Day 3: The Secret Menus (Better Cell Reception)

Okay, so I know that these are pretty common knowledge, but I figure I'd talk about the updated version of the following two menu's so you can access battery conditions (temperature, etc), check calibration settings, GPS and increase your cell reception.

Disclaimer: Educate yourself on any changes before you commit to them.


1) The Basic Menu

Dial "*#*#4636#*#*". In case you care, the numbers represent the word INFO on a numeric touchpad.

That will immediately bring a menu similar to the following:

On this one, your really can't do as much damage, just don't change any of the info. Scroll through and check out your battery temperature, and usage history for various programs.

2) The Expanded Menu

**I'd be careful on changing items on the following menu**

Dial "##7764726" then hit send. It will ask you for a SPC Password which is "000000". Once you typed that in, hit verify and it will bring you to the following menu:

You can scroll through all of the selections and hit the back button to get back to this screen (make sure not to hit back from this menu until you are done because it will restart your phone).

Now, to potentially get better reception, you need to do one of the two following things. The older version of the menu (like the one above), will have "04 Vocoder", so select that. If you have the new menu, you need to select "06 Test mode" first, then hit "Next" twice, until you see "Service Options". Select that drop down menu, and now both the old and the new version of the menu will show the same thing. There's a few options but here's the ones you have to remember:

Your phone most likely has "EVRC" selected. If so, select "EVRC-B" for better reception in metropolitan areas or "13K" for rural areas. Mind you these changes will have some effect on draining your battery slightly more, but you can always change it back if you don't think it's helpful. Once your done, just exit the menu (or hit "Back" on the new menu) and you're done.

Once again, most people know about these menus, and you shouldn't change anything you haven't researched extensively, but it's good to know you have the option. My favorite is having GPS on, and going to the test menu to see my exact coordinates.

If you've tried the cell reception trick, and have comments, please feel free to add your input.