Three essential tips to instantly boost your phone signal – including a forgotten button that refreshes the connection

SIGNAL outages are a nuisance that can occur at any time – and fixing them is something of a mysterious dark art.

The obvious source of blame is a poorly connected area, which basically means your network doesn’t have enough masts.

It could also be that there are too many people trying to access the network at the same time – this can be a common problem at festivals where there are many users clustered in a certain area.

But some signal issues might be happening on the phone itself.

And there are some simple ways to instantly fix or increase this.

Try these three to see if your connection improves.

Turn Airplane mode on and off

Airplane mode is there to cut off the signal when you’re flying, but it’s also useful when your connection has a problem.

When you turn Airplane mode on and off, it forces your phone’s cellular network modems to find the best signal around you.

On iPhone or Android, swipe down from the top of the screen and look for the airplane icon.

Tap it and wait a few seconds until the signal bar goes blank – then tap it again to start the connection again.

Remove your phone case

Your phone’s case may protect it from damage, but it could also be causing connection issues.

Any metallic materials in the case can be a particular problem.

This is because it could be blocking the antenna inside your device.

Then take it out and see if you notice any difference.

Charge your phone

If you are low on battery, this can also cause signal issues.

This is because searching for a signal and connecting to a stronger signal consumes power, according to CNET.

So the more battery you have, the better.

Don’t forget about Wi-Fi calling

If none of these tips help, you can try Wi-Fi calling.

It’s free to use as part of your existing mobile network plan.

When you have low or no signal, calls are routed through the Wi-Fi signal.

On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.

On Android, go to the Phone app > More > Settings > Calling > Wi-Fi Calling.