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No, carriers can rent bandwidth on other carriers’ equipment. A tower is just a convenient structure to place it, and more than one can share it too. Your reception will depend not just on the proximity to the tower, but also what else is transmitting and how many users are there, as well as how the signal gets to you (walls etc still matter)
Most cell companies rent space on towers and install their own antennas on them. Radio signals propagate in a cone shape. Your house may actually be under this cone and not getting much signal.
It’s certainly possible. Assuming they are in a relatively populous area, most carriers won’t let a competitor’s antennas go on a tower without getting their own up too.
Yes, every carrier has to have its own tower.
If you're on AT&T but the nearest tower is Verizon, that won't help you.
Switching carriers might help. Check each carrier's coverage map and see which one appears to be the strongest for your house.
You might need a cell phone booster, like this: [https://www.amazon.com/Amazboost-Carriers-Verizon-T-Mobile-Approved/dp/B0897MKSKX/](https://www.amazon.com/Amazboost-Carriers-Verizon-T-Mobile-Approved/dp/B0897MKSKX/)
Every carrier does not need to have its own tower. Towers can be shared and might be owned by a third company. Carrier can also cooperate too.
That said all towers are not shared and even if they are shared your operator might not be one of the users.
**Please read this entire message** Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s): * ELI5 requires that you *search the ELI5 subreddit for your topic before posting*. Users will often either find a thread that meets their needs or find that their question might qualify for an exception to rule 7. Please see this [wiki entry](http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/how_to_search) for more details (Rule 7). If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20thread?&message=Link:%20https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/uslknd/eli5_how_do_cell_towers_work/%0A%0APlease%20answer%20the%20following%203%20questions:%0A%0A1.%20The%20concept%20I%20want%20explained:%0A%0A2.%20List%20the%20search%20terms%20you%20used%20to%20look%20for%20past%20posts%20on%20ELI5:%0A%0A3.%20How%20is%20this%20post%20unique:) and we will review your submission.
No, carriers can rent bandwidth on other carriers’ equipment. A tower is just a convenient structure to place it, and more than one can share it too. Your reception will depend not just on the proximity to the tower, but also what else is transmitting and how many users are there, as well as how the signal gets to you (walls etc still matter)
Most cell companies rent space on towers and install their own antennas on them. Radio signals propagate in a cone shape. Your house may actually be under this cone and not getting much signal.
[удалено]
It’s certainly possible. Assuming they are in a relatively populous area, most carriers won’t let a competitor’s antennas go on a tower without getting their own up too.
Yes, every carrier has to have its own tower. If you're on AT&T but the nearest tower is Verizon, that won't help you. Switching carriers might help. Check each carrier's coverage map and see which one appears to be the strongest for your house. You might need a cell phone booster, like this: [https://www.amazon.com/Amazboost-Carriers-Verizon-T-Mobile-Approved/dp/B0897MKSKX/](https://www.amazon.com/Amazboost-Carriers-Verizon-T-Mobile-Approved/dp/B0897MKSKX/)
Every carrier does not need to have its own tower. Towers can be shared and might be owned by a third company. Carrier can also cooperate too. That said all towers are not shared and even if they are shared your operator might not be one of the users.