Cellular Extenders

[HymerSchmidt]

Anyone have any experience with them? I need one badly, as my house(along with pretty much every building I've been in) acts like a Faraday Cage. It might have something to do with the frequency that ATT uses, it might not penetrate so well, but it could also be that their coverage blows in my area.

There was a cellular extender I was looking at on Amazon, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with extenders or could recommend one they thought was exceptional.

 

[Jeremy]

Anyone have any experience with them? I need one badly, as my house(along with pretty much every building I've been in) acts like a Faraday Cage. It might have something to do with the frequency that ATT uses, it might not penetrate so well, but it could also be that their coverage blows in my area.

There was a cellular extender I was looking at on Amazon, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with extenders or could recommend one they thought was exceptional.

I've heard they are pure garbage... I thought about it when I was with Sprint. Looked into them and realized it was not worth it. I do know Sprint just came out with something and there is a monthly fee for it! Something like $39.99 a month! So they want you to pay more a month just to get their crap service working within your home... Crazy...

With at&t I've never looked into it. Service in my home is perfect.

 

[HymerSchmidt]

I've heard they are pure garbage... I thought about it when I was with Sprint. Looked into them and realized it was not worth it. I do know Sprint just came out with something and there is a monthly fee for it! Something like $39.99 a month! So they want you to pay more a month just to get their crap service working within your home... Crazy...

With at&t I've never looked into it. Service in my home is perfect.

Lucky you! I'm jealous.

And the thing from Sprint is over IP. What I need is something that brings the decent -- yet still crappy -- signal from outside, inside my home. It would involve an antenna on my roof then a transceiver operating on ATT's frequencies wired to it and inside the house.

I might go and order that one from Amazon. It's only $200 and I won't be shy about demanding a refund if it doesn't work... The thing that gets me though is I'm in a "good" reception area according to coverage maps, and I'm suppose to be in 3G territory as well.

 

[Jeremy]

Lucky you! I'm jealous.

And the thing from Sprint is over IP. What I need is something that brings the decent -- yet still crappy -- signal from outside, inside my home. It would involve an antenna on my roof then a transceiver operating on ATT's frequencies wired to it and inside the house.

I might go and order that one from Amazon. It's only $200 and I won't be shy about demanding a refund if it doesn't work... The thing that gets me though is I'm in a "good" reception area according to coverage maps, and I'm suppose to be in 3G territory as well.

No, I know exactly what you are talking about. And I know what how that Sprint one works. I was just saying that they put that out recently. But that actually works rather than what you are talking about. Like I've heard they really don't work that well. If you are thinking about the same brand I am, they make 2 different ones. One for a office space and one for a home.

And I was in a good coverage area for Sprint... go figure. Best of luck to you. I know how frustrating it is to have little service in the house.

 

[HymerSchmidt]

Thanks. This is the model I was looking at if you're curious. There are mixed reviews, but I'm going to return it if it doesn't work.

It's worth the try, for me. Otherwise, I never got the possibility of improvement.

 

[Libuff]

let me give you a little advice.

Buy Wilson products. I've had the most success with that brand. Then you need to do some research to find your nearest tower.

Get two different antennas one which is called a Yagi or directional antenna. And another omni directional. You need to buy wiring and find a place whereby the yagi is MUCH higher than the omni.

It's quite a project and it it's not really done well it becomes a waste of money.

 

[HymerSchmidt]

Thanks for the advice Libuff. I appreciate it.

 

[Libuff]

i appologize for the briefness of that last post... i was on the phone...

we did an install at an ambulance for a sprint/nextel customer... the problem we had was the direction of the YAGI antenna cast its signal over the indoor omni antenna, which caused a neverending loop... similar to if you were to put a microphone near a speaker and get that squeal...

to do the job properly, you really need a well trained radio technican to get it to go..

from my former home (crackberry.com) --- Wilson Electronics Mobile Wireless Dual-Band Amplifier Set - ShopCrackBerry

 

[Libuff]

also as another note... the 3g cell network is 1900mhz or 2100mhz, which is NOT covered by any of these models...

 

[HymerSchmidt]

Thanks again Libuff.

I only need EDGE in my house, and I believe it operates in the 850MHz range..

Given your cautionary advice though, I'll be doing more a lot more research before buying. I've found my problems stem from a lack of towers in my area. The development I live in is relatively new, there are only 4 towers in my immediate area, and I'm willing to bet only 2 of those are leased by ATT -- if that.

I'll give it a go eventually. Really though, thanks.

 

[hotrod#AC]

Gear Diary has a post on cellular extenders...CellRanger - the answer to IPhone 3G signal woes??|?Gear Diary

 

[supermum]

Here is someone's Amazon.com review of it. Seems very honest.. and surprise.. it got a great review (with caveats):
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Cell Ranger PORT USB Cell Phone Signal Booster

 

[HymerSchmidt]

I'm looking for something for my entire house, but that looks great for someone in need of portability. So, nice finds.

I'm going to have to do some heavy installation to get what I want though.