Hilton Head Island Cell Phone Reception

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina might have some of the worst cell phone reception of any vacation spot in the U.S. for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile.  As you can see on the Deadcellzones.com map there are numerous dead zone complaints in the area for all the carriers.  City residents and vacationers are being encouraged by the City Council to contribute additional information to the map above by adding your cell phone coverage problems to it.  Simply, click on the map to add your complaint and follow the video instructions for additional details here on how to submit a cell phone reception complaint.  The City of Hilton Head is hoping to come up with a plan to provide residents with coverage enhancements in the area for all the carriers using wireless broadband and additional distributed antenna systems (DAS).

Fake Cell Phone Pine Tree

There are lots of reasons why Hilton Head suffers from poor coverage but we think it's primarily due to the dense trees in the area.  Cell phone signals do not penetrate trees, buildings,s, and hills well and the amount of cell phone towers in the area is not sufficient to provide adequate coverage.  DAS antenna systems can be installed on telephone poles in the areas and fake cell phone tower pine trees can also be used.  However, this typically will come with some resistance from homeowners who don't want to have cell towers near their homes.  Residents and vacationers don't currently have many solutions to the problem except using WiFi at hotels and vacation rentals whenever possible.  However, when you are sitting on the beach you are likely to suffer from a lack of reception from all the carriers.

Contribute your opinion and feedback to the City Council Planning Commission below.