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Can Weather Affect Your Phone Service?

man struggling with bad mobile signal during bad weather

In the digital world, staying connected through mobile devices is essential. Whether it be for work, socialising or accessing information, we rely heavily on a strong mobile connection. Yet our mobile signal sometimes isn’t as strong as it should be and the weather could contribute to it. Our experts here at NetCov have put together this blog to provide insight into how weather affects your phone signal and how to keep it consistently strong. But first things first, can the weather affect your phone service?

Yes, the weather can affect your phone service. It can directly affect the signal by interfering with the radio waves or indirectly by blocking or weakening the signal. The best way to combat weather interference is through a signal booster such as ours from NetCov.

Read on to learn more about how the weather affects your phone service with NetCov.

How Does Weather Affect Your Phone Signal?

Weather can affect your phone signal in two ways: indirectly and directly.

Direct interference is caused by weather conditions that directly interfere with the radio wave path. The waves can be either reflected, refracted or blocked. Rain, for example, causes the radio waves to bounce as the signal tries to travel through the water droplets.

Indirect interference is caused by uncontrollable weather that weakens, blocks or sometimes terminates the signal. Lightning that damages a cell tower, for example, can cause users receiving their signal from that tower to lose their phone reception.


If your signal is being affected by weather, we have signal boosters to help keep your signal robust. Browse our range of signal boosters to see how we can help you.

What Types Of Weather Affects Phone Service?

Different weather types will affect your phone signal differently depending on the conditions.

Rain And Fog

Rain and fog will cause the amplitude of the signal to weaken, and your phone signal quality will worsen during this weather. The signal will cut as the phone signal tries to pass through rain droplets, as the droplets will bounce the signal.

As 5G signals travel at a higher frequency, they are more likely to become disrupted during a rainstorm as the rain and fog can absorb the signals and scatter them, leading to signal loss. As 4G is more resilient to rain, it’s less likely to happen, but signal quality issues will still be experienced.

Snow And Hail

Snow and hail are composed of ice, less dense and more reflective than rain. This type of weather is less likely to interfere with your signal directly. Heavy snowfall could cause signal interference by refracting the radio waves.

Snow and hail are more likely to interfere with your mobile phone signal indirectly; they could cause power outages or damage cell towers.

Extreme Heat

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can damage the electrical components in cell towers, potentially causing overheating and signal disruption. However, The higher the humidity, the weaker your phone signal will be.

Thunder And Lightning

Thunderstorms pose a real danger to your mobile connection. As thunderstorms have a high amount of electrical activity, they can disrupt cell towers by causing damage, weakening them, or even causing a signal loss. Lighting causes electrical interference and will likely result in the loss of mobile signal.

Wind

Wind by itself shouldn’t cause any disruption to your phone signal. But if you are experiencing high winds during a thunderstorm, for example, you are more likely to face interference or signal loss. High winds can affect power lines and cell towers, affecting your local cell service.

Stay Connected During Bad Weather With NetCov

No matter the weather, our signal boosters here at NetCov can help you. Our signal boosters are designed to give you strong coverage no matter where you are. Contact our team today to see how we can fix any of your connectivity issues.

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