When you sign up for cell phone service, you expect excellent customer service and superior coverage. Unfortunately, what you pay for is not always what you get. And you may not even see it coming. Even if you try out your new service using your used cell phone before you leave the store, you may soon realize that service is sketchy once you get out on the road. Some cell phone companies will let you try out their service for a short period of time before you sign a contract, but many do not. Even if you are able to try out service beforehand, you might be locked into a certain provider because there are not a lot of choices in your area. Regardless, there are several steps that you can take to ensure that your used cell phone is getting all of the reception that you need.

Antenna Size Does Matters

Believe or not, size does matters when it comes your cell phone. If you have a small antenna, you're not going to have a strong connection with your service provider. Before you buy a used or refurbished cell phone, you need to do some Internet research to determine what the consumers of your "intended" purchase say about the reception of the phone.

Network Capabilities

Different used phones can be connected to entirely different networks, even phones within the same model family. For example, if you purchased a refurbished Blackberry Bold and connected it to the AT&T 3G network, you will most likely have far better reception than if you purchased a used Blackberry 8310, which connects to the AT&T EDGE network. If you plan on purchasing a refurbished cell phone to connect to your current service provider, make sure to make a note of the network it uses and ask your service representative if that network has a strong enough presence in your neighborhood.

Power Supply

A drained battery will negatively affect cell phone reception as well. So, avoid all of the cell phone functions that use a great deal of battery juice including your camera, mp3 player, GPS, internet browser, etc. Only use the functions that you need. Pay attention to functions that might be running in the background (i.e. Bluetooth) as this could affect your battery life without you even being aware of it. Another factor that zaps battery life is cold weather. Avoid using your cell phone outside in cold weather if at all possible and if you do spend a lot of time out in the cold, try to keep your phone in a pocket versus a bag or purse to keep the battery warmer and longer lasting.

When you have a used or refurbished cell phone, there's only so much you're going to be able to do; after all, your phone might be defective or you could move somewhere where you have little to no reception. You can't prevent all disasters that come with cell phones but you certainly can reduce your chances of getting a bad reception by doing some research ahead of time and before you make a cell phone model purchase.