How reliable is home phone connect with weak signal strength?

[jtboney]

I live in an area that for the first year had decent signal strength.  It was never strong but for the past 4 months my cell phones frequently can't make or receive calls.  I complained to Verizon so much they finally gave me a network extender and now the service in my home is fine.  My question is about a home phone connect for my Mother next door.  She doesn't have internet so she can't have a network extender and mine won't reach that far (about 100 yards).  I am able to make and receive calls at her house on my cell about 80% of the time, about the same as my house before the network extender.  I just have a basic LG phone and I usually have 1 bar of service down there, never more.  I have asked the sales people at Verizon and they all say SURE the home phone direct will work fine.  It has a better antenna and transmitter than your cell phone.  You won't have a problem.  Has anyone had similar experience with using the home phone connect in a marginal signal area?  If so did it have substantially better signal strength than a cell phone?  My son has a new IPhone 4S and he always has a better signal than my little cheapie.

[Leminkel]

We use Verizon Home Phone Connect, we are not within city limits where we live and reception can be spotty at times. We have never had a single problem with our Home Phone Connect. I do believe Verizon would let you try it and return it if it doesn't work. I originally switched to this service because we were going to be moving and I cannot change my home number (for work purposes) - I've had this service at 3 different addresses now, able to take my number where ever I go and have always had great service.

Good luck!

[lewisr13]

Can't you take yours over to your Mom's house to see how the reception is? I'm very familiar with Home Phone Connect. Thought about it, but I needed to be able to fax.

[jtboney]

THANKS for the reply.  I went to the Verizon store today and picked one up.  I have a 14 day trial where it can be returned for a full refund if it doesn't  work.  The $35 activation fee is supposed to be nonrefundable but the guy said if it doesn't work right off the bat to call him (within a couple of days) and he could stop the activation without any charges.

In response to lewisr13 I don't have a home phone direct, only 3 cells at my house with the network extender.  I have a very poor signal on my cell at my Moms house.  She can't have a network extender because she doesn't have internet.

Anyway I brought the unit home today and walked all over her house.   Sometimes I had one signal (out of 3) and about half the time I didn't have any.  Of course when I had none I could not make or receive a call.  I was about ready to box it up and take it back when I decided to go to an outside utility room, where I intended to mount it in the first place.

Low and behold there is a spot on the east facing wall of the utility room where it has TWO signals.  If I move it more than 3-4 inches in any direction I lose one of them.  It's been about an hour and so far they have glowed blue without blinking as long as I don't move it.  Of course the phone works fine as long as they stay that way.

I am both pleased and worried.  Pleased that it is performing so well and worried that it won't remain that way.  The guy at the Verizon store was extremely helpful and told me to call him with any questions or problems.  I called him and asked if he thought the signal would remain that way.  He said he thought it would but didn't really know for sure.  I have got my fingers crossed and will watch it very closely for the 14 days.  Just my luck on the 15th day it might be lights out.

I hope not - I am looking so forward to porting her AT&T number to Verizon and saying Adios to Ma Bell and her whole family.  My Mother is 86 years old and has had phone service for about 55 years.  She's never been late with a payment in all those years and when she called them with a problem they treated her like [removal required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service] .

[jtboney]

Update on home phone connect.  It's been about 24 hours and I still have two blue signal bars burning brightly.  The phone works perfectly so far.  Still have fingers crossed.

[vzw_customer_support]

@jtboney - The service should remain consistently the same. The only thing that I can possibly add to this is that environmental factors can play a role. I do not know where you live, or about your immediate surroundings, but the good thing is that you got your device during the summer/fall. So if you have trees around you, then foliage is not a direct impacting issue there in the utility room. Snow fall may affect you, but if there aren't many trees around you, there shouldn't be any worries. Even if you do, you won't know for sure that if it will even affect you, until the first substantial snow fall. The good thing is that the device is portable so you may move it to a different location if needed to aquire the best possible signal.

Keep us posted though with your experience, please. If you need us, we are all here to assist!

Thank you everyone, and take care.

NicandroN_VZW
Please follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport

[jtboney]

Thanks for the reply.  It has now been two weeks and it is working perfectly.  The house is actually surrounded by pine trees - they never shed their foliage.  We are located in central Mississippi so snow should never be a problem.  Hopefully the location it is in will be good for a long time to come.

The thing I cannot understand is the change in signal strength that occurred about 4 months ago.  I live about 100 yards from my Mother and had great coverage with my cell phone until then.  Anywhere in either house or either yard I had great service.  All of a sudden my cell phone started dropping calls and I was unable to call or text about 50% of the time.  When Verizon sent me the network extender it fixed the problem at my house but it is the same at my Mothers.  I honestly can't say what my signal strength was prior to this problem but I do know that I NEVER had problems making or receiving calls so I feel that it was pretty good. 

I have talked to tech support several times and they say that nothing has changed on their end.  I understand summer foliage and physical barriers that prevent the signal from coming through but I don't think that is the case.  It started suddenly - one day - and has never been the same since.  If you have any ideas I would certainly like to hear them.  When I leave my driveway and don't have the network extender coverage I can't make or receive calls most of the time.

THANKS

JT

[clemwork]

My signal strength when I bought the device was almost always two (good) but now has gone down to one (marginal) almost all the time. Is there any kind of signal boosting device that will work with home phone connect?

[jackgiljr]

Same here it worked perfectly for about 2 months showing two bars, Now I am only showing 1 bar to none and repeatedly dropping calls. Stuck in a 2 year contract with a useless phone

[clemwork]

There are 3rd party signal booster devices such as

http://3gstore.com/device/204_verizon_home_connect_f256vw.html but don't

know how well they work, and means more money. Anyone know?