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Using a Cellphone in a Basement?
Nimsoft asks: "I recently moved into a basement flat and as a result I get no cellphone coverage in there. This is incredibly frustrating as my cell provider is so much cheaper than landline offerings I rely on my cell as my primary means of telecommunications. I can pick up a signal the second I step out of my front door and friends on other networks can sometimes pick up a weak signal within my flat. What would the geek solution (must be cheap!) to this issue be? Would attaching a larger antenna to my phone work, or can I hack together some sort of repeater and put an antenna outside somewhere?" While thousands of offers of repeaters and signal boosters are only as far away as the nearest Google search, what recommendations or experiences would you care to share on the subject?
Get a Bluetooth headset. Maybe you can leave your phone upstairs or near a window for a signal. You don't have to wear it all the time, just put it on when the phone rings.
I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.
That don't have problems which carrier/phone they use. Use that.
Why are "Ask Slashdot" questions allways so generic and vague?
..... just a thought?
..... even a Country/CONTINENT would help!
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..... air vents.
..... trace any wires/pipes/air vents that come into your building - could you follow any cable/phone/water inputs to the outside world? If so how far would it be to get a cable to there?
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..... or are you renting? (you never said)
/vs/ cable length when using car antenna (hint usenet) - from what I know the are shielded coax ..... so they *may* be useable at 100 metres.
..... as you phone will be pinned to the antenna cable ..... depending on max cable length
Try posting some more information
ie.
Location - What County/City/State?
Cellphone Service Provider - Would be handy.
Current Cellphone - Make/Model - as above.
Somebody may have had exactly the same issue in the same region with the same phone/provider and could answer your question in one sentence.
Please when posting "Ask Slashdot" questions be a little more concise!
My thoughts
A basement is an enclosed space (I will assume you have no windows/sky lights) however there must be a means of circulating air around the "basement" - im thinking
Have a look at the car antenna kits that are compatible with you current phone - remember these antennas are normally installed in the rear car window and after trailing the cable around the window/sills/footwells you could easily use 6-9 metres of cable.
Next
Then stick a car antenna on the wall
If you own the place then get out a 2 foot long drill - bang a hole through the wall - problem solved
Even if you have to follow the path of an existing cable/pipe that runs "upstairs" - measure the distance - then talk to somebody who knows about signal loss
Then spend about (rough guess £40) on a bluetooth headset
For me, any of the pre-pay plans are cheaper than a land line. I don't use enough minutes to exceed $20 every three months. You know a log of local providers willing to sell you a phone line for $7.00 a month?
That isn't everyone however. My daughter can easily eat through $50 a month on pre-paid, so for here it would be cheaper to get either a land line, vonage account, or if she needs mobility, a $39.99 a month plan, once she figures out how to manage her minutes so she isn't going over whatever limits that plan has.
My son can also work within the pre-pay limits, though he does go through more minutes at a time than I do.
How expensive your plan is depends upon how much you use the service, and what that usage will cost. It does vary from person to person.
For pre-pay plans I happen to like Virgin Mobile http://www.virginmobileusa.com/ (for US users, other urls for Europe) or Boost Mobile http://www.boostmobile.com/. Boost Mobile is a sub-division of Nextel, so they do have the PTT feature Nextel provides, though that's an additional $45 a month (on average).
Since with Pre-Pay plans you buy the phone up front, there can be a significant front end cost. Anywhere from $59 on up to over $200 for highly feature full phones. However as noted, month to month may cost you significantly less.
-Rusty
You never know...