Weak VZW signal in my neighborhood affecting my cellular-based home security system

[lilbrownjon]

Hello all,

I'm hoping to get some feedback & possible solutions on my current situation:

I live in a neighborhood where cellular service is generally bad among all carriers - not just VZW.  Out of all the major carriers, VZW still has the strongest signal, but it's not really a consolation to my fellow neighbors that can't rely on the network to place/receive phone calls.  Luckily, I've been able to utilize WiFi calling on my iPhone 7 to address that problem.  However, I have a new problem that surfaced about a month ago and is ongoing:

I have a cellular-based security system in my home (purchased & monitored through FrontPoint Security) - and over the past month or so, the alarm system's control panel has been having trouble communicating to the central monitoring station - which relies on cellular connectivity. My panel has a Verizon antenna (NOTE: we have the flexibility to choose which antenna we want, and I obviously chose Verizon).  Thus, I am having trouble arming & disarming the system from my smartphone (more of an annoyance than a concern), and am also troubled by the fact that if someone does try to break into my house, the system won't be able to communicate with the monitoring station, and I won't be notified. In talking with FrontPoint, their system logs confirm that my neighborhood has been experiencing pretty bad cell coverage across ALL carriers.

Moving the control panel around the house to other strategic locations was their proposed solution for now, but it has proved to be a Band-Aid solution only; the signal has been fluctuating a lot, it just won't hold regardless of where I place it. 

So ultimately, my questions are the following:

1. Has anyone experienced something similar - and if so, how did you address it? Should I maybe ask for an AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile antenna?
2. What can be done to improve cell service once & for all in my neighborhood?  E.g. build additional towers, etc....and what power do we as consumers have in pushing for that?
3. Anything else I can do in the meantime? Perhaps VZW can be so kind as to provide a signal booster for free or at a discount? I've been told (but I can't confirm if it's true) that T-Mobile provides one for free to its customers that experience poor service at home. It goes w/o saying that I'd rather not pay hundreds of dollars for one.

For reference, my home area is 91710.

Thank You,

Jon

[yarelim_vzw]

lilbrownjon​ ,

One of our top priorities is to be able to provide you a reliable service and understand how this is an important for you in regards to your home security system. We are aware that there are circumstances in which our signal strength is not as strong as excepted and there are various factors that can cause the signal interference. In situations were our customers are experiencing weak signal strengths, we  recommend the use of our Verizon Network Extender which acts as an antenna within your home. The network extender would however require a high speed internet connect at home.

Click on the link to obtain additional information about our network extender 3G Network Extender FAQs | Verizon Wireless  .

yarelim_vzw​