Rural phone dilemma

[Stimw]

I have had Verizon Wireless Home Phone for maybe 10 years and love it!!
It costs $20. a month plus taxes and is unlimited with all the features.
If I travel I can take it with me and have my home phone where ever I go.
I would check with a Verizon store and see if you could borrow/rent one first to see if it will work at your location.

 

[vvanders]

I remember having a party-line way back in 1966. Not long after we got our very own line. We have had good to excellent cellular service for over 20 years. I live in a rural area. My internet speed is 50Mbps/10 Mbps and next year they will be installing fiber optics to double those speeds. Not sure why since population is in a rapid decline.

I would think everyone in America would have access to decent phone and internet service. Very sad and disturbing.

Yeah, despite developing the internet(ARPANET) and modern cellphone tech(Qualcomm, etc) the US is behind most of the developed world in terms of internet and cellphone options/speeds/price. There's some stuff on the horizon that looks promising but it's staggering how few people have access to fast/reliable internet.

Coming back to the OP, T-Mobile used to offer wifi-calling, although it'll probably eat a fair bit of you sat-internet plan.

 

[plowhog]

I do use wifi-calling now. It's "advanced calling" on my Verizon smartphone routed through my ASUS wifi router and Viasat satellite internet. But it sometimes works, sometimes does not. If I could hardwire a phone to the satellite it would at least eliminate the wifi aspect.

I do have the Verizon land line gizmo, but it uses a cell signal which is non existent in this area.

I have a Ham Radio License, General category. I have a Rohn 70 foot tower I have not yet installed, but I could put a 2 meter antenna up on the roof and see if I could hit a repeater that has phone patch capability. I, for some reason, didn't consider that. Thanks for the suggestion.

I also have a Delorme Inreach satellite communicator. That, coupled with my smartphone, does worldwide satellite text messages. I forgot all about this as I typically only use it when hiking in the remote Sierra Nevada mountains as an emergency beacon-- just in case. I have a very limited plan right now but if I went to unlimited text messages it would be a great alternative when all else is not working.

And I just learned today that ... supposedly ... viasat has some sort of gizmo to do voice calls via their satellite system. I will check that out tomorrow.

Thank you all for the replies. Seems there are numerous things to try.

 

[k0ua]

You didn't explain why the cell phone repeater will not work. Cell phone repeaters WILL work. It is a matter of how big of a yagi you put on them how high above average terrain you mount it, and how low is the loss in the feedline. It WILL work. It is simply a matter of how much time effort and money you want to put in to it to get 100% operation.

 

[plowhog]

I have a Wilson cell amplifier and one from another company. I've tried it and it does not work, even with hard line low loss cable. I think it was LMR400. I added a yagi and spent quite a bit of time aiming it looking for a signal, but no go.

If you read their manuals regarding the cell amplifiers, it clearly says it will not work if there are zero bars. I have zero bars. They can't amplify zero.

I've also examined the property, in various areas, watching the -db rating on the phone. It's a no go.

To be fair, I have ... very .... occasionally gotten a blip here and there of a cell phone signal. But it's even much worse than the advanced calling/satellite combo. We have a beautiful property-- nicely ringed by mountains, dense forest, and trees over 100 feet tall.

 

[vvanders]

I'd be surprised if wifi was your problem if you're out in the middle of nowhere. Usually wifi falls over if you've got a lot of channel congestion, I'd think something mounted up high is going to do pretty well in a rural location.

That said T-Mobile also offers a femtocell which would eliminate wifi(it goes direct from wired -> GSM/LTE bands). I've had one and they work really well when we had coverage issues in the basement.

 

[k0ua]

I have a Wilson cell amplifier and one from another company. I've tried it and it does not work, even with hard line low loss cable. I think it was LMR400. I added a yagi and spent quite a bit of time aiming it looking for a signal, but no go.

If you read their manuals regarding the cell amplifiers, it clearly says it will not work if there are zero bars. I have zero bars. They can't amplify zero.

I've also examined the property, in various areas, watching the -db rating on the phone. It's a no go.

To be fair, I have ... very .... occasionally gotten a blip here and there of a cell phone signal. But it's even much worse than the advanced calling/satellite combo. We have a beautiful property-- nicely ringed by mountains, dense forest, and trees over 100 feet tall.

How high was the tower you didn't put up? IT WILL WORK. Whether you have enough money and the will to make it work is another matter. How many elements was the yagi or stacked yagis you didn't use? And how did you aim the array. If you got a "blip" here and there on a cell phone by itself, Note the position where you got the signal and build your tower there. I realize these things are out of the average persons realm. Hire a good smart Amateur radio operator that works VHF and UHF and has large arrays up and they will tell you what you need. IT CAN BE DONE. Do you want to do it? It may take from a few hundred to even a few thousand bucks, the question is what is your budget.? How bad do you want this.

I would start with finding my nearest cell tower and what carrier is using it.

How to Find Cell Tower Locations | weBoost | weBoost

If you are serious about it , I can take some time and find nearby Amateur radio operators and then we need to narrow that down to those with vhf/uhf experience, and further narrow that down to those that might be willing to help you construct your tower and antenna system. I have the experience and knowledge to assist you, but I am a bit far away.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

How good is your internet service? Several cell phone companies have a unit that brings your cell calls in over the internet. I lived in a riral area and Verizon provided the system. It has a radius of 50' I beleive. I ran a business that way. There are other internet solutions also; I not an expert on this subjuct.

Ron

 

[TheMan419]

How good is your internet service? Several cell phone companies have a unit that brings your cell calls in over the internet. I lived in a riral area and Verizon provided the system. It has a radius of 50' I beleive. I ran a business that way. There are other internet solutions also; I not an expert on this subjuct.

Ron

Yep. My folks live in town and get poor cell service. They got a thing-a-ma-bob. It routes the call over their internet.

Viasat offers phone service for $20/mo. The latency will be bothersome.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Check with your Public Utilities Commission. Every phone customer in America pays a fee every month to the Universal Service Fund, its purpose is to provide service to customers who wouldn't otherwise be profitable to the phone companies.