Three essential tips to instantly boost your phone’s signal – including a forgotten button that refreshes the connection

SIGNAL dropouts are a nuisance that can hit at any moment - and fixing them is a bit of a mysterious dark art.

The obvious source of blame is a poorly connected area, which basically means your network doesn't have enough masts.

It could also be that there are too many people trying to access the network at once - this can be a common issue at festivals where there are lots of users packed into a certain area.

But some signal woes might be happening on your phone itself.

And there are some simple ways to instantly fix or boost it.

Give these three a try to see if your connection improves.

Turn Airplane mode on and off

Airplane mode is there to cut off your signal when you're flying but it also comes in handy when your connection has hit a snag.

When you flip Airplane mode on and off, it forces your phone's cellular network modems to find the best signal around you.

On iPhone or Android, swipe down from the top of your screen and look for the plane icon.

Tap it and wait a few seconds until the signal bar is blank - then tap it again to kick-start the connection again.

Remove your phone's case

Your phone's case may be protecting it from damage but it may also be causing issues with the connection.

Any metal materials in the case can be a particular issue.