GSM Repeater

portcullis

portcullis

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Hopefully this won't open up a can of worms...

I'm looking for a cellular repeater.

There's a high site that I visit every once in a while where I have good network connectivity, but where the cellular signal is pretty vrot. I used to use a clever little app called 3CX on my droid that used to connect me straight to my VOIP server, but I don't know if I'm being an idiot or a Scrooge, but I can't find any decent free VOIP apps for the berry. This means I have to use the cellular network when I'm up there to make or receive calls.

Not lekker.

I'm happy for Vodacom to give me a fem2cell if they want to.

I'm happy for them to give me some other form of small repeater. Hey there's a 24m tower up there that I / they can put it on. I won't even charge them site rental or power use;-)

Since the chances of either of those happening are maar pretty skraal, how do I go about getting a cellular repeater and staying out of jail in the process?

Thank you.
 
Hi.
Could you please specify the repeater?
And by any chance, I guess you can tell me (so I don't need to google it) which company uses 900MHz?

I moved to a farm right at the foot of the Langeberg here in Riversdale and want to keep my family's 5 lines with MTN.
Unfortunately I do need a signal amplifier and/or repeater because I hate the restrictions of those phone couplers.

Thanks,
Tato
 
Vodacom installed a Cellvine repeater at one of my clients.
Google BDA-UMTS-16-22-VBX. It's marketed under different names.
 
As per ICASA regulations, cellular repeaters are not allowed to be sold to the public other than from the service providers themselves.

Something about that device repeating the signal on the same network frequency is illegal or something.

Years ago, a friend of mine was selling cellular repeater units to the general public and ICASA found out and came to shut down his business.

So the only way for customers to get cellular repeaters should be directly from the service providers themselves. e.g. - Vodacom, MTN, 8ta, CellC. Usually a call gets logged via the relevant customer care departments and if the service provider deems necessary, they will provide a solution of some sort.
 
nuyork said:
As per ICASA regulations, cellular repeaters are not allowed to be sold to the public other than from the service providers themselves.
Click to expand...

As I understand it they don't even sell it to you, it remains the property of the provider.
 
JimM said:
I have a small cellular outlet here in Stilbaai, PM me and we can talk directly!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't post that publicly. As mentioned, it is illegal to sell GSM repeaters, unless you are one of the guys doing installs for the service providers.

The repeaters that are being installed by the service providers are also a lot more expensive than the illegal ones.
 
Yeah, thats because the operators (VC,MTN, Cell C) pay for that spectrum that you are looking to repeat and if the device does not work correctly it could interfere and degrade the signals on all 3 networks.
There are lots of cases where big corporates have been fined millions due to their network degrading that of another licence holder.
 
sorry to bring up this thread again

But I found a site that sell them and post them to SA, yes its illegal but oversea its not. The only point is I needed one and vodacom did not want to install one( something about how much u spend with vodacom) either way I can see why people use them even if its illegal.Our mobile company are to sloppy, in the end who will know if u have one install by illegal company
 
Most networks turn a blind eye if you use one on a farm or remote location where they work quite well.

Put one in a block of flats in a town/city and expect a knock on the door!! They can cause horrendous problems if not correctly installed and set up!

Try to import one and you may say goodbye to your money... Customs (probably) will not let it in...
 
and i needed one for the farm
 
You also need to be aware of the fact that, in theory at least, a repeater installed by one provider will only work on that provider's frequency, i.e. a Vodacom repeater will only work for Vodacom's frequency. Or so I was told by the operator who installed mine.

Also important to know if you live in an outlying area (which is often the reason for needing such a repeater) and are running off your own power, e.g. renewables such as solar or wind: the units take a surprisingly high amount of power, up to 4 amps.
 
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Terencek said:
You also need to be aware of the fact that, in theory at least, a repeater installed by one provider will only work on that provider's frequency, i.e. a Vodacom repeater will only work for Vodacom's frequency. Or so I was told by the operator who installed mine.
Click to expand...

I can confirm this.

We use a lot of Vodacom sim cards in telemetry applications and they've dropped a couple of those repeaters for us in far flung locations. You get full signal strength on your Vodacom phone, but nothing on the MTN or Cell-C phone.
 
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