Basements, high-rises and lost signal
Signal fails indoors because building materials attenuate it, which is why basements, stairwells and interior corridors of large buildings are unreliable even in areas with strong outdoor coverage. GPS degrades indoors too. A saved map still draws, and knocks still log to the queue, so the record survives even where positioning does not.
Why indoors is different
Concrete, steel and depth all attenuate signal. An area with excellent outdoor coverage can be unusable two floors down, which catches out reps who tested the app on the street outside.
GPS degrades as well
Positioning needs a view of the sky, so indoors your location becomes approximate or stops updating. That is a property of the physics rather than of any app, and it matters more in apartment work than most reps expect.
What still works
A saved map draws from storage regardless. Logging a knock writes to the device and uploads later. What you lose is accurate positioning, so in a large building you are selecting the unit rather than being placed at it.
Common questions
- Why do I lose signal inside apartment buildings?
- Building materials attenuate it. Strong coverage outside says little about the interior corridors or the basement.
- Does GPS work indoors?
- Poorly. It needs a view of the sky, so positioning becomes approximate in large buildings regardless of the app.
- Can I still log knocks in a basement?
- Yes. They write to the device and upload when you are back in coverage, stamped with the time you knocked.
More on working offline
Dead zones, saved maps and field reliability — the wedge, and the thing reps complain about most.