CellPhone Booster Antenna???
 

Does anyone know of a type of cellphone antenna that I can mount in my house that will make my cell signal stronger?? I'd rather not have to connect it to my cellphone.

Here's a link to some signal boosters with outside antenna

http://3gstore.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=41

I have the wilson "trucker" antenna mounted outside my house and hooked to my air card for internet access. It alone boosted my signal strength from 1 bar to 3.

For anything that will really work you will need to mount an antenna outside of the house as high as possible. There are a few options with ballpark prices:

For under $100 you can get an external antenna and cable to hook it right up to your phone. This will improve your signal somewhat and might be enough if your phone usually works okay outside.

For more like $300 you can get an external antenna and an amplifier to connect to your phone to improve signal even further.

For around $500 you can get a repeater system that will have an antenna outside and a repeater anteanna inside so you don't have to plug it in to your phone. These can also serve more than one phone at a time.

How about these??

http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/cell-phone-antennas/

Those are better than nothing. You'll still need to mount them outside and run the cable inside. They will help if you get good signal when standing outside the house and the house is just blocking it. If you are in a fringe area and your phone doesn't work very well even outside, you will probably need an amplifier. Whatever you decide to try make sure you can return it if it doesn't work for you.

I live in a dead zone..last week when that tornado hit and whacked out power, everyone with a 4 wheeler and a cell phone headed out a mile away on a hill to make their calls..sounds as if it might be cheaper to buy a used 4 wheeler..LOL.

I get 3 bars outside and 2-3 bars some places in the house - other places "Not So Much".

I just bought a couple of "MagicJacks" to use to VOIP with my computer which is a high speed connection.

my son just finished putting up his signal booster on a 23' pole..he had it up 17' but wanted it up higher..it works well for him but you do hook it to the phone...i don't use a booster on mine..but only have 1 or 2 bars..but enough to get online fine.

he says the brand is wilson..and you don't have to plug it into the phone..i was wrong...can get 4 bars depending on how far away he gets from the antenna..

Ronbre - How about get the make and model number. THANKS

I've seen the commercials for MagicJack. How do they work and how well do they work?

We got the antenna and amplifier from Radio Shack. About $350. We are on the fringes of the cell tower's range and in the hills.

The antenna is mounted on the top of a non-used chimney.

Works pretty good most of the time.

zBoost YX500/510 Wireless Extender

http://www.wi-ex.com/Page3427.aspx

well my son plans to put one up for me ..he wanted to get his up first and he just put it up yesterday..and it is working well..that is the wilson he has up on a 23' pole.

Ronbre - How about get the make and model number. THANKS

The wilson and simlar systems unless approved by your carrier are not legal for end use. YES there are lots being used and the units themself are legal to sell but approvals from the carrier are required.

"The wilson and simlar systems unless approved by your carrier are not legal for end use. YES there are lots being used and the units themself are legal to sell but approvals from the carrier are required."

WHY???

..................There is bound to be some kind of BS fee that they will add to your monthly bill IF they know of your additional equipment !:rolleyes:

IMO don't worry about the carrier approval. The reason this is required is that some cell phone protocols let the tower control the output power of the transmitter in the phone, and the amplifiers may or may not handle this correctly. If you were to use a non-compliant amplifier close in to the tower, this could knock other users off the tower. If you're really in a fringe area it is likely not a problem.

The carriers do have approved amplifiers available, at least Verizon does. I'm not sure what the cost is but I'm sure you can buy the same thing elsewhere for less than at their store.

Because the FCC says so. The problem is that it disrupts the cellular configuration. Cell sites are setup to cover areas, when one of those inband amps pop up its can cause issues. A lot of the those systems are sold with omni directional antennas and that can cause more than 1 cell site to hear a signal when it normally wouldnt. When used correctly, it will require a directional antenna pointed at the correct cell tower.

One statement to keep in mind when following cfabe suggestions.
Below is fine issued to a dealer for selling these units to end users.


Under Section 503(b)(2)(C) of the Act and Section 1.80(b)(3) of the Rules,
18
the
Commission is authorized to assess a maximum forfeiture of $11,000 for each violation, or each day of a
continuing violation, by an entity not specifically designated in Sections 503(b)(2)(A) or 503(b)(2)(B) of
the Act, up to a statutory maximum forfeiture of $97,500 for any single continuing violation.
19



Illegal is illegal, no matter how good your intentions are.

Ok..now I'm officially confused..

Where I live, any cell phone gets a maximum of one bar..inside or outside..a person has to travel 6 miles in order to use a cell phone. We had a nasty tornado here two weeks ago..so my adult children up in the big city decided that Mom needed a cell phone..:) sweetie pies..yet they didn't believe me when I said that I cannot use it here..after all, it IS 2009 right?

The cell phone company, when called from my land line (LOL) said that the cell phone OUGHT to work since there are networks in our area..that's nice..but they don't work.

So if I'm reading these last few posts correctly, it's illegal for me to run out and purchase just any cell phone antenna?? Because the antenna may interfere with a cell phone tower which doesn't even come close to working where I live ??

Cell phone antenna isnt the issue, Cell phone amplifier is. Few cell phone even have external antennas anymore but i you do have one that does then adding an higher gain antenna is ok, but adding the amplifer would not be.

Having coverage or not having coverage has nothing to do with the issues. You have no RIGHTS to have cell phone coverage.

If your using a top tier cell company, not some budget reseller then I would keep contacting them and complain. If they say they have coverage then find out why your phone is not getting coverage. Might be the phone. Most major cell companies have online maps for coverage.

Wow.... I'm lost with some of this.... ?

We have Sprint, but are on the edge of coverage, according to their maps. So, we also bought a zBoost wireless repeater for our home. Four bars, all the time now......

This is really pretty easy to understand. An amplifier makes the signal stronger while an antenna simply allows your phone to pick up the incoming signal easier....no power boost just better receiver. I have alltell and a hook up for our computers. For the computer because it is data our normal signal strengh was not enough to make a decent data transmission. Alltel suggested we get a better or bigger antenna which we did for about 29.00 off ebay. It did boost our reception a little bit (all tell said the 500.00 would boost the same as the cheaper one placed in the same place) but our signal is still at about -85 which is pretty weak and therefore slower. When I am in town with the same connection it is very fast and the signal power is like -30~! sis

I've never heard that and I've been handling my company's cell phone account for 9 years. I've had our account reps recommend which amplifiers work with their network. I've also worked with several companies that install professional grade cell phone amplifiers for houses.

deb
in wi

MURRON - which zBoost repeter did you get??

How do I tell if my phone is on 800 or 1900 megahertz system??

At work I just got a Femtocell from Verizon Wireless for one of the IT staff. He had very poor VZW reception inside his house which was a problem since he was on 24 on-call. He recently got DSL service at his rural home so I got him a Femtocell which when connected to the DSL service becomes a cellular "tower". He went from getting no bars of service inside his house to getting 4 bars everywhere in his house.

Femtocells are available from various cellular providers, but I think I remember that AT&T did not have them yet.

deb
in wi

I suspect that if the "pro" is doing an install that he is coordinating the install. He also in most cases is using a direction antenna pointed at the correct tower. We use them at work as well and in many large cities they are becoming part of building code to provide wideband amps for police/fire and cell access within buildings.

Again, If they are installed with knowledge of the provider then your ok, But tossing one up on your house without approval is not.

I'm thinking of getting a booster/amp for my phone. I'm hoping I can "upgrade" to a data plan for internet on the laptop.

I was hoping bringing this old thread back would shine more light on it.
How are you that have these making out?
We have enough of a cell signal at our house to recieve calls but it always drops it. I'm not really worried about taking it in the car so what is a good system for the $?

Thanks

I always used a Wilson antenna and booster in my semi it adds about 50mi to the range but it's important to remember it's a line of sight transmission. If you have a weak signal it can make it a strong signal but if there's a mountain in the way your just screwed. At our farm I was able to make calls from certain spots using ant and booster until AT&T took over Cingular then they did away with the closest tower now I've got nothing for at least 25 mi. I hate AT&T

Some days I can pick up a signal if I put the phone in my front window. Most days I just get "No Service". Do you think a booster antenna would help me?

Inside my home was a 1 bar signal zone until I bought three of these glass mount passive cell phone antennas like came on the used SUV I bought. By putting them on my bedroom, kitchen and living room windows my house is now a 4 bar zone. Best $80 I ever spent related to my cell phone use.

http://www.calcellular.com/ext-antenna.html

My sister's problem is they live in a hollow. During winter she can get cell phone reception (don't know how strong). However, once the leaves come out nada. Is there anything which might help her?

We finally bought a booster after 8 years of very bad cell phone reception in our house. We are on a ridge but....higher ridges nearby cause bad reception. No one could get cell calls in or out of the house. We had to hike up the ridge.

We bought a Wilson Dual Ban Cell Phone Booster which cost $330.00. We bought it online from Think Geek but my son says it can also be bought from Amazon. My son says they do have other models but he put a lot of thought into it and this one was the best for our use. Ours is the Signal Boost D T (stands for Desk Top) Dual Band Desk Top Applifier. It is from Wilson Electronics and my son says they have a web site.

It has a fat box that we duct taped (yep, it looks bad but for now it works and I will figure out how to make it look better later) to the upper part of our living room window. That window faces where we think a cell tower is located....but we also plan to move it and see if we can get even better service. But right now, my cell phone (which previously did not work at all in the house) works very well and has "three " bars things. My son 's phone gets four bars. I have to keep the cell phone within 6 feet of the 2nd "box thing" but that is OK with me.

The first box hangs in the window, then there is a white cable ...came with it....hangs over the beams in our living room (yep - looks terrible but later we can tack it to the top of the beams)....then it goes to the 2nd box thing. IT plugs into the wall electric outlet and has a 2nd wire that goes in the box. THAT is the box you keep near your cell phone.

It works great for us. Our electricity goes out at least one time a week. Last week it was out at least 1 time per DAY! Usually the electricity is back on in a few mins. but last week it was out for 2 hours one day. It is common practice for us to loose electricity for days at least once a year.

So - for us we really need to be able to use the cell phone in the house. (we cannot plus in a land line phone or it throws off the internet....but, yes we have that 2nd type of thing-y in the wall...but it still does it).......not to complicate the discussion...but we needed to be able to use the cell phone inside the house.

Sorry this is too long.........but our booster works great for us and it is worth the $300 we spent on it. Already we have used the cell phone many times when the land line was dead and the electricity was off.

If you have any questions I can try to answer or my son (Geek Son) can help too.

We did not get permision from anyone to do anything. It is just a box inside my house and that is that.

thank you and good luck