Cell Phone Boosters?

[oregon woodsmok]

My cell phone drives me nuts. Sometimes it won't ring when I have it in my office, which is near the computer and where I need to use the phone. Sometimes it won't call out.

It's reliable in the kitchen, works usually in the living room, works good outside.

Is there some sort of signal booster, or something to coax my cell phone into working in my office?

[unregistered65598]

I found this searching but not cheap, I would be interested also as the new place doesn't get good reception.

http://www.cellantenna.com/index.php?id=cae50

[Alice In TX/MO]

Go to Radio Shack. They have an antenna you put on the roof, and a receiver/broadcaster for inside the house. WONDERFUL!

[DebM]

My husband's new job has in on AT&T so he went to their store. They sold him one that sits inside on the windowsill. His was around $250 but there's some kind of rebate program going on. His job paid for his. They are awesome, this one works about 500 feet. He did have to update his phone, the older one didn't work with the current booster. It runs off of our wireless internet router.

[norcalfarm]

We bought one for my work. It was over $350 and didn't work a bit. We returned it the following week. I believe that it was through a third party and was supposed to work with all cell phone companies.

[travis91]

What you are looking for is a cell phone that can make calls with WIFI then if you have wireless interent at your house you can call using the wifi instead of cell towers.

[BothFeet]

I tired two different boosters and neither one did anything to boost my signal. Your mileage may vary

[Our Little Farm]

We bought one from Verizon that goes through our dsl. It gives us cell phone coverage wheras before we had none. It works like a small cell phone tower inside your house. I am very impressed with it and it has never let us down.

This is what we have
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...=gotoFemtocell

It is expensive, but we needed it for work.

[DebM]

We went with AT&T instead of generic for the tech support because we are not technologically savvy. It took a couple weeks, but they did get us a signal. The biggest issue I guess was finding us - our county only recently installed 911 and individual house numbers, and they had to program something on their end so our house could be identified instead of the tower (DH ended up giving them a reading from his GPS). We don't show up on any mapquest-type systems. Also, one must have some sort of signal to begin with, I was surprised we went from 1/2 bar to 5 with AT&T. We have had wi-fi and a landline for three or four years with Windstream so I was really confused about the "location" issue. Verizon said they couldn't boost our Verizon phones because they don't have a tower close enough to us (we are in a mountainous area). I'm not 100% clear on anything, lol, I just know in a remote area, it is not necessarily plug-n-play, but your carrier can advise you if it is possible/feasible. Since the OP has some reception already, a phone call to his carrier would be helpful.

[Our Little Farm]

We are in a mountainous area too. Do you get DSL Deb?

[meanwhile]

We bought one, I am sorry but I don't remember the brand name. It works but only in one room of the house. We had to nail part of the "box" thing way up high on the outside of the house. Then, a cable goes through the wall and into the box that sets on the table. My husband has to use his cell phone for work and he can send and receive calls but only in the one room. It was worth it since before that we had to drive to the end of our road.

[DebM]

OLF - yes, at least the DSL light is lit on the Windstream box between the phone and the router, lol!

[Our Little Farm]

Ours can be used all over our 2000 sq ft house, on the front porch, back porch and close areas of our yard. No wires to the outsidem, or anything set up high. Ours is downstairs, on the kitchen desk and our house is far from being open planned.

[Gary in ohio]

Looks like folks are talking about a couple of different items. IF it plugs into an internet connection its not a cell phone booster, its a micro cell site. It basicly makes a cell tower at your location. A cell phone booster actually retransmit your signal from your cell phone to the cell site. Unless your cell company provides the booster, they are not legal regardless of what the manufacture says.

[Our Little Farm]

Verizon wireless call theirs a Network Extender. As I explained before, it is basically a mini cell tower inside your own house and it works great. Not cheap, but worth every penny. We are in mountains, no signal even close and it works.

On doing a google search, I saw many gadgets out there and most are probably not legal. Call your company and get the right one for your area and for your cell phone service.