Cell phone booster

[radman1]

I recently purchased a vacation/rental home in the Rocky Mountains. I have Verizon cell phone currently and the coverage is better at my primary residence than the other major competitor, ATT. However, in the mountains my Verizon service will not work in the house but works 100 feet away. ATT will reach in mountain home but too many dead spots near my primary residence. I don't want to get land line phone service and use the cell phone. Is there a recommend cell phone booster that will work with Verizon at the mountain home? Any other solutions?

The mountain house does have internet/wi-fi. Is there a way to get phone coverge via internet? I have heard of Vonage but does it work?

 

[k0ua]

I recently purchased a vacation/rental home in the Rocky Mountains. I have Verizon cell phone currently and the coverage is better at my primary residence than the other major competitor, ATT. However, in the mountains my Verizon service will not work in the house but works 100 feet away. ATT will reach in mountain home but too many dead spots near my primary residence. I don't want to get land line phone service and use the cell phone. Is there a recommend cell phone booster that will work with Verizon at the mountain home? Any other solutions?

The mountain house does have internet/wi-fi. Is there a way to get phone coverge via internet? I have heard of Vonage but does it work?

We have used the Packet 8 service over the internet for many years, and it works well about 99.9 percent of the time. We still have our landline also. there are Cellphone repeater systems you can buy (Wilson is one brand), but a little pricey, for many years I used a Wilson gain type of antenna in the house and hooked to the cell phone with coax and the "pigtail" coax adaptor to match to the miniature antenna connector on the cell phone, this worked well, then they put in another tower, and now is no longer needed as we have good service anywhere in the house.

James K0UA

 

[texbaylea]

radman1

I was at extreme range for T-mobile. On a good day I could get about 1 bar inside or outside. I added a metal roof to the house and went to zero. I added a single band repeater system and gained back my 1 bar signal strength. I then added a high gain antenna aimed at the cell tower. That had the antenna just at roof top level and had a solid 3 bars, moving the antenna up to 45 feet agl gave me a solid 5 bars.

For you going to a dual band repeater would prepare you for a change in cell service at a moderate cost increase. Here is a link for a starting point; www.[B]alternativewireless.com[/B] Wilson equipment is top notch but there are less expensive solutions.

Vernon

 

[nikdfish]

Verizon has a unit that acts like a mini cell tower when attached to an internet connection. I believe they refer to it as a "network extender". It willl support 4 or 5 simultaneous connections within its operational area. It's like $250 if no incentives or rebates. It does require an ability to get a GPS signal in addition to a broadband internet connection. I believe bandwidth use is like 40kbps up/down per active call. There is no monthly fee for using it & it can be relocated at will. It just needs to be used in a geographic area that verizon serves...

You can get info here

Nick

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Talk with Verizon Actualy talk loud and thye can and will give you a femtocell. THis uses the internet connection you have. DOn;t use VOIP it realy is poor quality.

 

[johnrex62]

What type of internet connection do you have? I am rural and have only to a WISP (Wireless ISP) and find that the increased lag does not play well with the femtocell (extender) device.

I was comped this device from Sprint and ended up spending the $400+ to get a Wilson dualband booster system. Well worth the money as long as you can get enough signal outside to start with. I wasn't thinking fully when I built my house with stucco walls and metal lined roof. Ended up taking out my phone signal indoors. I have decent signal outdoors, so this solution does well for me. The network extender was very spotty and went downhill when the WISP lag increased.

 

[k0ua]

Talk with Verizon Actualy talk loud and thye can and will give you a femtocell. THis uses the internet connection you have. DOn;t use VOIP it realy is poor quality.

How interesting, since most long haul voice connections are now VOIP and VOIP is being rolled out in most markets in the form of SIP trunks to business, and VOIP hosted services..If you have talked long distance over a landline lately, you have talked VOIP..We dont talk about pindrops any more, but it works pretty good. Of course the quality cannot be guaranteed over the internet, as who knows when someone is going to download a movie or upload a file to TractorByNet:laughing: I have had the Packet8 VOIP for about 5 years now and it ocassionally drops a call, but the voice quality is fine. I have 10/1 MBS service with the local cable company for internet access

James K0UA

 

[roamerr]

I built a new home last year and hasd the exact same issue. I tried a Verizon Network Extender hooded to me DSL and it did not work. The issue was the Quality of Service (QOS) required was more than my 8mbs DSL could provide. Verizon did not let me know that before I tried it.

I ended up purchasing a Wireless Extender that boosts the signal in my home. Very simple. The one I purchased is on Amazon under Wireless Extenders zBoost SOHO YX545. Mine is installed in the attic. Basically I positioned the antenna (connected to booster via Coax cable) where it would get a signal. I then positioned the booster in the attic at approx the center of my home. Works great and gives me 3 bars where I had none in the house. Now -- there may be cheaper solutions but this one works. After messing with the Verizon Network Extender I was tired of wasting time and just wanted something that worked!

Amazon.com: Wireless Extenders zBoost SOHO YX545 Dual-Band Cell Phone Signal Booster for Home and Office (White): Cell Phones & Accessories

If you want to test your QOS Verizon had me use InternetFrog and click on VOIP under Free Internet Tools. The QOS needs to be 90 and above. I'm now at that but was not 10 months ago. Not sure what changed... If it is not in the 90's the VOIP phone calls can be really choppy or unclear.

 

[jdonovan]

. Is there a recommend cell phone booster that will work with Verizon at the mountain home? Any other solutions?

The mountain house does have internet/wi-fi. Is there a way to get phone coverge via internet? I have heard of Vonage but does it work?

I recently picked up a booster by wilson electronics. It is amazing. Went from no coverage in many places to 1-2 bars. Where I had 2 bars before now I have 5.

Net boost was almost 20db. ( if you don't speak db, don't worry about it)

not a super cheap system, and won't get you a signal if none-exists, but if you have outside, or really close near by coverage it can make a big difference.

They also make in-vehicle systems that work really well too.

 

[WVBill]

I found a bunch of information on evdoforums.com .

I ended up with just a grid antenna pointed at my closest Verizon tower and connected directly to the modem. I'm over 5 miles from the tower, just over a few hills. I've had a good solid connection for over 2 years.