Antenna Boosters for Cell Phones? 20
Hollinger asks: "Earlier this summer, I bought a brand-new Samsung 8500 PCS phone. It looks great, sounds great (more on that in a sec) and is very small. However, I have one problem. I thought that my new apartment was in the middle of a PCS deadzone. However, friends with other model phones (less expensive, mind you) can get a good, clear signal. This leads me to wander about the signal strength of my own phone. I've been shopping around to see if anyone has reviewed any of the 'Internal Antenna Boosters' that I've seen ads for, but I can't find any. Has anyone on Slashdot tried one of these? Do they work, and if so, how well?"
My suggestion (Score:2, Troll)
I do not recommend it. (Score:1)
I threw it away when I read about the damage a normal mobile phone can do. You sure as hell do not want to increase the amount of radiation entering your cranial cavity.
Internal Antenna? (Score:2, Insightful)
Snake Oil (Score:5, Insightful)
To quote a friend at Motorola, "If a cheap add-in would help your signal, don't you think we'd ship phones with it installed?"
But if you buy one, you might also be interested in this product [milk.com] for your TV.
Re:Snake Oil (Score:2)
But if you buy one, you might also be interested in this product for your TV.
I love those ads. Some of them even called the product "A Marketing Breakthrough."
Booster (Score:2, Informative)
Though this was widely viewed as a way to block access to cheaper less established industry players (with less coverage), there are legitimate reasons to not use these. The first very important reason is health. The second is if everyone started using them they would eventually cause problems with all the telcos spectrum allocation plans. Because spectrum is so precious, most telcos use an aggressive frequency reuse plan, reusing frequency's in a n=7 pattern. Imagine 7 hexagons on a map, fitting together in a circular pattern. One hexagon (location) on the bottom of the map would use the same frequency as one on the top. This efficiently reuses the frequency spectrum without causing interference, since both stations are far enough apart that multipath fading would have occured between their individual signals.
In other words they work, but I wouldn't reccomend using one, unless your brain needs a tan.
Re:Booster (Score:2)
Boosters... (Score:2)
I went to my local Target store, and they have a section that has a lot of the As Seen On TV crap in it (like the OxyClean, the Lionel clocks, etc...). Well, the one I went to recently had the one that they've been advertising on TV. Since it's Target, I can always bring it back if it doesn't work. So I bought it. It was $20.
It comes with both an internal antenna booster and one of those earpiece covers that supposedly blocks radiation. I just applied the internal antenna.
It doesn't work miracles per se, but I regularly see a 1-2 bar improvement (out of 4) on my cell phone, depending on the coverage. I wouldn't advocate everyone going out and getting these, but my cell phone's reception was definitely helped.
As far as the headaches and stuff that people seem to be claiming about - I haven't noticed anything like that yet. Then again, I use my cell phone 15 minutes a day tops.
OxyClean & boosters..... (Score:2)
I too bought an Internal Antenna. I think it's helping by about 1 bar on average (may be a placebo effect). Not quite the miracles that the chiropractor woman on the TV commercial claimed, but good enough.
Weelll.... (Score:1)
But if you must use it, do you have acess to the roof? Get up there and see if you have service. Try the same near windows or on a balcony. Check around for interference, I doubt that because your friends phones work fine.
Have you tried an external antenna? Perhaps connecting the antenna on your fone to a larger antenna/array.
Long Distance (Score:1)
And since I'm paying for my mobile minutes whether I use them or not, it just makes sense to use it for long distance, even if I am at home. And I know a lot of people that don't have wired phone service at all.
The general EE consensus was 'snake oil' (Score:3, Insightful)
Others noted that perhaps they could couple some RF from the inside of the unit to the edges or the antenna (which tends to be located close to the battery pack), but that that would only serve to increase the distortion of the radio transmission, even if it did increase the transmission power. Of course, if they did increase the power, then they are certianly not legal to use since nearly every phone you can buy is already at the FCC and FDA limit.
But if you want to
-Adam
Maybe (Score:3, Informative)
Maybe is the only way to describe them. I've seen passive repeaters, things you stick in a car window and are supposed to proved a boost. But only for the 800mhz cell frequencys, not the 1900 PCS band. Still they might be worth a shot if you have a regular cell phone.
My Nokia 5190 had a little rubber button you could remove and put an external antenna on. Run the external antenna up a tree, and reception was good. Often one bar better, but the real improvement was in clarity. Everytime you move without the antenna you introduce static, while with it you come breath and still hold a converstation. (always a good thing) The newer Nokias don't have this though, and I just broke my old phone. Still if you can stay within range of the cord this might get your service.
Best is to contact your provider. It takes 6 months or more, but they do take into account customer comments when they build new towers, so you might get one in your neighborhood. Make sure your local town concil isn't doing everything they can to block building a tower though, or you won't get it.
Re:Maybe (Score:1)
Same service provider? (Score:1)
Re:Same service provider? (Score:1)
I live in downtown Atlanta, so it seems odd that I couldn't get any reception, then again calls dropped like crazy even when I could get reception, so I guess I shouldn't be at all surprised.
I went with Sprint because it's comparatively cheaper for the nationwide service. I found out you get what you pay for.
Repeaters, repeaters.. (Score:3, Insightful)
and heres the url for somrthing that looks useful, but I dont know how....http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?V
Antenna Booster (Score:1)
The town has ordnances that preclude towers within so many feet of housing. People don't want to see a cell tower from their home, but want to walk anywhere they please and have crystal, clear service. In my town, Sprint worked with the city to put a new cell site on top of a light pole at the nearby baseball complex. If your town is anything like mine, there is a nearby sports complex (soccer/baseball) that doubles as a SUV display area where all parents and their sportly progeny come equipped with a cell phone as standard equipment
Why would one use your cell at home? Sometimes the people who have your cell number discover that for some reason they can't reach you at your wireline and try the cell. Even when you're sitting within arms reach of your wireline. The modem may have hung on the line rendering it off hook, one of the phones may be off hook where you can't hear it, the line may indeed be out, ad nauseum. I hope this helps answer your question.