block the signal.
“However, the quickest way of ensuring you have the strongest mobile reception possible is to check network coverage maps before you sign up with a provider. It takes only five minutes and could help you find which network has the best signal in your area.”