Fixing Poor Cellphone Coverage
Cellphones can have trouble getting a good signal inside buildings. Problems can be caused by building structures or high tech windows that block signals or by poor coverage outside of the building. Cellular signal boosters and relay systems can provide a stronger signal, but an often overlooked idea is to use what is known as ‘Wi-Fi calling’. There are many advantages—take a look.
Normal Cellular Service

Usually, your cell phone will connect to a nearby base station using radio spectrum allocated to your service provider. That service degrades as you get farther from the serving base station, or as you put more dense material in the way of the signal, such as by being inside a building or going underground.
There are solutions for poor signal areas, like booster antennae or even very small cell sites. However, these are for carriers themselves to use because end users are not licensed to set up their own base stations this way.
WiFi Calling
While you can make VoIP calls on your phone using WhatsApp or other specialty apps, using carrier-supported WiFi calling is easier to set up and use. The technology is likely there in your phone, but it has to be enabled first.
How To Activate
It’s a two part process. First you activate the service with the carrier, then you activate the feature on your phone.
Step 1, using Telus as an example: Add the free WiFi Calling Feature on your plan using your TELUS online account.
It’s similar for Bell. For Rogers: use your smartphone browser and go to www.rogers.com/AndroidWiFi. For Fido, Step 1 and Step 2 are all done as one process from your phone.
Step 2, using iPhone as an example:
- Open your iPhone
- Select Phone
- Select Wi-Fi Calling
- You will need to read and accept the Wi-Fi Calling Terms and Conditions
- Enter your Emergency 911 Address
On Samsung Android phones, you start from the Phone app, as if you were making a call. Click the three dots at the top right and select ‘Settings’. Scroll down and you will find WiFi calling just waiting to be enabled.
Other phones will be similar but you may need to revert to the manual or a Google search.
Your phone will now authenticate over the internet with your service provider and, as long as WiFi is available, all inbound and outbound calls will go over WiFi. This includes text messages for Android. Apple already uses the data network for text messaging.
Your phone will happily switch back and forth as WiFi service comes and goes but active calls might drop.
Is There a Cost?
They say that it’s free but they mean that there’s no extra charge. Usage counts against your monthly plan limits for calls and texts.
If you’re an IT manager, or otherwise are responsible for WiFi or cellphones, you should first check how much traffic each access point is carrying to ensure that there’s enough capacity to add WiFi calling. Then teach your users the procedure for enabling the feature. It is a simple way to give them better service.
If you’d like to explore these ideas further or comment on this article, contact me at ellen.
This article was published in the
May 2023
edition of The TMC Advisor
- ISSN 2369-663X Volume:10 Issue:4
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