Showing posts with label dead spots. Show all posts

6G vs 5G: Can the Next Network Finally End Dead Zones?

By DeadCellZones.com • August 2025

5G promised gigabit speeds, ultra-low latency, and a new era of connectivity. But for millions of users, especially in rural communities and large buildings, dead zones never went away. Now, with 6G cellular on the horizon, the question is whether this next-generation network can finally deliver.

Smarter Networks, Not Just Faster

While 5G focused on raw speed, 6G’s pitch is about AI-native networks—systems that automatically adapt to location, device, and environmental conditions. This could mean fewer coverage blind spots, as the network learns to route and boost signals where users need them most.

Satellites in the Standard

6G will integrate non-terrestrial networks (NTN)—direct satellite-to-phone links—from day one. This could bring connectivity to remote valleys, ships at sea, and disaster areas without extra hardware. It’s a major step beyond 5G’s limited satellite trials.

Better Indoor and Urban Coverage

Using sub-terahertz spectrum and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), 6G aims to push signals into urban canyons and deep inside buildings. RIS technology can reflect and shape radio waves, potentially eliminating dead spots in skyscraper districts, stadiums, and malls.

Near-Instant Latency

5G targeted 1 ms latency but rarely achieved it for consumers. 6G promises 0.1 ms latency, unlocking real-time applications like holographic conferencing, autonomous vehicle coordination, and mission-critical robotics—even in previously marginal coverage areas.

Built-In Sensing

6G networks will include RF sensing, enabling them to detect motion, presence, and environmental changes without GPS or extra sensors. This could allow networks to detect coverage disruptions and fix them on the fly.

Security and Sustainability

With quantum-safe encryption and energy-aware protocols, 6G aims to be more secure and greener than 5G. Lower power use could make it economically viable to expand coverage to rural regions where operating costs are a barrier today.

5G vs 6G at a Glance

Feature	5G	6G
Goal	Faster speeds	AI-adaptive coverage
Coverage	Terrestrial towers	Terrestrial + satellite (NTN)
Indoor Gaps	Persistent	RIS + sub-THz fixes
Latency	~1 ms	~0.1 ms
Sensing	Limited	Built-in RF sensing

What It Means for Dead Zones

If 6G’s features live up to their potential, today’s dead zones could become rare. With satellite integration, adaptive AI routing, and advanced indoor coverage tools, carriers will have fewer excuses for gaps. But as with 5G, the real proof will come from crowdsourced coverage maps—not carrier marketing.

Follow 6G developments and help map real-world coverage by reporting your dead zones on DeadCellZones.com.

The Promises of 6G: How Ubiquitous Cellular Connectivity Could Become Reality

As the world begins to settle into the era of 5G, researchers and telecom companies are already envisioning the next great leap—6G, the sixth generation of wireless technology. Scheduled to roll out commercially in the early 2030s, 6G promises to go far beyond faster speeds. Its bold vision centers on ubiquitous cellular connectivity, ensuring that every person, device, and environment is continuously and seamlessly connected.

While 5G has improved bandwidth, reliability, and latency, it still faces gaps—particularly in rural areas, at sea, or in disaster zones. 6G aims to close these gaps with a mix of advanced technologies, global coverage strategies, and intelligent network design.

Pasadena Police Lt. Gomez used technology and the investigation pointed to the suspects targeting victims in remote areas with poor cellphone reception while they were distracted during the assaults.

What State Has the Worst Cell Phone Coverage? A Comprehensive Analysis

In today's digital age, staying connected through our cell phones has become a necessity. Whether for work, social interactions, or emergencies, reliable cell phone coverage is crucial. However, not all states in the United States offer the same level of service. In this article and video, we will conduct a comprehensive analysis to identify the state with the worst cell phone coverage, exploring the factors contributing to its challenges and offering insights for users in that region.

Recreation.gov Seeks Cell Phone Service Reviews

Embarking on a camping adventure is a delightful way to reconnect with nature and escape the hustle and bustle of modern life. However, as technology continues to be an integral part of our lives, staying connected during camping trips has become essential for many outdoor enthusiasts. Recognizing this need, Recreation.gov, the go-to platform for discovering and reserving federal recreation areas, has taken a step towards ensuring campers can access cell phone service when needed. In this article, we'll explore how Recreation.gov solicits cell phone service reviews at campgrounds, promoting a more informed and connected camping experience.

Determining the "best" satellite phone depends on your specific needs, usage requirements, and preferences. Different satellite phone models offer varying features, durability, network compatibility, and pricing. Here are a few popular satellite phone models known for their reliability and performance:

Yes, satellite phones tend to be more expensive compared to traditional cellular phones. There are a few reasons for this:

Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard dead zones map

Listen to the "In This Place " Podcast by Mary Bergman

I have, unwittingly, become instantly identifiable by my red knit cap. I have been wearing the cap each winter for more than a decade, and on days when I wear something else, I am invisible. Invisibility is hard to come by on a small island. Even though we are well into spring, the wind is unrelenting. Red stands out on foggy mornings.

“I saw you on the way to work,” a woman at the coffee shop says, her eyes narrowing, “iced coffee on a day as windy as this?”

You can’t get away with anything out here, but I suppose I’ve always lived in fishbowls.

There are other people who have these sort of identifiers — the woman who rides her bike to the post office each day, chaining it to a lamppost. The man who leaves his truck with the dented bumper running outside the grocery store. The people who have this place memorized just so, they barely look up from their book or newspaper to navigate the cobblestones or splitting sidewalks.

You’re never more than twenty minutes away from everywhere else, and with cell phones, you’re always reachable. A lot of my friends are looking for ways to disconnect from the cloud these days, and find their way back to the real world. Their every digital move is monitored. They talk of social media cleanses, “dumb” phones that resemble the kind of plastic brick you might have kept in the glove compartment for roadside emergencies fifteen years ago, and erasing digital footprints.

There’s another way to escape all that. Nantucket is full of dead zones, places where the cell signal evaporates, and pockets of space where no one can reach you. Most people see this as an impediment. One website, yes, we can’t stay away from the internet entirely, says that Nantucket’s cell service is better than Cuttyhunk Island and Monomy in Chatham (thankfully, seals do not make telephone calls), but worse than every other city and town in the state. (I was in a Boston harbor tunnel a few weeks ago and the signal was clearer than anyplace on the island.)

I can’t fix them, so I might as well look forward to the dead zones on my walks around the island. I’ve started to pay more attention along these stretches of beach and bike path, slowing down to see if there is something here I should be noticing. Why this zone among all the others? Funny, how much of the world is moved by things unseen.

As we head into yet another overwhelming summer, I urge my fellow islanders to embrace the dead zones. Go to that beach where your social media pages won’t load. Take a walk on that path where news alerts can’t find you. Be invisible, just for a moment. It’ll all be waiting for you when you get back into service or put on your red cap.

SiriusXM Roof Rack Interference

XM satellite radios will experience dead zones or dropouts if the receiving is not properly installed far away from the roof rack. This interference will become a major problem especially when you are near a T-Mobile cell phone tower.

Don't mount the antenna close to a roof rack. Adjust the rack so it's further away from the antenna. If you have a surfboard or something on the roof this will also interfere with the signal.

Troubleshooting Tips for Common Signal and Audio Reception Problems Here are ways to identify and correct some of the common signal and audio reception problems you may encounter:

PROBLEM: XM RADIO DISPLAYS "CHECK ANTENNA" or "CHECK ANTENNA CONNECTION" or "ANTENNA"
Possible cause #1: The antenna is not properly connected to the Radio or Vehicle Dock, or the connection has become loose.
Solution: Check the antenna connection to the XM Radio or Vehicle Dock and make sure it has a good, snug fit.
Possible cause #2: If the antenna is properly connected to the XM Radio or Vehicle Dock, there may be a break in the antenna cable, or a problem with the antenna.
Solution: Replace the Magnetic Mount Antenna.
PROBLEM: XM RADIO DISPLAYS "ACQUIRING SIGNAL" or "NO SIGNAL"
Possible cause: The Magnetic Mount Antenna is not receiving a satellite signal.
Solution 1: Make sure the vehicle is outdoors with a clear view of the sky.
Solution 2: Make sure the antenna is mounted on the outside of the vehicle in an optimal location. (Follow the mounting tips described earlier for your vehicle type.)
Solution 3: Move the vehicle away from any obstructed area. For example, if you are parked in an underground garage, you should receive a signal after leaving the garage.
PROBLEM: There is static or loss of clarity in the XM Radio's audio
Possible cause #1: If you have connected the audio of your XM Radio to your vehicle's FM radio using the FM transmitter, the FM channel you have selected is most likely being used by an FM radio station. This interferes with the audio of the XM Radio.

Why Your Home Cell Phone Signal Has Stopped Working

Cell Towers vs Distributed Antenna Systems

If you live in a rural area of the United States it is likely that your cell phone signal strength has been fluctuating or might have dropped entirely in recent years as carriers move from 3G to 4G LTE. Wireless carriers are increasingly moving services in areas from the very tall cell phone towers to the smaller distributed antenna systems as you see in the picture above. Why?

These very tall cell phone towers can provide 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE coverage of 1 to 2 miles and service several thousand people and homes from a single tower. Carriers are increasingly dealing with capacity issues on these tall towers and have to turn wireless signals down or off in areas on antennas where there are congestion problems (too many users) or not enough customers (not profitable).

This could result in your home that previously had several bars of cell phone signal suddenly not having any signal at all. The wireless carrier may put up a DAS system in your neighborhood to fix the problem if you complain enough. DAS or Distributed Antenna Systems are essentially smaller and lower power cell towers that are installed on top or inside of buildings or utility poles most commonly. DAS antenna systems will provide service to a smaller number of people. The theory is that your signal will be more reliable and faster.

Unfortunately, the FCC or FTC has no mandate for the wireless carrier they have to inform you of changes in signal strength in your neighborhood. Carriers might not even reflect this coverage accurately on their coverage maps for several years. Deadcellzones.com has been operating for the last 18 years collecting complaints on a map of where customers have trouble getting cell phone signals.

The complaint latest trend in the industry seems to be carriers optimizing their networks in markets and dropping coverage for "unprofitable" markets. There is no guarantee that coverage will be provided at your home and this is the biggest portion of customer traffic adding data to the dead zones map.

I am curious what some homeowners have done to remedy this problem with carriers. Please comment below if you have any feedback or suggestions on how to solve this problem with each carrier. These carriers have gotten so big that bureaucracy is probably the biggest obstacle to getting solutions for customers who have lost good home cell phone signals.

Campground Cell Phone Coverage Reviews

Cell Phone Coverage Reviews vs Campgrounds Map

Cell Phone Towers Map vs Campgrounds Map

Today, we launched two new comparison maps that will help you find cell phone reception at campgrounds all over the United States.

The 1st map on the upper left shows you 70,000+ cell phone coverage reviews submitted by our users. Click on these pins to read the specific reviews and comments. The map to the upper right is a map of 28,000+ campgrounds. Click on these pins to get the specifics of each campground.

The 2nd map below shows 100,000+ cell phone towers vs 28,000+ campgrounds. Use this map and submit new coverage reviews directly by clicking on the +.

These two maps are showing the Grand Canyon as example. However, there are over 28,000 campground sites in the database.

We are looking to build out more cell phone coverage reviews at campgrounds this summer.

New Weather Channel App Notifies You When Cell Networks Are Down

New Weather App Can Spread Urgent Alerts Even When Cell Networks Are Down.

The Weather Company’s new Android app uses mesh networking to spread data between phones over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. IBM, The Weather Company launch mesh-powered app for internet-poor regions.

Having a wealth of up-to-the-minute climate data at our fingertips is something most of us take for granted. Thanks to a reliable cell connection, our smartphones, and the work of hundreds of meteorologists and climatologists around the globe, keeping abreast of an incoming storm isn’t so much a matter of how, but how quickly. Unfortunately, though, that isn’t the case for everyone.

In developing countries, cellular connectivity is congested, intermittent, and in the worst cases inaccessible. That’s why IBM, in collaboration with developers at The Weather Company, introduced Mesh Network Alerts, a new technology that provides a peer-to-peer means of facilitating communications between residents of underserved nations.

Mesh Network Alerts work by linking mobile devices directly to one another, daisy-chaining handsets in a sort of node network. Using a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, each connected smartphone stores and propagates messages to devices within a 300- to 500-foot radius, creating a mesh that can effectively reach more devices. Read more

Long Range Wireless Intercom for Remote Job Sites

Discovered this product at CES 2017. At last, I can talk to my colleagues in my field operations: saving time and improving safety when no cell phone coverage is available! Startup Appi Technology from France that showcased at CES 2017.

Watch the interview with Appi about half way through.

#ConTechTrio LIVE at #CES2017 with Eureka Park - The startups! https://t.co/oqV03ZGv8l
— ConTechTrio 🛠📱🖥 (@ConTechTrio) January 6, 2017

Cell Phone Coverage Map Updates

How To Search For Coverage Problems

Finding the best cell phone coverage just got easier by comparing cell phone coverage reports from other customers. We have updated our Cell Phone Dead Zones Coverage Map with the following new data features and information:

All blanks or entries with nothing in the description have been deleted. 78,289 records were in the database as of today and approximately 28,320 were deleted because they were left blank or didn't have any description of the reception problem. There are 49,969 active records in the database from 2008-2016 as of today.

Dates have been added to all entries and you can search by year or month.

Record numbers have been added to all entries from 2008-2016. If you see a number between 1-49,696 then it has been added to the database before December 16, 2016. If carriers or customers think reception problems have been fixed that are currently on the map. Simply send us a list of the records that you would like to deleted. A description of why we should delete would also be helpful.

Search the map by data or description for a particular problem by city, state, zip or by a keyword in the description. (Example: "school", "hospital", "airport").

Every point on the map will have some context of the problem a customer is experiencing. We will not longer be keeping blank data entries on the map.

Email us if you would like a download of a particular region.

CA Highway 74 T-Mobile Cell Phone Coverage

Despite what the map says there is no T-Mobile cell phone coverage in this area of Highway 74.

Can Drones Help Cell Phone Dead Zones?

Verizon Communications is testing the deployment of large-scale drones to provide mobile connectivity in emergency situations when the land-based cellular network has been damaged. But the carrier hopes the trials will also entice corporate customers who may want to use the connected drones for new business applications. Read more.

AT&T suggested in a blog post that it may consider using drones to provide better cell coverage at major public events like music festivals and sporting events. It is notoriously difficult for cellular carriers to provide adequate coverage to such large gatherings: cell towers often get overloaded with voice and data traffic during these events. So carriers normally bring in trucks loaded with equipment that helps extend cellular coverage to large gatherings. Read more.

How to Search Dead Zones Database Map

Word Cloud of Dead Cell Zones Database

You can search for these locations on the dead zones map.

See the map below for directions.

Is RootMetrics Data Too Expensive?

RootMetrics vs DeadCellZones Map

RootMetrics just sold to IHS last year for what was reportedly a huge number. Why? Carriers and wireless regional tower operators/service providers buy their data for competitive analysis and determine which carriers could use coverage enhancements in certain markets. How many service providers can afford the huge price for the data? If you are in the industry you know what I mean.

RootMetrics claims to drive test (test signal strength) in under 100 markets twice per year. Drive testing makes sense but it is anecdotal data and only a snapshot at that time. Can RootMetrics possibly drive test during every rush hour in every location? No! Do RootMetrics have actual customer complaints? No! Are they drive testing in rural and undeserved marketing? No! Do their maps tell you where problems exist? Kind of.

Which map tells you more about where problems exist? What RootMetrics doesn't have are actual customer coverage complaints like what we publish on Deadcellzones.com. We get 3,000-5,000 people per day that visit our web site and contribute dead zones directly to the map.

If you are looking to purchase data from RootMetrics than you most certainly should also look at purchasing our crowdsourced Dead Zone data. Positive signal strength data and negative signal strength information can be quite complimentary. Contact us for further details on pricing and why we can help you save money.

How Do Public Utilities Deal With Mobile Dead Zones?

What Does A Public Works & Utility Service Vehicles Deal With Mobile Dead Zones?

Gas, phone, water, road & electric utility companies are more dependent than ever on mobile communications with their home office. From scheduling appointments to ordering equipment to emergency services. Communication is critical to solving problems quickly.

What does a public utility truck do when they don't have service? Can they prepare ahead of time to know if a particular service area is not going to have good cell phone service?

It has been suggested by a public utility in California that there is a need to help their service people prepare before going into the field. All public utility vehicles take work into the field and are heavily reliant on mobile platforms to perform that work. Everyone knows of the dead spots so why not prepare by sharing these locations with us on a map. Currently, most utility workers rely on local knowledge and don't have a map system for this knowledge.

We are willing to share this information back with you for your mapping GIS solutions. Send us your notorious dead zones and we will post the data directly to the map. Most the public utility agencies use ESRI and our data can fit right into these mapping systems.