Building my own cell repeater site - Networking

So its pretty easy to setup a cell signal booster/repeater these days for a pretty good price. We run one at work and it works great. 5 bars consistently inside the building, while the outside has 1-2 with most phones.
Problem is, we do a lot of work outside, and it sucks not having cell service. Would it be possible to setup some kind of mini cell repeater/booster site that can catch the signal and boost it within a certain area that is about 1 mile by 1 mile?
Basically thinking of putting up another one of these to pick up the cell signal.
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/Pr...ain+800+MHz+Yagi+Antenna+(301111)&Category=28
They work great for the indoor repeater sites we have setup.
From there I would need five exterior 180 degree antennas that would rebroadcast the signal. We already have a tower in place that everything could be mounted on.
Is this legal? What kind of equipment would I be looking at? Any help would be appreciated.

There are no definitive regulations set forth by the CRTC (assuming you live in Canada). In theory, as long as the signal is low powered IE does not leave your property, it should be fine.

For enough money, I could make it work. Not sure how much a 50dbm amplifier will do though, when you split the signal off onto 3-4 sector antennas.
I'll have to look more into it.

Could I build one in my house I live in Arizona.what would it cost?what kind of service do you get with it such as speeds,etc.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA

These are the sector antennas I would want.
http://www.tenxc.com/products/multi-band-bi-sector-array
Not sure how much they cost.
This is seriously a long term project.
If you're in the states, I would talk to your carrier about perhaps putting up a cell site on your property if you have poor service.
I'm with a regional cell phone provider, and they have pretty crappy service in my area with no plans to make it any better.
Which is ridiculous, because its not like I live in the boondocks.

I'm buying there $500 amp set-up sweet.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA

To bump my own thread.
This company makes industrial repeaters for outdoor towers.
http://www.telcosat.com/
Currently in the process of getting a quote from them. I'll update it as it goes.

Related

N1 reception on T-Mobile

Does anyone else have trouble with T-Mobile reception in office buildings? In particular concrete block buildings.
The reason I ask is because I have good reception most places in town. However, when I go in one of our office buildings, that is primarily concrete, I have no service. But always had AT&T service on my iPhone. In my office (different building) I get good signal, but I have a lot of windows.
T-Mobile has just added coverage in this area in the past 6 months and just launched 3g in December.
Same problem for me.
TMO + N1 = serious problems with 3G right now. checking out the google phone support forums says that they are aware of the problem, and are looking for a fix.
Even if other TMO phones have good signal using the same SIM in a separate phone, the N1 is experiencing issues.
No problem at all in Chicagoland. I was all over the place today and yesterday. Only lost a spot in one pace. Known issue with ALL carriers. In between 2 lakes in the middle of forest preserve. No cell towers around. No complaints. No more drop calls like AT&T.
Every phone I've had on T-Mobile has had low reception in certain stores like Target or Macy's.
timothydonohue said:
TMO + N1 = serious problems with 3G right now. checking out the google phone support forums says that they are aware of the problem, and are looking for a fix.
Even if other TMO phones have good signal using the same SIM in a separate phone, the N1 is experiencing issues.
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Click to collapse
I am not actually having the 3g issue that seems to be going around. My problem is that I loose all reception in buildings.
LOL, well, that's just the way it's gonna go with radios. some companies have bouncers inside certain facilities that facilitate reception, other's wont. the hospital in which i work has sprint relays all the way through it. most other devices wont' work, because it's inside of a big metal and brick structure. just the way radios work
timothydonohue said:
LOL, well, that's just the way it's gonna go with radios. some companies have bouncers inside certain facilities that facilitate reception, other's wont. the hospital in which i work has sprint relays all the way through it. most other devices wont' work, because it's inside of a big metal and brick structure. just the way radios work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most older facilities just act as huge Faraday cages. Its fun when you work for a wireless engineer and your building was built in the early 40s and everything is just screwed up when you want to do large scale tests.
timothydonohue said:
LOL, well, that's just the way it's gonna go with radios. some companies have bouncers inside certain facilities that facilitate reception, other's wont. the hospital in which i work has sprint relays all the way through it. most other devices wont' work, because it's inside of a big metal and brick structure. just the way radios work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read all the way through to see if somebody was going to mention repeaters and how generally cell's shouldn't work in big building without 'em. Looks like you beat me to it. lol
iVisionX01 said:
Every phone I've had on T-Mobile has had low reception in certain stores like Target or Macy's.
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Click to collapse
They want you to buy more and talk less lol.
david1171 said:
They want you to buy more and talk less lol.
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Click to collapse
Well I found out how to talk more for free. Thanks to sipdroid, gizmo5, and google voice. Now when I am in this office I receive my calls on the sipdroid client, which integrates very nicely.
My G1 was great @ my job, but the nexus is kind of a hassle when it comes to having extended conversations there. Keeps cutting in and out. I have so much trouble making clear calls, although 3G works great...
Nope. No problem here in NYC. I work in an old renovated factroy building and those are pretty solid buildings with plenty of concrete and even going into the service elevator I still have 2-3 bars and 3G. Not sure where eople who are complaining about their reception but traveled to several major cities and never had a problem...San Fran, Boston, Chicago, Santa Fe...I can still hear ya.
I am in east Texas where T-Mobile's footprint is small. When the G1 came out I ordered one, but had to return it and cancel service with T-mobile because of their service. They only had gprs in town and absolutely nothing outside of town. Before ordering the N1 I double checked all of T-Mobiles coverage maps and it indicated that there had been vast improvements in coverage, and they launched 3g just before Christmas. So I bought the N1. I get good coverage in most areas of town, but there are a lot of dead spots. If I have 3 bars or less outdoors, walking indoors completely kills my signal. I have noticed that for some reason T-Mobile's signal does not penetrate buildings as well as AT&T's signal. I came from an iPhone 3g, and always had full signal in these buildings.
Also, there is absolutely no Edge on T-Mobile's network in East Texas. It is either 3G or gprs. And the 3g is quite slow (300k max) compared to AT&T 3g speeds (avg 1Mb). In the first 14 days I did not go any where but my main office, which is a stone's throw from a tower, and home, so I did not notice the coverage issue. I saw Edge once while roaming the other day, that is it.
In Houston Downtown I have trouble with reception in buildings. AT&T had issues too, but it doesnt seem like they were as bad.
What pisses me off is when I am in a phone call and the N1 switches from 3g to edge I lose the call.

[Q] The moment I get to my door... NO SIGNAL

So I got the Nexus S yesterday and LOVE everything about it.
I'm unable to get any acceptable reception inside my apartment (on the lowest level of a three story complex thats surrounded by other apartments).
I live in Hermosa Beach, CA and TMO says I have good coverage here... and they're right... because once i walk outside I'm blazing... like literally once I'm outside my door... what gives??? How can I go from 3G 4 bars lit up in green to that stupid EDGE with one bar... lucky to be green... or no reception at all.
Will I be stuck with not being able to use my phone inside my apartment? I called TMO and they are sending someone out here to check the reception I guess... but I'm stuck using WiFi inside my apartment without being able to use the phone.
Anyone else experience similar issues like that? My sprint phone never did this.
look into getting a signal repeater or something
T-Mobile definitely has issues penetrating buildings, in my opinion. Both my home and one of the two work-sites I frequent are almost dead-zones on T-Mo.
I purchased one of those zBoost cell repeaters for my home, which greatly improves reception, but you need to be able to run a cable to an outside antenna for best results.
Here's an Amazon link for a starting point to different models: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=mobile&field-keywords=zboost+tmobile&x=0&y=0
That said, it's ridiculous to have to pay $250 to get your cell signal. I only did it because the one I got does both AT&T and T-Mo frequencies (not T-Mo 3G, though) and my AT&T phones can get signal inside the house, but just barely.
I too have issues in buildings not necessarily my house but businesses
This is a T-Mobile issue. Not a nexus issue. Also is not a new issue.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
cpcrazyfly said:
This is a T-Mobile issue. Not a nexus issue. Also is not a new issue.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Technically correct, but if the Nexus S is your first T-Mobile phone, you might not know this. It would be easy to think the NS has a poor antenna. It's a valid question to ask, in my opinion.
redhatyellow said:
So I got the Nexus S yesterday and LOVE everything about it.
I'm unable to get any acceptable reception inside my apartment (on the lowest level of a three story complex thats surrounded by other apartments).
I live in Hermosa Beach, CA and TMO says I have good coverage here... and they're right... because once i walk outside I'm blazing... like literally once I'm outside my door... what gives??? How can I go from 3G 4 bars lit up in green to that stupid EDGE with one bar... lucky to be green... or no reception at all.
Will I be stuck with not being able to use my phone inside my apartment? I called TMO and they are sending someone out here to check the reception I guess... but I'm stuck using WiFi inside my apartment without being able to use the phone.
Anyone else experience similar issues like that? My sprint phone never did this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is just a fundamental issue with the frequencies t-mobile uses for their 3g network, 1700 and 2100mHz. Those have poor building penetration vs for example lower bands like the 850mHz on ATT which penetrates buildings much stronger. It requires them to build towers closer together but that isn't always possible, its hard enough to get towers up as it is.
This is one reason I've tried to stay on ATT 3g as their 3g band performs much better in these situations, when its available.
distortedloop said:
T-Mobile definitely has issues penetrating buildings, in my opinion. Both my home and one of the two work-sites I frequent are almost dead-zones on T-Mo.
I purchased one of those zBoost cell repeaters for my home, which greatly improves reception, but you need to be able to run a cable to an outside antenna for best results.
Here's an Amazon link for a starting point to different models:
That said, it's ridiculous to have to pay $250 to get your cell signal. I only did it because the one I got does both AT&T and T-Mo frequencies (not T-Mo 3G, though) and my AT&T phones can get signal inside the house, but just barely.
Click to expand...
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Do you think TMO will provide this for me? Have people got TMO to do this before?
And yeah, I know this isn't a NS issue... I LOVE THE NS -- MY FAV PHONE OF ALL TIME!!, but i am new to TMO and love them as well EXCEPT for inside my house !!
Has anyone ever got TMO to provide better reception inside their home?? You would think they would provide people with like wireless routers for their homes!
I had the G1, Nexus One, G2, and MT4G before the Nexus S and have to say that the Nexus S gets hands down the best reception in my apartment.
The G1 was worthless, the N1, G2, and MT4G were pretty much on par but only got reception in certain parts of the apartment which means I couldn't move very much when on the phone (unless when on wifi calling of course).
The Nexus S has reception everywhere in my apartment with superior call quality throughout. Very impressed with it so far. T-mobile still sucks inside buildings but you're better off with the Nexus S than other T-mobile devices.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
find another place lol
why you are living deep down under. afraid of nuke or something ?
Also, I live in Los Angeles and we've been having lots of rain here... will that affect reception at all?
And what about femtocell technology? Does TMO use it??
redhatyellow said:
Also, I live in Los Angeles and we've been having lots of rain here... will that affect reception at all?
And what about femtocell technology? Does TMO use it??
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Im about an hour away from you and the rain is horrible but i havent had any issues...
and I dont think they do
LOL! I cannot stop laughing reading this comment
ll_l_x_l_ll said:
find another place lol
why you are living deep down under. afraid of nuke or something ?
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Rain seems to be affecting my T mobile service, I'm in the valley and areas I normally get 3g on have been edge or no service since the rain storms began.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Hopefully someone will port the tmobile wifi app to the nexus s. I may return mine and wait for it because I don't want to keep switching phones at home because one has the ability for wifi calling and the other doesnt.
Also I have tried sip calling to no avail on both nexuses.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Rain is known to sometimes cause interference with reception; I notice this as well in NYC. I have noticed that the Nexus S is pretty good at keeping the signal alive, certainly better than my N1 or Vibrant.
To improve your reception, set the phone to airplane mode and then turn it off a few seconds later to get the closest towers. Also call 611 and ask them to reset your phone on the network from their end. Surprisingly, this sometimes does help. As someone said previously, the higher the band (2100 mhz for Tmo 3G), the worse penetration is unfortunately. I think Tmo stopped selling their repeaters earlier this year or last year (hotspot @ home).
I tweeted on Sunday my dissatisfaction with T-Mobile service. I was 75' outside one of their own stores in an area marked as 3G on their maps, couldn't get data at all inside another store, couldn't get better than EDGE outside in the parking lot.
Their reply was to try a new SIM. The SIM I have is from my N1 original, it's not even a year old. Anyone think it's worth the effort swapping? Do SIMS actually "wear out" that fast?
I suspect that's one of those "we don't really have an answer or fix, but give the customer something to try so we look proactive" kind of answers. LOL
have you tried setting up SIP + GVoice over Wifi?
This doesn't resolve the tmobile issue, but at least you can make and receive calls on wifi without eating up your minutes...
It's not ideal, but it works.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=877879
My friend had this problem with his ATT phones. He contacted them, *****ed, and they set up one of those repeaters in his apartment. He's the only one that could log into it and set up a filter to use only phones he registers. Maybe you can talk to Tmobile about this, though I'm not sure if they're eager to give everyone these things (or if Tmobile even gives them).

[Q] External Antenna

So under black tape behind the battery cover, there are external ports called "R2" "G" and "R1". I found that the plugs are compatible with a Samsung A717.
While researching, I found the ports are compatible with plugs for the Samsung A717 and can be found HERE.
My thoughts were, to build a home made signal antenna/booster similiar to THIS.
There is very little info that I could find on this, so I thought i'd reach out to the community to see if anyone knows what port is for an external antenna... and also, if anyone know of a better homemade signal booster/amplifier setup?
I didn't even know that those ports where there... That's awesome! I know this comment doesn't help but I had to say something!
Jrex said:
I didn't even know that those ports where there... That's awesome! I know this comment doesn't help but I had to say something!
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lol, that's cool. I just found out about them myself.
I knew about the ports . For the heck of it I tried an external antenna that I had from my omnia. Great signal boost, but seemed to ruin the antenna. Use caution.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
the entity said:
I knew about the ports . For the heck of it I tried an external antenna that I had from my omnia. Great signal boost, but seemed to ruin the antenna. Use caution.
Click to expand...
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Can you give some more information on this? The external antennae did work, gave a signal boost, but then was ruined and presumably stopped working?
My house seems to be located in a Bermuda Triangle within Verizon's network, and I'd love to find a way to boost my signal strength short of dropping $250 on a network extender and sending my calls (and everyone else's within range) over my internet connection for free, for Verizon.
Slightly off topic, but I wanted to insert a bit of reality into the network extender wish.
Put simply, it's worthless. I got one for FREE and still returned it. It goes offline for hours at a time and, when synched, only works for about a 15ft radius, if that.
That said, if you want one for free, file a compliant with the FCC about the poor call quality and signal strength and you'll likely be offered one for free as well.
Good luck, either way.
Sent from my SCH-I500
Just to throw in my two cents' worth, extenders are not always worthless, though quality may vary. At the last place I worked, my department got moved into the basement of one of the buildings, where you were lucky to get one bar of service on our company cell phones, which were through Sprint. That was unacceptable, so the company had somebody from Sprint mount an antenna on the roof and run a wire from there down to a repeater box that was mounted on the ceiling of the basement level. After that, we got full bars on all our phones in the basement. Of course then everybody else hated us, since the breakroom was down there, and before that they usually wouldnt get interrupted by cell phone calls while at lunch, due to the poor signal.
Extenders work just fine, providing you don't get a cheap junk one, and providing there's even a good signal for it to extend in the first place.
Posted from my DL09 SuperClean Fascinate with Voodoo
The one you had access to isn't how the Verizon extender works. The Verizon one works similar to a Wi-Fi router, not as a repeater. It literally becomes a cell tower, just at such a low wattage it doesn't penetrate anything. It also doesn't repeat to a tower, it connects via your home inet connection to Verizon's exchange, so you get lag twice. If you read the manual for it, it tells you it won't work outside 15ft. Verizon just doesn't advertise that on the advertisements (or the box).
Ah, I didn't realize they had a device like that. Sounds like basically a poor man's cell tower. Too bad it doesn't work for you.
Posted from my DL09 SuperClean Fascinate with Voodoo
At my school system we have some offices and stuff in the district that get really bad service, mostly just because they're in layers of thick concrete and steel. We've been installing some really nice extenders in some of the worse ones, they're very expensive (like $600 a pop) but they do a great job.
OT, what did the poster mean about it ruining his antenna? I'm confused.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
I live in the mountains outside Verizon range. The stock Verizon network extender works fine in our 2 story house.
ChrisDDD said:
Can you give some more information on this? The external antennae did work, gave a signal boost, but then was ruined and presumably stopped working?
My house seems to be located in a Bermuda Triangle within Verizon's network, and I'd love to find a way to boost my signal strength short of dropping $250 on a network extender and sending my calls (and everyone else's within range) over my internet connection for free, for Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used an external antenna - same one http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-SGH-A74...enna-adapter-/260710050385?pt=PDA_Accessories
It plugged in without a problem and gave a great signal boost, but i suspect that the inner pin on the adapter was too wide for the fascinate and once the plug was removed, I was lucky to be able to make a call at all without the use of the antenna. I replaced my phone under warranty saying that gps was messed up.
If you look hard enough, you may be able to find a suitable adapter designed for the Fascinate.

Frustrated...

I work and go to school full time so 90% of the time I'm inside of a building. I'm finding that even seated in front of a huge window I have no data signal it just says "emergency calls only" and the wifi is so terribly weak I can't even connect to the campus wifi. Anything I can do to improve this before I consider other options?
Sent from my Nexus S
Bronk93 said:
I work and go to school full time so 90% of the time I'm inside of a building. I'm finding that even seated in front of a huge window I have no data signal it just says "emergency calls only" and the wifi is so terribly weak I can't even connect to the campus wifi. Anything I can do to improve this before I consider other options?
Sent from my Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile will NEVER be good at building penetration with their current network; it's the high frequencies they use and the lack of close-together towers.
WiFi seems to be hit or miss for people. I have zero issues with WiFi on my phone, but lots of people complain the NS is weak. You might consider a swap if you're still in the remorse period. Other than that, unless you get closer to the WiFi, there's nothing you can (currently) do to the phone that will boost the reception, but software updates might address that (new modem software, etc).
that is the nature of AWS 1700+2100 (t-mobile) signal
some areas are really good, some areas are horrible
i myself i'm victim of that, no much you can do about it, other than to report weak signal areas, so that they can put up more towers to cover the black spots (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI)
as for WiFi signal... i don't seem to have that trouble
i can connect to WiFi G and N just fine, fast and strong 3 bars, or 4 bars, but never max
Bronk93 said:
I'm finding that even seated in front of a huge window I have no data signal... and the wifi is so terribly weak I can't even connect to the campus wifi. Anything I can do to improve this before I consider other options?
Click to expand...
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I find that I am having the same problem.
The understand network signal issue that "AllGamer" and "distortedloop" mention. But I am came to the Nexus S from a G2. I wanted a purely Google phone and paid for the Nexus S. In the same buildings (Work & School), My G2 would report a stronger WIFI signal.
Any reason for this noted discrepancy? I'm not complaining, just trying to understand and find out if there is a solution.
I think I'm still in my 14 day period, so I may swap it out. But it feels like I've been setting up phone preferences and reinstalling programs for months. I've been through several G2s because of that darn hinge and now another Nexus-S.
Please somebody--- say there's a fix.
I get 2 bars of wifi only 10 feet from my home router even. Im out of my grace period but I have the 10$ a month best buy insurance, could that be used? Sadly I'm looking at the g2 and hd7, some form of reliable data is a must for me.
Sent from my Nexus S
I live in a terrible service area. With my Sprint phone I had to actually go outside to be able to make and receive calls and I live in the Northwest. Its f***ing wet here. On Tmobile I get great service...on my couch only. Its better than having to go outside, and I don't mind it that much to be honest. I just leave my phone on my couch while I'm at home and all is well. As for WiFi, I've never had any issues though I've read about all the people complaining. My wife and I both have great WiFi reception or at the very worst, reception on par with every other phone I've owned. She goes to class inside a concrete building from the 70s and gets fine WiFi and no one on any carrier gets any real cell reception in those buildings.
I don't have experience with any other carrier, so I have no basis for comparison, but I've never found T-Mobile to be particularly bad inside buildings in general. Some are just really bad. I suspect it has a lot to do with the design and materials of the building. I've never had an experience of having such bad coverage by a window, though. Maybe you're only in range of one tower, and the window you're standing at is just on the opposite side of the building from that tower? I dunno.
Thanks for all the feedback fellas. I'm going to see if the best buy insurance will cover a phone swap.
Sent from my Nexus S
It most likely won't. Your best bet would be an exchange if you're within the 30 days or selling the nexus and buying a different phone off contract.
Sent from my SubCyan CM7 Google Nexus S!
zorak950 said:
I don't have experience with any other carrier, so I have no basis for comparison, but I've never found T-Mobile to be particularly bad inside buildings in general. Some are just really bad. I suspect it has a lot to do with the design and materials of the building. I've never had an experience of having such bad coverage by a window, though. Maybe you're only in range of one tower, and the window you're standing at is just on the opposite side of the building from that tower? I dunno.
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T-Mobile's overall service is definitely location-dependent.
I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My house is single story, wood frame & 1/2" stucco construction built in the 50s. It's in the "hills", but in direct line of sight of two different towers. One's maybe 3/4 miles, the other just over a mile.
Until a couple of months ago, I could not get any signal in my house, on either voice or data. They did something in the fall and I started getting voice and EDGE, and occasionally I'll get a single bar of 3G in some rooms of the house.
AT&T and Verizon, 5 bars inside my house, but in fairness to T-Mobile, in the early days of the iPhone, I remember having lots of dead spots inside the house with the iPhone.
distortedloop said:
T-Mobile's overall service is definitely location-dependent.
I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My house is single story, wood frame & 1/2" stucco construction built in the 50s. It's in the "hills", but in direct line of sight of two different towers. One's maybe 3/4 miles, the other just over a mile.
Until a couple of months ago, I could not get any signal in my house, on either voice or data. They did something in the fall and I started getting voice and EDGE, and occasionally I'll get a single bar of 3G in some rooms of the house.
AT&T and Verizon, 5 bars inside my house, but in fairness to T-Mobile, in the early days of the iPhone, I remember having lots of dead spots inside the house with the iPhone.
Click to expand...
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Crazy. I never had a smartphone when I lived in Rochester (MN), so I know nothing about 3G there, but I never had problems with voice calls unless I was in the subway or I buried myself in the core of one of Mayo Clinic's monstrous stone buildings. In Saint Cloud the only place I can recall getting no signal was in the middle of the cinder block labyrinth known as our student union building. In Portland, I get reception pretty much everywhere, though 3G coverage just doesn't exist still in sizable patches outside the city's core.
But yeah, I imagine it's like that with pretty much any carrier; some places, coverage just blows.
I've decided that I am willing to give up my nexus to get service through another carrier with better service in my area. Does anyone have experience with at&t? Does their band allow for better reception in buildings?
Sent from my Nexus S
Yes if you live in an 850mHz area for ATT then building penetration is spectacular. But It's not totally common.
Also I read an ATT version of the nexus s is confirmed now. So that's an option.
I concur with RogerPodacter on AT&T. Their 1900 mhz signal isn't much better at building penetration than T-Mobiles 1700/2100 AWS, but 850 should be. I don't think a lot of areas are actually 850 yet.
If coverage and building penetration are your main concerns, I really feel Verizon is the way to go. Everywhere I hang out that I don't get a signal on either my T-Mo or my AT&T phone, the folks with Verizon are getting good strong coverage. I live and work in the suburbs and surrounding areas of Los Angeles; since cell service is very much dependent on the area you live in with all the companies, your experience may be much different.
Along those lines, I was at Lake Mohave (Bullhead, AZ area) recently, and neither my AT&T i9000, iPhone 4, or T-Mobile Nexus One could get a signal at all for voice or data, but the guys with old original model iPhones were pulling in a signal. Go figure.
My Own Fustration
Hmm...my problem is that 50% of the time when I am on the subway and the signal drops off, when I arrive at the next station, it remains off. There seems to be some kind of glitch (either in the actual OS or else something caused by something I have running in the background) whereby the phone antenna just turns "off", so to speak, and the only way to fix it is to restart the phone.
TokyoGuy said:
Hmm...my problem is that 50% of the time when I am on the subway and the signal drops off, when I arrive at the next station, it remains off. There seems to be some kind of glitch (either in the actual OS or else something caused by something I have running in the background) whereby the phone antenna just turns "off", so to speak, and the only way to fix it is to restart the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you can try turning airplane mode off and on, see if that helps
How would I know which AT&T signal is available in my area?
Sent from my Nexus S
Bronk93 said:
How would I know which AT&T signal is available in my area?
Sent from my Nexus S
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I'm not sure how accurate this is, since it's 2 years old, but it's a good start: http://www.cellularmaps.com/att_850_1900.shtml
distortedloop said:
I'm not sure how accurate this is, since it's 2 years old, but it's a good start: http://www.cellularmaps.com/att_850_1900.shtml
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wow! i'm actually surprised there are less 850 coverage than 1900 areas (according to that map)
on a related note.
wish more Cell phone carriers had this feature
http://www2.windmobile.ca/en/pages/storesandcoverage.aspx
using google map, to check live coverage, and you can report weak spots, so they can build a new tower to cover the weak spots

lack of reception in my room - ideas?

hey
i have a nexus 4
and when my room in the house the reception fades like ****
i was wondering if there's any way to place an external antenna in the window and connect it to the phone when I'm in the room
is it possible?
where can i find such item?
thanks
Ariel
Amplifier
arik100 said:
hey
i have a nexus 4
and when my room in the house the reception fades like ****
i was wondering if there's any way to place an external antenna in the window and connect it to the phone when I'm in the room
is it possible?
where can i find such item?
thanks
Ariel
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You can buy an amplifier but they run for about 300.00 euros.
If your issue is the carrier, your gonna have to change it if your want more bars.
There is a post about this issue here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2036059
Another solution is a carrier amplifier:
If your on T-mobile: http://t-mobilescoop.com/signalbooster
If your on AT&T: http://www.att.com/standalone/3gmicrocell/?fbid=_nOhLzaqTDI
Hope the info helps you out.
I've noticed the same thing with both my Nexus, our old phones didn't seem to lose signal as bad inside. I've wondered if I switched to a different modem would improve this.
hey
thanks for the fast response
actually im not from the united states so AT&T & Tmobile aren't quite gonna help me
anyways
I'm looking for something like these repeaters you gave but they're quite expensive and im doubtful my phone operator owns them.
plus they aren't gonna fix any reception in my area.
I've been wondering if there's a possible way to extend the antenna instead of the signal so the signal will be received better DIRECTLY into the phone without any other means such as repeaters (just like what you can do in WIFI networks , when you can connect a wireless network card with a long antenna).
Well in no way am I a communication specialist, but from what I remember higher frequencies (which are being used to broadcast data services) have a harder time getting thru walls and such. Voice communication are broadcasted on lower frequencies so theoretically they have a deeper penetration (lol) in the buildings. Try in the wireless&network settings navigate to mobile network and choose use only 2g network. It could help if you live relatively close to a tower. The downside is that you lose high speed data connection but if you're home then you're probably on wifi anyway. Now this is only theoretical and there are a number of things that come into play when we talk about cell phone reception, this being one of many. Try, it might help you a bit but that's not a guarantee.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
What about changing the Provider? Did help me a lot
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
My whole house is a dead zone with a weak signal outside as well ( 95 dBm / 8 asu ) I bit the bullet and purchased a Wilson signal booster model 841263 with directional antenna. It was expensive but it worked! I can now use my phone anywhere in my home with up to 67 dBm at best, funny thing is that I have an old lg p500 and the signal is WAY better than my nexus4..go figure! They wanted 660$ Canadian at the telus store but I got mine from amazon for 357$
sent from my N7 :smokin:

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