Well, here I am close to a year after my original post and my signal strength is just as bad, if not worse, than before. We have a Wilson Booster installed which does help to maximize the weak signal it can find, but it can only boost what is available outside. After reading a bunch of reviews on folks using the Network Extender by Verizon, it is not a route I choose to follow. The Extender has very limited coverage within a home and it uses the Internet - I work from home and need fast, uninterrupted Internet speeds and won't allow for a device to interfere with that. It also doesn't solve the problem of walking outside and having no service at all. I have communicated with Verizon and was told that they don't foresee any plans to expand into this area with towers and they are sorry, they can tell that I'm "on the edge" of their service area..."but there's nothing we can do". I also have heard from others that their Verizon signal strength fluctuates a lot lately and 4G? What the heck is 4G? For that matter, what is 3G like? I'd love to find out, personally. I'm trying to work with AT&T (my work cell phone is through them and I get full bars of 4G here) to see if they have any deals which will help me in terminating one year early on my stupid Verizon contract (4 lines-ugh). My recommendation to anyone reading? Do NOT ever, under any circumstances, sign a contract with Verizon or any other carrier for service. Pay the upfront fee for your phones so you can easily ditch one carrier and move to another which will meet your needs and actually let you use your phones. My phones are worthless at my home, outside of using them for web-browsing with WiFi. I believe Verizon has gotten way too comfortable with its market share of customers and is not reinvesting into its equipment nor expanding coverage into poor service areas. I can't wait until the day that this poor business model turns on them. I'm a drop-in-the-bucket to them and I know this. I've been with them for 10 years and I know it means nothing. I just hope that posts like mine will encourage people to take a long, hard look at Verizon and the misleading coverage map they provide online (do not be fooled by it!) and to really investigate other carriers to ensure they are getting the best service and signal strength possible.