External cell phone antenna for home use/extended range?

[Hyrb]

Quick note:
For cell service several things are important to know.

• Every carrier uses a different frequency, type of transmission, encoding etc. so what works for AT&T probably won't work as well if at all for Verizon.
• 3G and 4G use different Frequencies
  
• 1/2G for the most part has been depreciated or will be soon. AT&T used to support a lot of cellular alarm systems and game cameras in this range but they won't work now in most places (but you can buy them on eBay cheap)
  
• Each manufacturer of cell phones has different jacks/adapters/hook-ups for their equipment to use external antennas. Some have taken the option out of the system an you have use a wireless device to link to a real antenna.
• Antennas can be focused on one carrier and signal band or can but a multi-band to cover everything. Guess which type is cheaper
• A multi-band antenna is a compromise, you are trading off a 100% solution for one specific use for an 80% solution for flexibility to multi-task. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.
• There are cell system set-ups for Car, Marine and fixed location.

 

[roundhouse]

We do this for a living. MPD Digital USACoax.com

WiFi, Ham, Cell & Satphone cabling and antennas. Bit of advice

• Don't buy a cheap "booster/amplifier" they don't work - the FCC monitors these very carefully and good ones are expensive, cheap ones make your signal LOUDER without being able to get calls through.
• Don't buy cheap ass Chinese crap. It won't last longer then 6 months
• Getting a good signal does not have to be expensive. We set up cell cameras and systems out in the middle of nowhere and as long as you have a decent antenna and extension cable it isn't hard.
• Don't get ripped off - to hit a cell tower 25 miles away at 3 bars runs about $200 to hit one closer is a lot less.

If you need help putting together a system we can do that. Just PM me, shoot us an email or call. We use ONLY made in the USA cable assemblies (we build them) and Swiss and other high end antennas. No cheap ass commie crap ever.

Do they still make and use the 3 watt cell phones with external antennas like the old bag phones ?


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[FantomKnight]

A guy I used to work with lives near Dalton and had absolutely no reception. So, he built his own cell tower. Now, he makes money off of it by leasing out the connection to the major carriers.

 

[Hyrb]

Do they still make and use the 3 watt cell phones with external antennas like the old bag phones ?

The days of the 3 watt phones are pretty much done. Almost all those towers are gone except in some parts of the West. Those were all Analog phones, all modern smart phones are digital. Totally different network environment. Digital uses less bandwidth, less power, and provides a clearer signal on the upside. On the downside its a Pass/Fail system, either you have a connection - or you don't.

 

[shotgun 01]

OK guys, here is what we did. I know you are looking for a cell phone booster, but if you want a way to stay in touch, this may work for you. We have a place in VERY rural Hancock County. For years we had AT&T for a land line ( in case of emergencies), and Verizon for our cell phones. The phones wouldn't work in the house, except to put them in a particular corner of the kitchen, and then they could only receive texts. We wanted to get rid of the land line, cause they kept getting stupid expensive, but needed some way to call someone, if we needed too.

My wife discovered Straight Talk Home phone service. You can purchase it for use with Verizon or AT&T towers. Verizon works best down there. It is a small box that you plug into the wall (it does have back-up power) and into your phone line. It works great with cordless phones. We have five working off of one jack. The receiver has an antennae that is about five inches tall, that comes up from the back of the unit. It picks up a signal much better than any internal antennae in a cell phone. Our box has signal levels that always show low, but it works.

So, you buy the unit at WalMart and activate it on line. We kept our old AT&T land line number. Next time we went down, we installed it and entered the activation code. Boom, it worked. We now pay $16.00 a month for a phone that works down there. Cool thing is that because it is portable, we bring it back and forth each trip. Now we have one phone number everywhere we go. Went from $80.00 a month for two lines to $16.00 and one number. It worked so good, that two of my neighbors have switched also.

If for some reason it doesn't work for you, you can return it within 30 days, so there really isn't a down side to trying it. Sorry for the long post, but I know what you're going through. Good luck in finding something that works for you.