Cell Phone Signal Boosters - Comments Page 1

Category: Gadgets , Mobile




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Comment Page: 1 |  2 

Posted by:

YLS
12 Sep 2008

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.

Posted by:

Dotan Cohen
16 Sep 2008

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.

Posted by:

Yvette
28 Oct 2008

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.

Posted by:

Fommy
03 Nov 2008

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.

Posted by:

Dan Karnes
03 Nov 2008

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.

Posted by:

April
11 Nov 2008

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!

Posted by:

Craig
14 Nov 2008

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.

Posted by:

BG Philipp
22 Feb 2009

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.

Posted by:

D Sutherland
06 May 2009

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.

Posted by:

Les
01 Aug 2009

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.

Posted by:

Dan
11 Nov 2009

To those of you who think it may be illegal to use cellular signal boosters, I can only say you don't understand the law. The FCC limits a person only by the amount of transmit power your device has. Yes it is true, you can only transmit at above 3W with a license, however if it were less than that, we would need one to operate our cell phones.

As for these repeaters and in response to BG Philipp, the cellular companies paid for the license to transmit on the cellular frequencies meaning that you cannot develop equipment that uses these frequencies in a way that would inhibit their devices from working. In this case, the user is simply BOOSTING that signal in order to improve reception in a dwelling. This is perfectly legal and does NOT infringe on their license.

Feel free to buy and use these devices. No one from the government is gonna come a-knockin' asking what you are doing.

Posted by:

vik1066
15 Dec 2009

Nice post regarding Cell Amplifier.

Posted by:

ethan1066
19 Jan 2010

I gained 2 bars, even in the garage, in a low receiving area through cell amplifier. Simple installation and great, immediate results. Only PRO'S, no CON'S. Nice company and good communication regarding shipping. One thing the instructions didn't cover: On the powerplug that plugs into a 12V outlet, there is a small white button to press for power, which seems to be a power reset button.

Posted by:

Rushin
15 Apr 2010

Reply to Craig's posting:

"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."

Look-up the definition of "Person." This is too deep of a subject to be discussed on a few lines.

Bottom line is that your CAP lock name is a "person." Your driver's license, birth certificate, etc. However, You, as a "living soul" does NOT need to comply with the system based off Unified Commercial Code - there are 60 million statues that apply ONLY to CORPORATIONS, which happens to be your CAP lock name, but not You.

The worst can happen - you will be charged "fees" as fines and penalties. But NO ONE will have a right to take anything down WITHOUT your permission.

That applies to most activities you conduct in your daily life - traffic infractions, code violations, etc, etc...

But it matters not - the system is ALREADY collapsing. Just build it, but with no harm to anyone. According to God's Law, not some Statutes... Once again, there are 60 million of statutes - how can you possibly keep up with them? You can't. Nobody can. Even attorneys (who actually know what IS up with our current system).

It's not a conspiracy - educate yourself!!!

My family is dealing with HOA in our community - same thing - the only thing they can do is "fine" us.

It's all about "ca-ching." Money... And money means nothing to me. Including their "codes" and regulations - because it's for "persons" only.

Just FYI - only 6% of Corporations in the USA in 2009 have paid any taxes. Almost ALL of them are offshore now.

But, boy, do they regulate the heck out of all of us!!!

Posted by:

Doug
25 May 2010

will the zBoost ONE PCS work with Telus? Model YX400

Posted by:

Trevor
15 Sep 2010

I have bought 2 of the ZBoost 510 models (both 1900/800). Being in the Greater Toronto Area (West) and on Bell with a Blackberry 9530, I can tell you that it will not work. I have sent the ZBoosts back twice, bought another one hoping to get one that worked. While their customer support was incredible, the problem here is that they boost the Rogers signal so I end up with SOS on the Blackberry.

Posted by:

James
30 Jan 2011

To make a repeater system (which does multiple carriers) work in a particular area. Someone from a repeater distributor that knows what they are doing really needs to assess the local situation and your local carrier's frequency, how much output power and gain that you need, distance to the tower, terrain between you and the tower, distance between your indoor/outdoor antenna, building material, how much area you want to cover inside, etc.
Also, if you are too close to a cell tower, you can cause what the carrier's call a "noise attack" on the tower, which will for sure cause someone from the carrier to show up at your door. I've seen it happen with Bell in Toronto.
Here's the site if you want an assessment for a Canadian install:
www.magicwireless.ca

Posted by:

Bobby
22 Feb 2011

I have been using first a plug in antenna booster and now a wireless cradle type receiver & booster for several years.It is made by Wilson Electronics that has the best cell phone boosters on the Market today.Try one you will never change to another brand

Posted by:

sheila richardson
05 Apr 2011

looking for a signal booster that will help inside our mobile home and a large steel and tin building,we live in an isolated area that has very limited signal, any suggestions?

Posted by:

Wallz
23 Jun 2011

I have used a Spotwave 2500xe in a basement office and it was amazing. I went from zero signal to full strength at any spot in the warren of offices, probably about 7500 ft2.

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