I don't know who you have your cell phone service through, but I've always used Verizon. When I had a regular 3G cell phone, I always had four bars in my apartment. I bought a cheap iPhone about 8 years ago, and could only get one or two bars at home. I finally got tired of calls being dropped, and called Verizon to complain. Because I've been a customer with them for so long, they sent me a network booster for free. They usually cost $250...at least that was the cost of them at that time. I've had four bars since I've had it. My oldest son said the problem with smartphones is that they use up too much space for memory, and don't have very big antennas in them. That's why reception can be so crappy.
We are in New Hampshire, a beautiful state but the cows sometimes block the cell signals.
It’s Verizon, but I have a new phone.
It’s the location.
Most of where we live here in rural NH has crap reception. Same for VT. We don’t get reliable cell service until we’re back in NYS.