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Got a Cell Phone Booster? FCC Says You Have To Turn It Off

Posted by timothy on from the commons-problem dept.

First time accepted submitter Dngrsone writes "Some two million people have bought cell-phone wireless signal boosters and have been using them to get better communication between their phones and distant cell towers. But now, the FCC says they all have to turn their boosters off and ask permission from their providers, and register their devices with those providers, before they can turn them back on."

3 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Could this article be more misleading? by kelemvor4 · · Score: 5, Informative
    I doubt it. The article, and the summary in particular is spreading quote a bit of fud. Specifically, the FCC does not say you have to turn anything off. Most of the questions people are posting about research is answered on the document linked right on the homepage of fcc.gov. Here, since most seem to lazy: https://www.fcc.gov/ or specifically: https://www.fcc.gov/document/use-and-design-signal-boosters-report-and-order Here's an important excerpt:

    In order to use a Consumer Signal Booster, a consumer must:
    Have some form of consent from his/her wireless provider to operate the Consumer
    Signal Booster. We note that Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and the RTG
    member companies have made voluntary commitments to consent to all Consumer Signal
    Boosters that meet the Network Protection Standard.42 Therefore, we expect that
    subscribers of these companies will not need to specifically seek consent from these
    providers, or other providers who make similar “blanket” consent commitments, for
    Consumer Signal Boosters that meet the Network Protection Standard.

    So, consent is needed, and most providers have already given blanket consent.

    Maybe the boys over at ARS didn't bother to read anything other than the limited FAQ, either? Or more likely they did like any "news" organization and selectively picked out the pieces that would get them the most hits on their website regardless of how they were bending the truth.

    1. Re:Could this article be more misleading? by kelemvor4 · · Score: 5, Informative

      So, consent is needed, and most providers have already given blanket consent.

      Citation needed.

      Are you trolling? I did post the citation. Here it is again: https://www.fcc.gov/document/use-and-design-signal-boosters-report-and-order

  2. Booster Trouble... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    So about five years ago everyone in the office was complaining about how they had "No Service" on their cell phones... so I went ahead and installed a "booster"-- an outdoor antenna with amp connected to an indoor antenna.

    A few months later, some gentlemen from "AT&T Security" showed up at my office and told me they had been trying to diagnose problems with their nearby tower for several months... until they spotted the outdoor antenna on my building, and aimed some sort of gadget at it and discovered it to be a booster. They said the problem was that their antenna system was seeing the increased signal strength of my booster antenna as if their system was receiving strong signals from cell phones in the neighborhood, and their system was automatically lowering its output signal strength, causing users in the area to have dropped calls and poor connections...

    They told me that legally they, as a carrier, had priority on the cell spectrum and I had no choice but to turn off or be fined. So if someone's booster is interfering with public cell use, they WILL hunt you down and pry it from your cold, dead hands.