Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Boosting Cell phone signal

I know with the business that I am in I should know the answer to this but I just don't get into the RF side of things.

I am building a house on my pond property and my cell phone signal at the house is not great (it is fine at the trailer). I measured the signal in different locations inside the house an it is -94 dB to -104 dB. Right outside the house it is not much better being -92 dB to -95dB. Does anyone have any experience of using signal boosting technology? I found this company on the net Wilson Electronics Inc. www.wilsonelectronics.com

I believe that all of the major providers now provide some brand of "FemtoCell." Basically, it is the equivalent of a cell site that you place in your building. It connects to the phone network via a broadband Internet connection.

MicroCell/FemtoCell

Lassig,

The cornfield I live in also has horrible cell reception. I found a company called Cellular Solutions and their suggestions for me wroked as described. I bought an external receiver that I have mounted on a pole about 18' above the ground on the corner of my shop, a decent sized amplifier, and splitter, and a couple of internal antennae. I have a 50x100 insulated metal shop that is also skinned with metal on the inside and a 16x16 office on one end. My amplifier feeds an antenna both in my office and in my shop. I bought a dual band amplifier. No matter who walks into my building (cell phone carrier)the signal strength lights up light a Christmas tree. It was an excellent purchase and I couldn't be happier, especially since I now use cell phones exclusively for my business/employees. My advice is to call them up, describe your situation, and let them help size the system for you. It was not a cheap system that I bought (> $1K) but there is no subscription so it was a one-time cost and it works awesome. For me, it was worth every penny.

I bought a zBoost dual band repeater (about 400 bucks) and it doesn't work all that well. It is supposed to cover up to 2500 sq ft, but it dont. You need to be within a few feet to get any gain. I got tired of moving the antenna so I just packed it up. I am in a better location now so maybe I'll try it again.

We have a Sprint unit at work and that works quite well. Once in a while you have to reboot the unit. Only drawback is if it goes down while powered up your cell phone or air card wont work at all. That happened one day, sure was a quiet day.

Shawn got the right one. I looked into them a few years ago but was not prepared to fork out that kind of money. When the time is right and I get the property ready to move in, I'll have them set me up.

Thanks for the replies guys. Femto will not work for me since there is no loop or cable with 3/4 mile of my place, not even pots.

Shawn I will have to check with them on Tuesday. I plan on living at the location and working from it. So high speed data is needed. I am on the net right now 100' for the house and I have a signal strength of of -82 dB. If I move to the house it drops to -95 or lower. What makes this hard to believe is that the trailer sits lower than the house and should be getting worst signal strength.

lassig,

Did you ever check out the Cradlepoint Routers? I really like my MBR1000. The furthest I ever tested it was about 500 feet. It was inside my trailer and I was out in the garden. Worked excellent! Not sure what wireless card my laptop (HP nw8440) has, but that has quite a bit to do with it. I can pick up my brothers MiFi a couple hundred feet away, around a house, and inside his studio. I can also pick up my Cradlepoint at his place excellent, but he cant pick it up at all. He has a cheap Belkin on his desktop. That's another thing to consider.

Yes I checked them out and been asking them some questions. Plan on buying the MRB900 very soon. Found some good prices on it for around $110.

I use this one.

I used the kit with the high gain directional outdoor antenna. I wish I would have gone this route years ago. My 3G data speed went from "may-or-may-not-work" to 1.5 - 1.9 MB download speed and my cell signal went from 1 or 2 bars(on a good day) to 5 bars. It covers my 40x80 office/warehouse and also improves the signal significantly in our home well.

It is high recommended, though expensive.

Nice Dwight! Wilson is one of the backbones of this discussion. Thanks for your input!

Thanks Dwight That is one of the units I have been considering and here first hand experience makes the decision to spent the money that muxh easier

Dang bugs on the screen. Sitting outside trying to get a glimpse of some fireworks far away. Saw a couple colors through the trees! Now, just wondering what kind of critter is behind me right now, in the woods! People are too big to eat, Right!!!

Stupid Bugs!

Skeeters are all gone! But got some bugs that appear to be seriously in heat with the screen. A good scrubbing should do the trick.

Before I installed mine I went to all cell towers in my area and mapped out the signal strength back to our location. In this case the best signal came from a tower nearly 10 miles away. Though there were closer towers their signals were apparently attenuated by something in the path to my location. The logical choice was only 4 miles away but it was a dud.