if i had to take a wild guess, i would say make sure your old phone and new phone are using the same type of network... gsm or cdma, and if both old and new phones are the same type of network, i would refer back to the age old question of which brand phone gets best reception? a lot of people say motorola, but a lot of sprint users like sanyo phones for reception.

does your service provider know you are using a replacement phone? they might need to register its esn on their network, and then your phone might work better.

again these are all just guesses, since nobody else has posted a reply yet...

I have a replacement phone and am getting a no service message at many of the places I was able to make calls with my other phone. This is not a no service area for cell phones in general as many other people use their phones in the areas. I was told it was not where I am calling from but the area I am calling to. But this is not true as tried an experment where I tried to call a friend on her cell phone who was about 10 feet away. I got a no service message when I tried to dial her number. So my question is-is it the Nokia phone, Consumer cellular or what? Please help as I really need a cell phone that works in all the places I go frequently.