Slashdot Mirror

TV and cell phones: Use an outside antenna, and bring a stronger signal inside. From $29, it says, for the cheapest antenna.

If you get any signal outside your house then a cell repeater is the way to go. It takes the strong signal outside, and... repeats... it inside. If you get 3+ bars outside then an omni directional antenna (outside) is the quickest and easiest. Otherwise a directional antenna (or two if the 800 and 1900 band towers are in different directions) is the way to go.

I've put up two of these solutions, one at work to extend the excellent signal outside into our warehouse, and another at a location that barely gets 1 bar outside, using two directional antennas to point at different towers.

Not trying to advertise for anyone, but I got my stuff from http://www.cellantenna.com/ using modified versions of their CAE700-70 system. Granted, that's an expensive and powerful package, you might not need that high end a system for your needs. Give them a call, or try hitting up http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/ as I got some great advice from the folks there.

Good luck!

So how do you handle extensions? You know, someone calls you, and you want to say, "Honey, pick up an extension." so you can talk together. Do you just 3-way the call?

Yes, or you could get yourself a cellphone docking station.

And how do you handle guests? Do you simply assume that if they want to make a call, they just use their own cell phone?

That's what I do. Who doesn't have a cellphone these days? I don't know anyone like that.

Oh, and how do you handle devices that need to "dial home" periodically? (ReplayTV box, DirecTV box, etc.)

That's easy. Don't buy crap like that. If they're so backwards and stuck in the 90s they can't use your existing LAN connection, then they're not worth bothering with.

Dock N Talk

These people have several solutions. Check out the Telular base station or the in-building repeaters.

I bought a cell antenna tuned for Cingular's frequencies, plus a low-loss cable and finally an adaptor to plug it into my phone. The antenna is in the attic, which works good enough, although putting it on the roof would get even better reception, but I'm lazy. Cellantenna.com

These sorts of things are commerically available. This thing incorporates a small amplifier, so that you don't need to be right next to the internal antenna.

It is a little pricey at $500, though.

I'll admit I don't have one ... I don't even have a cell phone . But this page suggests otherwise.

Cut the cord
go all wireless and save money at your home or office--Use a cell phone as your only phone and save money with low fixed-rate monthly wireless calling plans, while enjoying the convenience of being able to use your cellular service at home

Why not use a booster to ensure the best data rate.? An number of vendors offer a range of fixed directional antennas and repeaters and phone booster antennas.

Unless you are driving in a car or reading email as you walk, "mobile" users are stationary during actual use (a car-top cellphone antenna might be the answer for truly mobile use). For semi-mobile use, a little stand and a Yagi antenna would help improve transmission/reception to the local cell tower. A simple signal strength app would help you point the antenna (for extra credit it could even help you find a tower in an adjacent, less used cell for access to more slots). For boosted use in a hotel room, cafe, or client office, a directional antenna or repeater would be quite useful.

It sounds like you have 2 problems -

1. the cellular network... the 4800 limitter thing usually is for an analog phone. Since you're talking about being in a remote area, I wouldn't be surprised if the only signal you're able to get is analog. If that's the case, then 4800 is about the best you can hope to get out of it, and you don't need to worry about problem #2. (here is the black box I suspect you're using). You might try using multiple cellphones and aggregating the bandwidth.

HOWEVER, if you're able to get a digital signal up there (GSM or CDMA), then you should investigate some other options, which leads into #2. Being able to get a digital signal might involve using directional antennas and amplifiers too. Depending on how long your cable run is, you might even be able to put an antenna and an amplifier at the "top" of the mountain, and run coax further down the mountain and put an antenna there. Then you could have cellular coverage for the bottom of the mountain. Not sure about licensing requirements, but check with the people who sell em.

2. the connection between the top and bottom of the mountain - I'm not sure what "GSM Modem" you're talking about running over the phone line, but it sounds to me like you're using a regular modem and it's running over this motorola box. A better solution, assuming you can get a faster (maybe 14.4 with CDMA or 56K with GPRS/CDMA2k) would be to have one of the following at the top of the mountain:
a. an external cellular modem
b. the cellphone itself, with a data-cable
c. a computer/router with a cellular modem

With (a) or (b) you'll need some sort of serial port extender to issue AT commands to the phone/modem... Your run is too long for a regular serial cable, but they make extenders that will run over long length - possibly even using cable you've already run. With (c) you might be able to get away with using ethernet or wireless ethernet to connect to the computer up there.

Get yourself a cellular repeater (about $700) and install it in your house. You indicate that Cingular is fine outside the house, then a repeater would make it fine inside the house.

I bought the one from CellAntenna.com for $499 and it works quite well with my hiptop. I'm 1300m from the T-Mobile/Cingular tower, but I got no coverage inside except in certain spots; and now with it in I get great coverage in two rooms and OK in a third, at least good enough for GPRS. I'm considering upgrading the indoor antenna to one with 5dBd gain for $49, and also getting on my roof with a ladder to raise the antenna up higher on my TV pole, to get above the neighbor's hedges.

Plus the ATT tower is in the same location, so my ATTWS friends who come over report better signal too.

Best.

Cheapest

This + Call Forwarding = Easiest.

Suggestion: You can find out more by asking the "You've got questions, we've got blank stares" salesclerks. They are actually overqualified for this question, but I'm sure they can take a moment out of this busy stereo and computer selling season to help you for a moment. Or you could simply Ask Google next time.

Either of these should get your answer much faster than Ask Slashdot. :-)

HTH.

I use my cell phone as my primary phone. My problem is that the reception inside my house is poor. The signal outside is a lot better. I Googled this cell reception idea a bit. The best site I found was Cell Antenna. The also have another site called Boat Antenna. which specializes in providing signal boosters for boats. The hardware is pretty much the same on both sites.