Boosting signal

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StellenboschStudent

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Does vodacom sell a device that will boost cell phone reception?
At our beach house we get gprs outside and 3g if you are lucky.
Any method of boosting that 3g signal?
 
I'd also be interested, I knw there is such a device...no idea what it is though...
 
Effectively you need a female antenna connector on your 3G device & then get a high gain antenna pointed in the right direction.

Note though that 3G tech is capable of measuring the distance via the delay. If its >38km (I think) it will deny the connection attempt regardless of signal strength.

My dad bought one of those clip on things designed for the 3G dongles that don't have a connector. Measured that w/ the MDMA tool...didn't make a difference. Poynting {sp?} no less.

EDIT: Alternatively you can attempt to build a parabolic reflector w/ aluminum foil. Get template off internet. It definitely works for wifi...3G should too, but I have no 1st hand experience on that. Again, needs to be pointed in the right direction.
 
HavocXphere said:
Note though that 3G tech is capable of measuring the distance via the delay. If its >38km (I think) it will deny the connection attempt regardless of signal strength.
Click to expand...

I doubt they'd bother with DLLs just for the sake of knowing the distance. They use RSSI to calculate the incoming SNR, different constellation sizes have different minimum SNRs. ACM then allows then uses the optimal constellation, FEC and other parameters. If the SNR is too bad for the most reliable of them, EDGE mode.
 
HavocXphere said:
Its from the one of the poynting manuals/packaging. Dunno whether its true, but I don't think they'd put a blatant lie in their docs.
Click to expand...

Got a reference? I'd like to read up on this.

I say this because, except for espionage, the only reason you need to know the distance is to estimate the loss caused by the channel. A better way (infinitely more accurate and simpler too) is to just measure the received signal strength (the transmit power is a given, either fixed or supplied by the BS) instead of using the delay to approximate the distance which then approximates the signal loss caused by the channel.
 
UnUnOctium said:
Got a reference? I'd like to read up on this.

I say this because, except for espionage, the only reason you need to know the distance is to estimate the loss caused by the channel. A better way (infinitely more accurate and simpler too) is to just measure the received signal strength (the transmit power is a given, either fixed or supplied by the BS) instead of using the delay to approximate the distance which then approximates the signal loss caused by the channel.
Click to expand...
As I said the gear didn't make a difference w/ dB so I told the person to return it.

I see you're really interested though so I googled it for you. The antenna was designed primarily for GSM voice, not UMTS data. GSM voice spec implies a 35km hard limit on GSM transfers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timing_advance

The link to the tech specs is in the wiki.

Pretty sure the manual said 38km, so I guess its just off a bit.
 
If anyone's interested in actual figures for boost using a dedicated 3G antenna (Poynting), it pumps up my signal (using a Novatel data card and measuring with ginggs' excellent MDMA) by 7 dB.

I'm told if I was prepared to shorten the supplied cable by a couple of metres I could get that up to 11 dB. But in my rather dodgy reception area, using the antenna means the difference between a 3G signal and plain-vanilla EDGE.
 
HavocXphere said:
As I said the gear didn't make a difference w/ dB so I told the person to return it.

I see you're really interested though so I googled it for you. The antenna was designed primarily for GSM voice, not UMTS data. GSM voice spec implies a 35km hard limit on GSM transfers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timing_advance

The link to the tech specs is in the wiki.

Pretty sure the manual said 38km, so I guess its just off a bit.
Click to expand...

Bah. I see now that you meant the timing advance for GSM. TDMA is the reason to blame for that one, else the user will miss their slot completely. The GSM standard is past its expiry date IMO. Time to move on to OFDMA.
 
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