Cell Phone Signal Boosters - Comments Page 1

I use an antenna that mounts on the top of our trailer in Fl, being in a metal unit the signal was not very good.
Not being able to attach to the aluminum roof I attached two clips (broom handle type) to the side of the trailer and clamp a non conductive pvc pipe with a metal angle iron mounted to the top. This allows the magnet base to connect to the pvc top that is extended about 10 feet above the roof line, with the pipe firmly attached to the side with the clips.
This system has worked very well as it adds more bars to my signal now.

I actually got one of the sticker-type antenna boosters free with a case I bought for my N-Gage. You know what, it worked! There was a clear difference in voice quality when the sticker was in place than when it was not. An Orange tech told me it could be because it somehow forced the phone to use a higher bitrate voice codec, which is usually reserved only for situations in which there is a very strong signal.

In our FL trailer I have installed an antenna on the roof for use when I am inside the unit. Brings up st least 3 more bars, have no problem when I am outside.
My phone is several years old and I am told the newer phones do not have the necessary jack for that purpose. As a result I will stick with the one I have for now.

The universal antenna transfers cellular phone signals to exterior antenna. A great way to enhance reception and reduce signal fade. Antenna mounts to any glass surface.

About these "Cell Phone Boosters", the ones that plug into the wall and have an active transmitter, unless you are the cell phone carrier or get written permission from the licensee(cell phone carrier) they are illegal for the common person to deploy. Please see the FCC Rules and Regulations CFR 47 Part 22.527.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=47&PART=22&SECTION=527\
&YEAR=2002&TYPE=TEXT

Please correct the information in this article to reflect this since the pollution of our airwaves can create alot of problems and wreak havoc on the cellular, LMR and public safety networks

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've read Sec. 22.527 and it seems pretty vague to me, as to whether consumers may use these low-wattage devices. I think the regs were written to cover things like cell towers and other high-powered devices, and refer to "licensees" which are the cellular providers.

The Wilson website says: "All Wilson amplifiers fully comply with FCC regulations for cellular devices and are FCC Type Accepted. They require no license or permit to operate. The FCC Identification Number is printed on the back of each amplifier." Thus, it seems that these CONSUMER-level devices pose no problem.

I don't own one, nor do I have any financial interest in any of the companies that sell them. But the fact that they are widely advertised, and widely deployed seems to be good empirical evidence that they are not illegal.

For those of you who have a booster that works in Florida, can you help me out by telling me what you are using? My parents just moved to FL, and have horrible reception inside their new home. The phones they are using is the SONY ERICSSON Z750a CELL PHONE. I'm pretty sure they run on the 850Mhz. Their carrier is At&t, which isn't the only problem, my husband and I have Verizon and he too did not have a signal inside the home when he visited. Any information to help me choose a signal booster for them will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

About the previous comment of "SIGNAL BOOSTERS ARE ILLEGAL FOR THE COMMON PERSON TO DEPLOY"....I called my local District Attorney and he told me that "this was true"....if you consider yourself to be "common", with absolutely no unique personality trait what-so-ever, then NO, you can't deploy these systems. He went on to add, that if you possibly had one characteristic, such as say, your genetic code, that was different from others, then that makes you NOT "common" and therefore the FCC will alow you to deploy these systems, even though they may interfere with our National Defense Sytems, and could ultimately cause the Pentagon to move us into DEFCON 4 !!!! Lets all be careful installing these, and never press the * (star) key on our phones.

Further to comments posted by Dan Karnes Nov 3/08 and Editor's comments. Although these devices may meet FCC requirements, the cell carrier has, in most cases, paid millions of dollars to use the cellular frequencies and no one else is authorized to do so. This is why Mr. Karnes indicated that the use of signal boosters are illegal. Further, with the modern Digital Cellular technologies deployed, these devices can interfere with a carrier's service which is why the carrier should be involved in their deployment. If this is done properly, these devices can be very useful.

We have a cabin in the woods of Michigan that has virtually NO cell phone reception thanks to a lawsuit by the local land-line provider that resulted in a consent agreement by the large national carriers to NOT BUILD ANY CELL TOWERS IN THE AREA because that was "unfair competition to the small, local provider". We use a SmoothTalker amplifier (a Canadian company) to raise our signal from the Motorola handheld's milliwatts to the legal limit of 3 watts. Reception is no problem since the cell(s) blast plenty of power but talking to the cell requires more than handheld flipfone power. And 3 watts is legal (some bag phones that put out 3 watts analog can still be found at garage sales and activated although the carriers usually balk at the request because they want to eliminate analog service) because you - the user - ARE BROADCASTING TO THE TOWER EVERY TIME YOU CALL ON YOUR CELL PHONE. If you have an account "agreement" with the cell phone company, you are allowed to use their cell phone frequencies.

It would seem that cellphone companies would try to remedy the problem of no-cell-phone-reception-dead-areas. I live in the middle of a big city and there is a cell tower virtually within view of my house and I still get no reception. I spent $250 for the zBoost yx510 that is identical to the pictured above. I walked around the house and found the "sweetest" area to install it in the attic. My phone will not work approximately 60% of the time when I am standing within 3 feet of the zBoost. It in no way extends to a 2500 square foot range. This is very irritating.
I plan to spend $250 on the (company name omitted) broadband booster but it seems that since I pay sooooo much to (CNO) that they should provide it free-of-charge because I have NO reception.