If you live in a bad reception area, I don't think there's much you can do... There are some aftermarket "signal enhancers" or "high power antennas", but I doubt they will be usefull... Maybe you could change your phone. Sorry I can't help any more.
Signal bars only usually tell signal reception, not Signal to noise ratio. If its just in your home, some providers are offering local cell options, plug it into your broadband and you have an "in-house" cell site. Otherwise, there is no real way to increase your signal reception, unless you have a broken antenna, or something like that.
Wilson Electronics has several magnet based antenna's that work great! I purchased one for total cost of about $50 and I went from 1 Bar to 3 1/2 bars and I live in a bad reception area in a brick apartment complex. The bars represent the reception factor. I would rate the Wilson products very high on the list. They can be found at wilsonelectronics.com Dave
Check out Howard Forums for all your wireless handset information. They cover every product and carrier! LOL An extremely heavy forum with mega traffic. Good info, mods, and much more. Kept 100% Legal per TOS standards! EASTER
I could not use the phone at home. All I got was a NO SERVICE message. Even outside I was getting dropped.. That don't happen any longer. The shop I got my antenna gave me 30 days to bring it back and get my money back guaranty. I am still using it and it is doing what I wanted it to do. Twodogs44