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I wanted to do an episode to show you how I deal with the terrible cellular phone coverage in my house. It ridiculous. I either have to stand near a window to make a call, or I have to go outside. If people call me on my cell, it rarely rings and the only way I know someone called is from the missed call notifications.
Anyway, one of the greatest products ever produced is Google Voice, and it allows you to make and receive free calls to anywhere in the US and Canada. Also if you have Sprint, like I do, it natively integrates with Google Voice. That is cool because if someone calls your cell phone number, you can receive the call over Google Voice. How does this help you in your house?
Well, one way that only costs about $50 is the Obihai Obi110 device. It is a little box that plugs into your internet connection at home, then you can plug an analog phone into it allowing you to make and receive calls over Google Voice.
What if you don't want to spend any money on additional equipment? Then I have a couple of apps for you as well. For Android, their is Groove IP Lite. For iPhone (And for Android as well now) there is Talkatone.
Both apps allow you to make and receive calls using Google Voice from your smart phone over the Internet. The lite versions only work over Wifi, but that is totally fine if you are only using it as a workaround for the poor reception in your home.
I personally use Groove IP Lite. When I'm at home, I leave it running on my phone. Then when someone calls me, it goes over Google Voice and I can answer it with Groove IP Lite. Likewise, when I need to make a call from home, I open Groove IP Lite, and can make an outbound call from it. It works great!
Know of any other ways to fix, or workaround the poor reception in your house? If so, let us know in the comments!
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