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?"
Oh No (Score:1)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe just switch providers... (Score:2)
The point is that maybe you should try switching to a different provider that has better reception in your apartment/house. There's nothing inherently great about one provider over another in terms of coverage, but they do
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
"Unlocked phone"? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
With "unlocked" I mean that the SIM card can be replaced with another providers SIM card (subsidised phones are usual
Re: (Score:2)
That does no good in most of the US. One and only one provider usually buys up all the GSM in an area, and another one and only one provider buys up all the traditional frequencies available (and NexTel, that was granted the ability to buy lesser used walkie-talkie frequencies because of how they designed and marketed their servic
Re: (Score:1)
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: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Another factor might be the wiring; they've got Cat 5, cable and phone lines throughout the house along with the usual house wiring. Seems like a pretty good Faraday cage.
I like one poster's idea of a Bluetooth repeater lash-up from the point with the strongest signal.
Re: (Score:2)
A faraday cage has to have zero straight-path holes that are larger than your wavelength.
Seems like a pretty shitty faraday cage.
May not solve your problem. (Score:2)
According to the FAQ for the Wi-Ex model you were looking at, "If there is no signal outside, this unit will not give you an improvement in coverage." So if you're behind a ridge, it may not help.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (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!
Re: (Score:2)
I find that, with the wide variation in cell phone signal strength from one phone to another using the same carrier in the same physical location, it is far more likely that the receivers in some phones simply suck at picking out the tower signal. That's the big reason why passive repeaters can and often do work.
Further, your whole inverse square thing is failing to take into account the difference in directionality and noise rejection. Using a high gain directional antenna outdoors, the SNR to the towe
Re: (Score:2)
It might get the signal back to you better, but the signal leaving you and going to the tower will still be greatly degraded. The simple fact is that only a tiny, tiny fraction of the signal being transmitted from your phone will be received by the antenna in your house, which involves loss; more is lost in the cable between antennae. You migh
Re: (Score:2)
Luckily I do get a bar or two outside the house.
Also, to respond to a couple folks who suggested changing providers, various friends who have phones with other providers have the same problem in this neighborhood - a bar or two outside and nothing inside.
Too cheap? (Score:2, Funny)
And don't be suckered in by the scammers selling 1st 2nd or 3rd generation boosters. Insist on 4th generation technology!
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Did you actually have to purchase one to be sure?
This is a total scam
Thank you Captain Obvious
Re: (Score:2)
I once installed a CB antenna in my car. The aerial gets stuck to the outside of the glass with glue. The signal is picked up by the aerial and passively transmitted to a pad underneath the glass, which has the wire connected to it.
These things ARE a hoax, but not because there's no physical, metal, electrical connection.
Re: (Score:2)
because they aren't people (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
900MHz vs. 1900MHz (Score:2)
You're going about this all wrong (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
What's that mean for the non-wireless engineer?
Maybe you should write a quick "how to complain" guide (with links) that expands a bit on what you've said.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not a wireless engineer, I'm just a customer. I just want my f*cking phone to work. I don't want to have to learn about RF signal propogation or antenna design, or spend hours trying to fight my way through the mindlessly apologetic "Customer Service" guantlet that companies erect as obstacles to customers trying to reach someone that can actually solve a f*cking problem.
I spend $3,500 every year on cell phones and service. That puts cell phones at about the same cost level as my electric service,
Re: (Score:2)
Holy crap!
Heh, I've been known to spend that much in a single month!
(Busy project, lots of travelling, remote team, lots of customers, and a serious case of "phone ear" every day.
Re:You're going about this all wrong (Score:4, Interesting)
Ordinarily I would indeed be chasing this up the tech support chain but service is great everywhere else and I've looked at the tower maps and it's pretty clear that it's simply a matter of geography and that it only affects a fairly small area, i.e. not something I'd ask them to put in a whole tower for.
However, that said, I may be getting something similar to the response you got, and this may be a useful approach for others with the same problem.
I went to the website and filled out a customer service form, (not a support ticket), explaining the situation and asking what repeater/booster brand/model they recommended. The next day I got a call on my cell from an engineer who explained in no uncertain terms that they did not want me to install any sort of repeater/booster under any circumstances. They then asked if I was in the affected location at that moment, (I was), and while on the line did a bunch of tests confirming the problem, opened a ticket and said it should be fixed in two weeks and that they would keep the ticket open for me to call back if it wasn't any better.
It turns out that no matter how small an area is affected they would rather fix it from their end than have someone installing some random repeater/booster as they apparently have no end of problems with people doing exactly that and screwing up the network! (Kudos to the poster who mentioned potential FCC issues above).
Now we don't know how things will turn out yet, my reception is still just as bad, but it's been barely a week so we'll just have to wait and see.
So the upshot of it is that if reception sucks in your area, ask them nicely what they recommend for third-party solutions and they just might get all excited and actually fix it themselves.
Re: (Score:2)
Less than a week later, and I'm now getting full signal on the first floor inside my house, during a rainstorm; normally those conditions mean phone = paperweight.
Get a Bluetooth Cordless Phone (Score:1)
I love repeater(s) (Score:1)
Foster: Cat Game? What's the record?
Mac: Thorny did six, but I think you can do ten.
Foster: Ten? Starting right 'meow?'
[Mac laughs - they walk up to the car, and Foster taps on the driver side]
Larry Johnson: Sorry about the...
Foster: All right meow. (1) Hand over your license and registration.
[the man hands him his license]
Foster: Your registration? Hurry up meow. (2)
[Mac ticks off two fingers]
Larry Johnson: Sorry.
[the man laughs a little]
Foster: Is there something funny
Someone with experience (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
The key to any bi-directional repeater is there must be a block between the outside and inside antennas. Without that attenuation between the antennas, a feedback loop is formed that may operate on or off channel. These unlicensed instalations by the clueless without test equipment (spectrum analyzer) are the ones getting nastygrams from the FCC. By trying to make up for loss of a signal by a hill, the clueless install a 2
Re: (Score:1)
They're good (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
How about an external antenna? (Score:1)
This is only going to work if your phone has an external antenna jack on the back (it is usually filled in with a rubber plug that you can pop out).
A member of my family spends a lot of time in a remote area and can only get 0-2 bars if he stands on the highest point of the property with his flip phone. After buying a $30 mag-mount antenna, plugging it into the external antenna port on his Cingular GSM phone and
Thread on howardforums.com (Score:2)
PopSci says... (Score:1)
Solutions (Score:1)
Isn't This Supposed To Be A Geek Site? (Score:2)
My own two cents. I frequently work in a dat
Thought about a Passive Repeater...? (Score:2)
on top of the ridge that blocks your connection.
One antenna is aimed at the carrier's cell tower;
the other antenna is aimed at your home/property.
Let us know how this works, if you try it...
From Direct experience: (Score:1)
When I call to order one they ask the Zip and carrier and will do a tower location to find the best frequency for you and send it along. It is a full kit w
Go All Out (Score:1)