Cell Phone Repeaters

[Squintz]

http://www.primecellular.com/index.asp?Pag...PROD&ProdID=116

I spend most of my day in a thick concrete building which sheilds out cell phones for some reason. I was looking at the device in this link and was wondering if there is a cheaper solution. As always I figured you guys would know. As soon as I step out of the building i get full service.

 

[bfisher]

I've seen this Cell Phone Signal Booster. I have no idea if it works - but something I've considered as well.

 

[Squintz]

Both of those are pricey. I was hoping to find something under $150. I guess I will just have to keep going out side.

The problem I have is that there are no windows or any openings for the signal to even try and get through.

 

[Skibum]

I installed an area cellphone repeater for NEXTEL in the local police department. It works well, but is priced well above $150. A 37 db unit is really not gonna cut it, unless you are using it in a car.

 

[JohnBullard]

Squintz,

Being in a concrete building, it probably has a LOT of metal rebar embedded, which will block the "weak" cell phone signals, "weak ~15 watts from a tower, compared to a 100,000 watt signal from a commercial FM radio station.

The other day, I did add on to my order this "gadget"

I'm sure it will be a piece of crap, but I needed one more dollars worth on my order to get an additional 20% off of my entire order plus free shipping, all worth way more then the $ 1.52 for this thing.

I really doubt it would be of any use for your concrete bunker situation

 

[Rupp]

Guys,
The plugin extenal antennas work really well and sometimes these can give you an added boost if you place them near a wall.
Like these:

http://www.cellularaccessory.com/magnetantenna.html

 

[sbessel]

what about one of these: http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=51193

 

[stereo_freak]

Schools are a horrible place for celluar signal, so we tried a few products from these people...

http://www.digitalantenna.com/

We still have one of them in use and are probably going to add addtional ones since they atually add a couple bars of signal in a line-of-sight situation

Price for the same item ranges from $400 on the internet to $800 from a local dealer... definitely need to shop around.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

The other day, I did add on to my order this "gadget"

I'm curious how this will work as well John.

 

[JohnBullard]

BSR,

Its coming with my shipment from Hong Kong. Should be here next week.

It may be a joke, but hey, it's all but free, since the $1.52 Ii spent put my order over enough for the other discounts to save me over 12 bucks!

I'll let you know.

 

[brothers]

Squintz -

You can't be the only person working in the building with that problem - might it be possible to approach The Powers That Be and suggest that they look into solving it?

I spend some time in an even worse situation - an underground concrete structure (designed to withstand a five megaton air burst two miles away ), and until the building's "owner" (the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) put repeaters with external antennas in, cell coverage was hopeless.

- Dennis Brothers

 

[Bruce L]

The other day, I did add on to my order this "gadget"

I'm curious how this will work as well John.

I had one of those on my old cell phone. I lived in a marginal coverage area - had to be on the front porch to talk. I got one of these as a "free gift with order". I never noticed any real difference in the coverage - still had to sit on the front porch to talk.

 

[JohnBullard]

BruceL,

lol, You are probably correct. A "passive coupled piece of metal" possibly won't do much, heck, in some situations it could possibly absorb the RF, making the signal worse.

It'll be fun to see if it make a difference.

I plan to try it with a Motorola i415 that I just bought to semi permantely mount in my truck for dedicated GPS tracking using the Accutrack service, like Skibum and smee are doing.

 

[Squintz]

brother,

Contacting higher powers is an option.

 

[Skibum]

I plan to try it with a Motorola i415 that I just bought to semi permantely mount in my truck for dedicated GPS tracking using the Accutrack service, like Skibum and smee are doing.

Mine is permanently mounted to my hip.