Recommendations for Cellular Signal Repeaters? 64
itwerx asks: "Like most folks these days I have a cell phone and indoor reception problems, especially in my house which is behind a ridge from most of the carriers in my area. So, I'm looking for an indoor wireless repeater (not a plug-in amp). There are a lot of them out there ranging from $300-$3000+, but for every article, forum or newsgroup posting proclaiming the relative merits of this brand or model over another I find another post saying that they suck. A couple of units I'm looking at are the Wi-Ex YX500 series and some of the ones made by Wilson Electronics (not providing direct links so as to avoid boosting their Google ratings). Has anybody here used these, or junked them in favor of something better?"
Watch out... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-26608
Watch out if you buy one; they can easily create interference to other users in the 800 MHz band, like public safety radio systems, and the FCC takes a rather dim view of this - see the FCC notices sent to some unlucky users above.
Someone with experience (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Maybe just switch providers... (Score:4, Informative)
Here's an article [smartmoney.com] with some advice on the process.
Note: You can keep your phone number
http://www.cellswapper.com/cellswapperv2/default.
http://www.celltradeusa.com/ [celltradeusa.com]
will help you find someone willing to take up your contract.
Re:May not solve your problem. (Score:3, Informative)
What is a passive repeater? A pie pan?
(websearch)
Ah, here's what it is! It's an antenna hooked up to an antenna in an effort to get the signal out of your house. And look, there's some text next to the diagram!
I have decided that it is most likely that you are a shill for a cellular equipment provider. I bet you think those little stickers will help protect you from BRAIN CANCER OH NOES! too.
It's very simple to understand why this won't work, and it's called Inverse-Square Law [wikipedia.org]. Simply, the cellular phone is putting out only a couple tenths of a watt to begin with (maybe .4 watts max on a handheld) and only a tiny portion of that power will reach the receiving antenna. Even if you're right next to it you can probably only get 25% of the signal to reach the other antenna at the maximum.
Short form: this is stupid, buy an external antenna instead.
Re:You're going about this all wrong (Score:2, Informative)
I wasn't trying to be all elitist, you guys know more about *nix/databases/any number of obscure IT things than me... I know more about antennas and radio waves. Thats the fun of a forum!!!
Re:You're going about this all wrong (Score:3, Informative)