Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Cell phone boosters

From: Ronnie Day <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2014 20:08:32 -0600

We have similar issues at our new place, but we only have to worry about
Verizon. I did some research and ended up getting a Wilson DB Pro through
Amazon. It was around $340. Not cheap, but it works. It consists of a 13 db
gain very directional antenna that I mounted on top of 25 feet of mast.
That attaches to an amp where drives a hemispherical flat panel indoor
antenna.

The first thing I did was call Verizon tech support and find out the
closest Verizon towers to our place. and figured out the relative compass
headings. Once we get settled I plan to put the outside antenna up at
around 50 feet. That should improve things quite a bit.

In your situation, you may get lucky and either be able to use an
omnidirectional outside antenna, if both AT&T and Verizon have towers close
enough to you. More likely they won't be so close and they'll be in
different directions (Murphy rears his ugly head) and you'll need separate
setups with directional antennas for each provider.

We're dealing with small, relatively cheap radios here with non-optimal
antennas and the frequencies they operate at aren't good for going through
hills and around buildings. That's just the nature of the beast.

FWIW,
Ron

On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 7:00 PM, James Stone <[email-masked]> wrote:

> I need a cell phone booster for my vacation home and figured this was the
> best
> place to turn for guidance.  Here s the background:
>
> I have AT&T and my wife has Verizon; iPhone 5s for me and iPhone 4 for
> her.  I
> am the one who primarily needs the boost, but it would be nice to get
> something that would enhance my wife s signal, too.  (And, please don t
> take
> that sentence out of context!)  The AT&T signal here is ok in most of the
> house ( ok  defined as 2 bars - I can send and receive calls), except for
> the
> area I am trying to use as my home office.  There I only get one bar and
> can
> send and receive text messages, but most calls do not get through.  My wife
> has two bars throughout the house, so her signal is adequate everywhere.
> (BTW: the house is less than 800 sq ft, so the distance from the adequate
> to
> the inadequate rooms is only a couple of steps.)  We have cable wifi and
> that
> signal is excellent throughout.
>
> I have to do something to improve the AT&T signal, but it would be nice to
> get
> something that would work for both our phones.  And, as always, it would be
> nice not to spend too much money.  The easy solution for me looks to be an
> AT&T Microcell, but it would be nice to get something that worked for
> Verizon,
> too.  Something like this sounds perfect
> (
> http://www.amazon.com/zBoost-YX545-Dual-Band-Booster-Coverage/dp/B003VOW5WI/
> ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) and it is less expensive then the Microcell when
> bought from AT&T, but I d like to hear from someone I trust before
> investing
> $200.  And, given that I only need the boost in one room, whatever
> solution I
> go with wouldn t necessarily have to be wireless.  I d be ok with
> something a
> lot less expensive that only worked when the phone was connected to it or
> right next to it.
>
> As always, thanks!   Any advice will be appreciated.
>
> Jim
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---

From: Mark <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2014 20:55:10 -0600

The first thing to do is climb up on the roof and see if you have enough 
signal to be reliable.  If you do you can use an omni antenna with a 
booster for both systems.  If you still have marginal signal on one or 
both carriers you will need more height and perhaps a higher gain 
antenna.  The cell booster amplifiers obviously need a strong signal to 
boost, don't skimp on the transmission line between the inside and out.  
The Wilson products work well for consumer grade products, the 
commercial systems are pricy but very effective.

Mark
Nashville

On 1/10/2014 7:00 PM, James Stone wrote:
> I need a cell phone booster for my vacation home and figured this was the best
> place to turn for guidance.  Heres the background:
>
> I have AT&T and my wife has Verizon; iPhone 5s for me and iPhone 4 for her.  I
> something that would enhance my wifes signal, too.  (And, please dont take
> house (ok defined as 2 bars - I can send and receive calls), except for the
> area I am trying to use as my home office.  There I only get one bar and can
> (BTW: the house is less than 800 sq ft, so the distance from the adequate to
> the inadequate rooms is only a couple of steps.)  We have cable wifi and that
> I have to do something to improve the AT&T signal, but it would be nice to get
> AT&T Microcell, but it would be nice to get something that worked for Verizon,
> (http://www.amazon.com/zBoost-YX545-Dual-Band-Booster-Coverage/dp/B003VOW5WI/
> bought from AT&T, but Id like to hear from someone I trust before investing
> $200.  And, given that I only need the boost in one room, whatever solution I
> go with wouldnt necessarily have to be wireless.  Id be ok with something a

[email-masked]

---

From: Steven Trovato <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2014 22:35:29 -0500

At my house, the Verizon signal used to be good enough, but something 
changed and it got worse.  I ended  up getting a Samsung Network 
Extender through Verizon.  This connects to my broadband router, and 
creates a mini cell site just for me.  I have found that it is a big 
improvement.  If I relocate the device to a more central spot in my 
house, I'm sure it will be even better.  For this device, you have to 
have broadband service and it needs a GPS signal.  This means it has 
to be located near a window or you have to use the remote GPS 
antenna.  I can't tell you why exactly it needs a GPS signal, but it 
does.  And it's not just needed at setup time.  If it loses the 
signal it eventually starts to complain.  The only other issue is the 
price, but I complained enough to Verizon that they offered it to me 
for $100.  It was listed as "refurbished" but it looked brand new to 
me.  Here it is:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/samsung-network-extender-scs-2u01/

You would also have to do some research to find out if it works for 
non-Verizon phones.

-Steve Trovato
[email-masked]

At 08:00 PM 1/10/2014, James Stone wrote:
>place to turn for guidance.

[email-masked]

---

From: "Steve Hammatt, Mount Vernon WA USA" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2014 20:18:07 -0800

As per Steve Trovatobs comments, we done the identical thing, although
with Sprint.  It sits next to my router in my home office.  Suddenly I went
from maybe 1 bar, to a full 5 bar strength.

Steve Hammatt
Mount Vernon WA USA

From: Steven Trovato
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 7:35 PM
To: Shop Talk List
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Cell phone boosters

-Steve Trovato
[email-masked]

best

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Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
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From: Tim Hoerning <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 10:30:53 -0500

Verizon needs a GPS because the radio transmission format  they use (CDMA2000
1xRTT) requires all cell sites (including your samsung micro-cell) to be
synchronized. The GPS signal is being used for timing, not position.

I've never used one of these extender products, but have used a number of
Wilson products and can recommend them.

    Tim

Sent from my Commodore 64 over a 300 baud modem

> On Jan 10, 2014, at 10:35 PM, Steven Trovato <[email-masked]>
> At my house, the Verizon signal used to be good enough, but something
changed and it got worse.  I ended  up getting a Samsung Network Extender
through Verizon.  This connects to my broadband router, and creates a mini
cell site just for me.  I have found that it is a big improvement.  If I
relocate the device to a more central spot in my house, I'm sure it will be
even better.  For this device, you have to have broadband service and it needs
a GPS signal.  This means it has to be located near a window or you have to
use the remote GPS antenna.  I can't tell you why exactly it needs a GPS
signal, but it does.  And it's not just needed at setup time.  If it loses the
signal it eventually starts to complain.  The only other issue is the price,
but I complained enough to Verizon that they offered it to me for $100.  It
was listed as "refurbished" but it looked brand new to me.  Here it is:
non-Verizon phones.
best
>> place to turn for guidance.
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]

---

From: Steven Trovato <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 10:38:51 -0500

Thanks Tim.  I thought maybe they were concerned that my house had 
slid into a different area code or something.  Your explanation is 
much better!

-Steve

At 10:30 AM 1/11/2014, Tim Hoerning wrote:
>Verizon needs a GPS because the radio transmission format  they use 
>(CDMA2000 1xRTT) requires all cell sites (including your samsung 
>micro-cell) to be synchronized. The GPS signal is being used for 
>timing, not position.

[email-masked]

---

From: w <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 22:04:55 -0500

> synchronized. The GPS signal is being used for timing, not position.

If you still have use for a land line, check out Verizon's "home 
connect" service. It's a little black box like a wi-fi router that has a 
cellular radio along with electronics to drive regular POTS (err.. 
standard home) phones. Only $20/mo unlimited national calling, or if you 
have cell service with them and want to share minutes it's only $10/mo. 
Killer bargain, and good sound quality. Supposedly uses older equipment 
on the towers that's under utilized. Few extra bucks for them, cheap 
service, and screw the competition.

> Sent from my Commodore 64 over a 300 baud modem

HuhHuh, I taught myself raw f***** 6502 on nearly bare metal machine 
code (NO, not assembler, my 'rents and high school wouldn't drop $50 on 
it) in high school in the early 80s to code video games fast enough to 
run on an Apple ][. Breakout in 1536 bytes. And had a PDP 11/35 in Mom's 
basement in the mid 80s. Bare metal? Toggle 12 words on the switches, 
reset address, and hit the run button.

-w

[email-masked]

---

From: James Stone <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2014 18:03:16 -0500

Thanks guys.  This was very helpful.  I had done some research on the topic
before posting the question, but that didnt tell me everything I needed to
know.  The information from this group enabled me to do a little more targeted
surfing and I found an excellent write up on the topic from PCWord:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/194059/wireless_dead_zone.html  It is a couple
of years old, which is usually a killer, but it doesnt look like the
technology has changed much since this was written.
Im not sure yet which way I will go, but I am now an educated consumer, which
is a good start!
Jim

>> Verizon needs a GPS because the radio transmission format  they use
(CDMA2000
> If you still have use for a land line, check out Verizon's "home connect"
service. It's a little black box like a wi-fi router that has a cellular radio
along with electronics to drive regular POTS (err.. standard home) phones.
Only $20/mo unlimited national calling, or if you have cell service with them
and want to share minutes it's only $10/mo. Killer bargain, and good sound
quality. Supposedly uses older equipment on the towers that's under utilized.
Few extra bucks for them, cheap service, and screw the competition.
> HuhHuh, I taught myself raw f***** 6502 on nearly bare metal machine code
(NO, not assembler, my 'rents and high school wouldn't drop $50 on it) in high
school in the early 80s to code video games fast enough to run on an Apple ][.
Breakout in 1536 bytes. And had a PDP 11/35 in Mom's basement in the mid 80s.
Bare metal? Toggle 12 words on the switches, reset address, and hit the run
button.
> -w
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]
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