Increasing Cell reception inside house?

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newb5000

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Hi folks,

This may seem like a strange request, but I have limited cellphone reception inside my house. About half the time when somebody tries to reach me, they get through to Voicemail, despite my phone being on. Sometimes, while talking to someone, the call will drop, or the other party will inform me that I am breaking up.

Is there anything that I can install inside so that I can get better reception? Like some kind of antenna? Call quality is fine outside, it's just inside that is the problem. I obviously cannot leave my phone outside all the time so that all calls come through.

Any ideas?
 
OK OK.. here goes.. is it permanently raining at your house ? GO outside man :P
No seriously now - if you are in a geographical area where there are not close towers you are pretty stuffed - unless you have a older cellphone that you can use a aerial with
 
You see, I can easily go outside if my phone rings, but half the time my phone does not ring, people just get through to voicemail.

And like I said, reception outside is decent, but inside is awful. There must be something that can be installed, some kind of aerial or amplifier.
 
If your phone does not have an external antenna connector, you can buy one of those capacitive coupling antenna adapters from Poynting. They stick onto the top back of your phone (usually where the internal antenna is) and "connect" through the phone's housing to the phone's antenna. You can then buy, say a Yagi or LPDA antenna for GSM and connect that to the adapters input.

You could also email customer care with your complaint. If you can get your neighbours to sign their names on your complaint as well, it may expedite the improvement of coverage in your area.

Alternately, if the other networks have better reception, just port.
 
I've had this problem with MTN ever since I first subscribed. The last time I addressed it with them, they sent me a Yagi aerial with a thingy that sits outside the phone. It does improve reception, but the thickness of the cable does make it difficult to use and, additionally, the portability of the cell disappears as one is now tethered to a cable.

I've tried to source an inexpensive repeater which would spread the signal within the house, but have not found anything affordable as the one I did see would cover a very large auditorium.
 
Thanks Ajax,

I was hoping that there was a solution without the need to attach something to my phone. I have found this so far. I am really inexperienced when it comes to wireless communications. Do you think this could help?

Btw, I am with MTN, but friends on Vodacom also experience poor signal when inside my house.
 
Do you have a steel roof?

I have a steel roof, so I only get a decent signal at best. If I do manage to pick up a 3g signal, the signal shortly drops to gprs while I'm connecting to the internet or vodafone live.
 
bekdik said:
I've tried to source an inexpensive repeater which would spread the signal within the house, but have not found anything affordable as the one I did see would cover a very large auditorium.
Click to expand...

Yes sir, that's what I'd want to get. I'll do some more searching to see if I can find anything, but yeah...my knowledge is limited, so I might end up finding the incorrect equipment :P
 
aadil said:
Do you have a steel roof?

I have a steel roof, so I only get a decent signal at best. If I do manage to pick up a 3g signal, the signal shortly drops to gprs while I'm connecting to the internet or vodafone live.
Click to expand...

The ceiling and walls have layers of Polystyrene for insulation, which I think is what is killing the signal.
 
newb5000 said:
Yes sir, that's what I'd want to get. I'll do some more searching to see if I can find anything, but yeah...my knowledge is limited, so I might end up finding the incorrect equipment :P
Click to expand...

There was a large Wireless symposium at CCITT and I asked around there without success. It was more oriented to the large telco's so probably the wrong forum.
 
newb5000 said:
Hi folks,

This may seem like a strange request, but I have limited cellphone reception inside my house. About half the time when somebody tries to reach me, they get through to Voicemail, despite my phone being on. Sometimes, while talking to someone, the call will drop, or the other party will inform me that I am breaking up.

Is there anything that I can install inside so that I can get better reception? Like some kind of antenna? Call quality is fine outside, it's just inside that is the problem. I obviously cannot leave my phone outside all the time so that all calls come through.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

You need a 2G or 3G cell extender. Read here:-

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=76094

If you only using it for speaking on the phone then a 2G cell extender will be find for you. If you need it for both voice [[make sure all your phones are 3G capable]] and 3G data, then a 3G cell extender will be the right one.

These cost roughly R35 000.
 
Repeaters are fairly expensive. I know voda and mtn put a few into the bigger government buildings in the city center.

I doubt that it'll be worth it for a single user. Probably cheaper to buy a different phone that has better reception.
 
nuyork said:
You need a 2G or 3G cell extender. Read here:-

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=76094

If you only using it for speaking on the phone then a 2G cell extender will be find for you. If you need it for both voice [[make sure all your phones are 3G capable]] and 3G data, then a 3G cell extender will be the right one.

These cost roughly R35 000.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link - very interesting read. Do you mean that the 3G cell extenders are R35k? If so, have you got an idea how much the 2G ones are?
HavocXphere said:
Repeaters are fairly expensive. I know voda and mtn put a few into the bigger government buildings in the city center.

I doubt that it'll be worth it for a single user. Probably cheaper to buy a different phone that has better reception.
Click to expand...
It would be nice to have 3G as well, but you are right, R35k for a single user is not practical. Voice is the priority at the moment.

Is this thing an example of a 2G extender?

I also looked at http://www.poynting.co.za/productlist.php?id=2&view=all&app=0&type=0 but most products seem to be designed to connect to a 3G data card.

I guess I'm willing to spend between R500-R3000 on something which will bring the signal outside - inside, if anything exists in this price range.
 
I think you could have a licensing issue as you are not allowed to broadcast on the frequency allocated to another carrier. As I understand it, for instance, if the booster received an MTN signal which it then rebroadcast, MTN could prosecute you.Obviously wit a low power indoor unit this would be difficult to detect.

If anyone can confirm or deny this, please post.
 
You're quite right.

Apparently you need to have the permission of the cellphone companies if you want to install something like this for yourself.

Unless you ask the cellphone companies to assist.

I think it's R35k for either 2G or 3G. It's basically the same thing...just different fequencies.
 
Well I just gave MTN a call (the number is 0839001212) and they said that they will send someone over to my premesis for inspection and recommendations, free of charge. This should happen within 5-10 working days.

I'm don't know what will come of this, but I'm holding thumbs.
 
The ceiling and walls have layers of Polystyrene for insulation, which I think is what is killing the signal.
Click to expand...

Never.
Steel, concrete, wet tiles, yes, that will kill the signal.
At the freqs used by cellular, most plastics are like vacuum, unless it's like solid 5 meters thick.
 
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