cell phone antenna for home?

[fishman]

Anyone purchased a cell phone antenna for their home to boost reception? I have plenty of minutes, free weekends, and free mobile to mobile calling, but get lousy reception at my house. Two or three bars and lots of dropped calls on average. Using the cell phone would reduce my long distance costs quite a bit. Does anybody have a workable solution to this problem?

 

[markct]

i have wondered the same thing, i dont think my new cell phone (sony erricson T226) has a connection for an external antena, i remember my old nokia had a plug for an external antena but i dont see where the new one would take an antena

 

[kensfarm]

I found this reply out on the web..

"I work for a wireless company and you are right, the metal roof on your home will block a large majority of the RF coming from the cell tower serving the area of your home. You could build yourself a passive repeater for your home however it would cost a chunk of money. You would need to get yourself a Yagi antenna, with 13dB or more gain, for the proper band your carrier operates on, probably 1900MHz, you will need to point that antenna at the serving cell tower. You will then need a cellular antenna and a chunk of coax to run from the yagi to the cellular antenna. Once everything is mounted correctly, the signal strength in your home should get better. There are, however, car mounts that include a cradle for your phone, the coax, and a 15dB gain antenna. The downside of something like that is you will only be able to use the phone while it is in the cradle.

"

 

[BubbaJr]

Here's what I would try first. If your phone has an external antenna connector, get a car phone antenna, the one's that use double stick tape to glue to the windows and don't have a hard wired connection between the 2 halves. Go to the side of the house facing your closest cell tower, and glue the antenna to a window on that side of the house. You will be limited to that area to make your calls, but it will be fairly cheap. And if it doesn't work, you're not out much, then go to plan 2. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

PS. You will probably have to leave the screen off that window, or it will impede the signal.

 

[PBMAX]

1st while I am no Cellular expert as each system is different.Having worked as a Field Engineer for a cell co in the past, here are some tips.

* Many believe the use of Passive Antennas is a waste of time. But if you can do it at low cost it may be worth it.

1. Wilson makes a nice Cellular ant with its own ground plan,but it cost $49 plus tax and $10 for the ADAPTER TO FIT MOST CELLPHONES. They promise up to 15db of gain. (which I doubt). I have not tested this one, but I have had really good use out of their CB stuff..

2. In theory every 3db is doubling the signal stregnth- (in theory...)

3. The bars on most/many cellphons is/are an estimation of both signal strength and quality combined. So having 2 bars may mean you have decent signal but not the best quality one. It may talk, but be noisy or hard to hear clearly

4. Yes a sheet metal roof can be a pain. It is for me at times.

5. To make a passive ant., While a Yagi is the best way,becuase you can point it at one tower,you do not absolutly need a pricy Yagi ant. You can often use a cheapo car mounted type ( average gain of 3-7db rating) at both ends to achieve some help. The bigger problem is getting a ground plan in the house. Also if you can keep the ant. pointed straight up or down as the signals hit best at this angle in most cases.(this include the way you hold the phone for normal use) Also trying to find out the type of cable you need and finding it at a fair price can be a pain. Someone in the HAM hobby might be of help here as many build thier own antennas.

6. If you are like me and live between 2 towers on either side of a mtn. that do not talk to each other. There is little you can do about it. Other than stay at one end of the house or the other so you don't drop a call while talking.

7. I know with nextel they need to be 30ft apart if possible for best results.

8. Also just because the signal is now in the house, if it wasn't good out side it will probable not be any better in side. Just putting a high gain inside and out will not improve an already poor signal quality. Gripping at the provider may eventually get them to improve the area coverage if enough folks call on regular basis...

Hope fully this will help some,if you have more questions or ideas I'm game...

 

[gws]

If you want to do it correctly what you want to do is get a inband amplifier. You put an antenna inside the house and one outside. They are linked via a bi-directional amplifer. they take cell site signals and amplify them into the house and the reverse from the handset to the cell
Somthing similar to http://www.wpsantennas.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=179


Just make sure you get an FCC approved model.

 

[PBMAX]

<font color="blue">"If you want to do it correctly what you want to do is get a inband amplifier. " </font> Yep also called a repeter and can get you in hot water if it provides to much amplification and/or installed wrong and causes interference to the cell co. I on more than one occasion had to track down offenders (rarely intentional) and had to ask them "politly to please adjust or remove them". Plus they can be pricey. Some times it wouldn't even be in our frequency(s), just close enough or strong enough to cause interfearence in a specific location.

That said if you have the money, it can be great fix, just make sure you stay with thin the rules. Power level, pointing of the antenna and so on. The FCC can be a pain if they get called on you.


also just because you can by such equipment doens't mean you have the right to use it. So be carefull if you do use one. Just as an example, You can by a 1000 watt amp for a CB but it is on legal to run 4watts.

 

[thcri]

My cabin is a trailer house with a after market metal roof put over the regular roof. So no cell phone will work in there, Not, I bought one of them magnetic mount antennas for a car and stuck it on the roof of my trailer. Plugged it in to my cell phone and now I have 4 out of 5 possible bars. Works great, but I can't move around much as the cord is only so long.

I think I only paid about 30 bucks for the antenna.
murph

 

[fishman]

Thanks to all who replied. Sounds like I should start with the $30 antenna and see if that works. If not, escalate. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[fishman]

PBurns (or anyone else),

I checked out the Wilson antenna here for my phone and it says it requires a "metal ground plane". Since my home has composition shingles, I'm wondering if I could attach it to some flashing or perhaps a window sash and meet that requirement. Does it just need the metal because it's a magnetic base, or is it required for it to work?

Otherwise, it looks very promising. I suspect my dropped call problem is caused by my fat head getting in the way of the cell phone tower. This will eliminate that. With only 10 feet of cable though, some thought will have to be given on where to place it.