Improving Cell Phone Reception

I have Verizon. A coworker described how to improve cell phone reception.

The cell phone has a Preferred Roaming List (or PRL). This list tells your card which towers to look for when establishing connection. As new EVDO towers are installed, your PRL will become out of date because it won't know to hunt for these new towers.

From http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/howTo/prlHowTo.jsp

Updating Preferred Roaming List(PRL)

Verizon Wireless is constantly advancing its roaming technology to provide you with superior roaming capabilities. By updating your PRL every few weeks, you can be sure you have access to our enhancements. As a result you may experience:

* Longer battery life
* Fewer dropped or blocked calls
* Clear, crisp connections in more areas across the United States
* Ability to connect to the digital network in more parts of the country

Instructions for updating your PRL:

1. Power on your phone within any Verizon Wireless digital service area.
2. Dial *228 and then press SEND (this call is airtime free).
3. When prompted, press option 2 to update your phone's roaming capabilities
(the update may take up to 2 minutes).
4. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear to inform you that your phone has been re-programmed with the new PRL.

Posted at 7:15 PM