Mobile phone signal booster

May 20, 2005 1:29 PM

I am looking for a proven, simple and possibly cheap way to boost my mobile phone's signal. Inside my house I have no signal, however on the roof I can sometimes get a signal and make phone calls. I know there are repeaters, but does anyone know of a product that is tried and works well. Oh, and I am on Bell CDMA in Canada
posted by bright77blue to Technology (10 answers total)

I would recommend calling your carrier and asking them to boost the signal strength of your local tower since you do get coverage on your roof. Lodge a complaint, and follow up on it regularly.
posted by riffola at 1:59 PM on May 20, 2005

Diverting the calls to your landline when you're home?
posted by cillit bang at 2:01 PM on May 20, 2005

I work for the engineering department of a cell company, and I'm sad to tell you that there's not anything you can do except get a different (higher quality) phone.

Although calling your carrier is not a bad idea, I can tell you that they can't just "boost" the signal strength of the tower. What you need is a closer tower; probably, you are just on the edge of a tower's range and the signal isn't so great.
posted by Specklet at 3:54 PM on May 20, 2005

Response by poster: I will call the phone company. I am a radio ham, and understand a bit of RF, and thought that there might be a cheap repeater/passive system available to solve my problem. I have no landline.
posted by bright77blue at 4:29 PM on May 20, 2005

I know nothing about RF engineering, but I suspect that a passive repeater might work.

Unassisted, at home, my phone doesn't ever get a strong enough signal to actually make calls. Though I haven't gotten around to trying anything more sophisticated, I've found that I can get a pretty good signal by pointing a parabolic piece of chinese cookware in the general direction of the cell tower and putting the phone near the focal point.
posted by sfenders at 5:11 PM on May 20, 2005

I got this sort of sticky, metal "antenna booster" for free when I bought something. I haven't felt the need to install it. Do they actually have any function?
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:53 PM on May 20, 2005

My understanding is that the antenna booster stickers are basically junk. In theory (I speak as someone with some RF engineering theory but no real experience) it'd be possible to make a better antenna and couple it to the cell phone's internal antenna; the internal antenna is a compromise between size and performance. But the stickers don't look like what I'd expect such a thing to look like, and what little I've read online about the "antenna boosters" hasn't been positive.
posted by hattifattener at 11:32 PM on May 20, 2005

I've purchased a couple of auxilliary antennas. They attach to the phone with a jack. It's a 6" skinny antenna, with a magnetic base, and a really long cord. It seems they're intended to be used in a vehicle, but I use it in the house because otherwise the cell phone is useless there. It really does work. Note: it will not make more "bars" appear in the display, but it does definitely improve reception.

Total cost was $40. I bought it at my cell phone provider's mall outlet.
posted by yesster at 6:36 AM on May 21, 2005

It'd be useful to know which phone and whereabouts in Canada you are.

Spotwave makes a good product, although I know nothing about pricing. These are very highly recommended.

The fine folks at Howard Forums would probably have more suggestions for you.

Oh, and RF stickers are junk, don't even bother.
posted by danwalker at 7:23 AM on May 21, 2005

Spotwave's home system costs $995!! (No missing decimal there.) Forget it.
posted by IndigoRain at 10:47 PM on May 21, 2005