Actually, it's a Faraday Cage. That's the same thing you see in a microwave - It is holes which are too small for the waves to go through.
I live in a house with aluminum siding and I don't have a particular problem, but aluminum siding could be an issue. Do any of your neighbors have a house without aluminum siding - Maybe they'd let you try a call inside their house and you could see if it makes any difference.
At work, our offices are fabbed from metal building systems. In one, I get reception (albeit one bar) in my own, I get no reception. Of course, reception is pretty hit and miss no matter if you are in a building, car, or standing along the side of a road around here.
Try a passive antenna re-radiator. It is basically a coil of wire inside your house with one end attached to earth ground (a stake driven into the ground) and the other end connected to an antenna outside your house. The cell phone will be coupled through the coil to the antenna outside. You can probably do a web search for a more detailed explanation of the construction and theory.
Jim Howe said:
Thanks Al, I will do some research. Claes is this what you used?
Here is a description of a home made passive-antenna-reradiator.
