This has certainly happened to you before - you want to call someone, but your iPhone can't connect. Or you were in a conversation and suddenly you lose your caller and your iPhone screen says "Network Search". Annoying and frustrating ...

But, how is it that it does not have coverage and how is it solved?

• 1. What is the absence of a GSM network on an iPhone?
• 2. Why does "Network Search" appear on the iPhone?
• 3. How to solve this problem?

1. What is the absence of a GSM network on an iPhone?

Like television or radio, your mobile phone must be able to receive and process waves (the correct frequencies) depending on whether you want to phone or surf the web. But first, your iPhone must be able to simply receive the GSM signal emitted by your mobile operator's antennas. Finally, it must also be able to send enough signal to be picked up by the relay antenna, so that a telephone communication flows well in both directions.

2. Why does "Network Search" appear on my iPhone?

An iPhone receives the GSM signal from the nearest base station. When your iPhone cannot make contact with any cell phone tower, you will see "Searching for network" on the screen of your device.

In peripheral areas there are far fewer base stations than in urban areas. It often happens that there is little or no GSM signal with an iPhone in wooded or mountainous areas, this is not only due to the distance between you and the tower, but also because the presence of trees significantly weakens the GSM signal. Thus, it can happen that the GSM signal of an iPhone is better in winter than in summer, simply because there are no leaves on the trees in winter!

Let's compare it to a car radio. The further you drive, the further you are from the transmitter: the radio reception gets worse and worse, and at some point the signal will even disappear completely. A similar phenomenon also occurs when you go through a tunnel. In this case, the radio signal no longer passes through the mass above you and listening to your favorite station is interrupted.

It's the same with your iPhone: the further you move away from a carrier antenna, the weaker the GSM signal will be, and therefore the link between your smartphone and the signal may end up breaking.

Unfortunately, it is not only in forest areas that the iPhone says "Network Search" ... In urban areas, this phenomenon occurs regularly.

New buildings now have such good insulation that even the GSM signal barely gets through. In this case, it is necessary to approach a window to make calls correctly.

3. How to solve this problem?

First of all, it is good to measure the GSM signal with your iPhone. Then you will know the quality of the signal.

Take a measurement indoors, then outdoors, and finally compare them:

if there is a noticeable difference and the GSM signal outside is much better than inside, this confirms that the (very good) insulation of the building is interfering with the GSM signal.

But this also means that it is possible to pick up the GSM signal outside and retransmit it inside; a simple GSM repeater will work fine.

On the other hand, if the external signal is slightly weaker than the internal one, it can be concluded that you are at a great distance from the operator's antenna, or that you are in a "white zone".

If the signal is of acceptable quality both indoors and outdoors, then the solution should be found at the iPhone level:

- Deactivate and reactivate "mobile data" to force your iPhone to reestablish the connection. To do this, go to Settings; Mobile Network; Disable mobile data. Wait a few seconds, then reactivate mobile data. With this operation, your iPhone searches again for the best signal.

• If that doesn't work, restart your iPhone. This is another way to force the iPhone to search again for the best nearby GSM signal.