Regaining signal takes forever

I have the LG Shine (CU720) and it seems like I got better reception in the past from my RAZR and my LG C1500. I guess it's normal, but that's not really what I'm curious about. Regaining a signal seems to take ages. I don't get a signal in Wal-Mart, but yet right by the front door I usually have 2-3 bars before walking inside. I can come out and walk all around the parking lot and it usually takes a few minutes for it to find a signal. This is annoying especially since I already have to leave the store to call someone, and even that doesn't work if I have to walk around outside for 10 minutes hoping the phone will find a signal. I had to use a pay phone for this very reason earlier today. Sometimes I'll have bars, but it won't say AT&T and when I try to make a call it says service unavailable, why is this?

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Thats weird that it takes that long to find a signal after you leave the store......I have the same problem at Sears at one of our malls,I'm lucky if I get 1bar but usually it just says no service the futher you get into Sears but the minute you leave Sears everythings all good again. No matter what phone I've had over the past 10plus yrs I've only lost my signal in that particular store.....did you have the same problem with any of your other phones at this Walmart?

I've had At&T before and had sucky signal/receptions with them but nothing too severe just mainly a lot of dropped calls.

Originally Posted by C.Jackson

I have the LG Shine (CU720) and it seems like I got better reception in the past from my RAZR and my LG C1500. I guess it's normal, but that's not really what I'm curious about. Regaining a signal seems to take ages. I don't get a signal in Wal-Mart, but yet right by the front door I usually have 2-3 bars before walking inside. I can come out and walk all around the parking lot and it usually takes a few minutes for it to find a signal. This is annoying especially since I already have to leave the store to call someone, and even that doesn't work if I have to walk around outside for 10 minutes hoping the phone will find a signal. I had to use a pay phone for this very reason earlier today. Sometimes I'll have bars, but it won't say AT&T and when I try to make a call it says service unavailable, why is this?

You must be in a very low signal area, what you can do is turn your phone off and on and that will force your phone to find a tower faster.....good luck.

Originally Posted by Princesa

Thats weird that it takes that long to find a signal after you leave the store......I have the same problem at Sears at one of our malls,I'm lucky if I get 1bar but usually it just says no service the futher you get into Sears but the minute you leave Sears everythings all good again. No matter what phone I've had over the past 10plus yrs I've only lost my signal in that particular store.....did you have the same problem with any of your other phones at this Walmart?

I've had At&T before and had sucky signal/receptions with them but nothing too severe just mainly a lot of dropped calls.

I got the Shine about the time I moved to the area so I'm not sure whether the others had the same problem. I do think that the other phones got better signal in other areas although I can't be 100% sure. My brother's phone usually gets one more bar than mine and it's a $20 Motorola phone. I got Cingular service around 5 years ago and I'm beginning to think I should switch providers. I see people walking around Wal-Mart using there phones everyday and yet I can't even get one bar inside. It's not just Wal-Mart, service coverage from AT&T hasn't ever been very great in my area. Not to mention no 3G coverage within 60+ miles.

Originally Posted by Tony E!

You must be in a very low signal area, what you can do is turn your phone off and on and that will force your phone to find a tower faster.....good luck.

I usually have 2-3 bars before I go inside, when I go inside they fade away until I have nothing. I'll try turning it off and see if that helps, but it seems to me that it should do it's best to regain a signal whenever possible on it's own.

What about the occurrence of bars and no carrier name at the bottom? Sometimes I'll be standing outside of Wal-mart after coming out and have 5 bars, AT&T absent from the bottom and when trying to make a call it says "Service unavailable". Is it giving me a glipse of what kind of signal I'd have with another carrier or what?


I failed to mention that I'm using prepaid service. I'm not sure if you noticed that I'm using AT&T's GoPhone service and I think this makes a difference.
I'm thinking about switching to either Alltel or Verizon, staying prepaid though. Which would you recommend? I want the best coverage possible. I hardly ever use the internet features on phones, just check the weather every now and again. The biggest used features with my service are voicemail, call waiting, and very light text messaging. I really just need service that'll work best around my area.

Originally Posted by C.Jackson

I'll try turning it off and see if that helps, but it seems to me that it should do it's best to regain a signal whenever possible on it's own.

I'm sure it does, but if the phone thinks that you're going to be out of service for a while, it's way better for your battery to check at longer and longer intervals.

On my T-Mobile phone in the settings, there was a Networks section that would let me browse the cell networks within reception; since that screen required the phone to wake up and listen, going to that screen was a quick way to force it to regain signal.

Originally Posted by AllTom

I'm sure it does, but if the phone thinks that you're going to be out of service for a while, it's way better for your battery to check at longer and longer intervals.

On my T-Mobile phone in the settings, there was a Networks section that would let me browse the cell networks within reception; since that screen required the phone to wake up and listen, going to that screen was a quick way to force it to regain signal.

I went and bought a prepaid Verizon phone and now I have service everywhere I did and didn't have it before. I have yet to have a dropped call nor have I even gone into an area where I couldn't make a call. After over 6 years of Cingular/AT&T service I finally know what it's like to have coverage in all of the areas I need it!