Cell Phone Signal Boosters- Do They WORK??

[willn513]

Hello All,

So we just bought a new house (yay!) and we love it... mostly...

I have been a Verizon Wireless subscriber for 12 years and I have never had an issue with my signal- until we got the new place...

My phone mostly drops calls on the first floor near the back or the house (KITCHEN of course, where we are all the time...).

My question is are any of you using any type of cell signal boosters or so called "Network Extenders"? It is worth noting that outdoors everything is fine, and also phone works on the 2nd floor no problem.

Changing carriers is not an option for me at this point because my bill is 100% free to me (a work perk).

Also- my wife uses an AT&T cell phone and has the same issue so I am thinking it may have something to do with the structure of the house blocking cell signals.

I am looking into the Verizon Wireless Network Extender made by Samsung, or possibly a Wilson Signal Booster. The downside to the VZW solution is that she is still SOL (sorry honey), but if I can figure out a solution that would work for both of us that would be ideal.

Thoughts?

 

[Canary2323]

You could just use wifi when at home to get better signal, but yes I used a network extender bc I live next to beach and get shitty service. Nothing crazy but was better.

 

[TangoBravo]

We use them like crazy here in wyoming. They do the job but usually aren't spatacular.

 

[Phantom]

Hello All,

So we just bought a new house (yay!) and we love it... mostly...

I have been a Verizon Wireless subscriber for 12 years and I have never had an issue with my signal- until we got the new place...

My phone mostly drops calls on the first floor near the back or the house (KITCHEN of course, where we are all the time...).

My question is are any of you using any type of cell signal boosters or so called "Network Extenders"? It is worth noting that outdoors everything is fine, and also phone works on the 2nd floor no problem.

Changing carriers is not an option for me at this point because my bill is 100% free to me (a work perk).

Also- my wife uses an AT&T cell phone and has the same issue so I am thinking it may have something to do with the structure of the house blocking cell signals.

I am looking into the Verizon Wireless Network Extender made by Samsung, or possibly a Wilson Signal Booster. The downside to the VZW solution is that she is still SOL (sorry honey), but if I can figure out a solution that would work for both of us that would be ideal.

Thoughts?

Call them and tell them that you have service issues in your home, they should send a tech out there and usually the service will be better. I don't know what they do but I had an issue and they sent a tech out and it was like night and day.

 

[TangoBravo]

Call them and tell them that you have service issues in your home, they should send a tech out there and usually the service will be better. I don't know what they do but I had an issue and they sent a tech out and it was like night and day.

How does a tech come out and fix cell phone service? They certainly DON'T do this where I live.

 

[Phantom]

How does a tech come out and fix cell phone service? They certainly DON'T do this where I live.

I called and told them that I had no service and that I was going to go elsewhere and not pay the early termination fee. That's one way to get out of the contract. The manager at my local Verizon shop told me that if I had no service in my home there was nothing they could do about the contract and the fees for early termination of it. i think they put one of their boosters on the side of my house. I was told that a tech would be out on Wednesday, and on Wednesday night after work i had full bars on my phone.

 

[TangoBravo]

Well thats awesome, I wish we had that option here. We have to have boosters to our boosters LoL.

 

[GCTB1289]

most cell carriers will provide you with signal boosters that will go through your internet. they are supposed to give them to you for free if you have bad service in your house. I had to do that at my fire house got one for Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon.

 

[TangoBravo]

most cell carriers will provide you with signal boosters that will go through your internet. they are supposed to give them to you for free if you have bad service in your house. I had to do that at my fire house got one for Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon.

We are so remote that the quality of internet doesn't support the use of boosters through internet. Even our internet has to go through relays to a bigger city 40 miles away, because we dont have a satilite option yet.

 

[willn513]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Good info so far.

 

[drm183]

The main thing I learned when looking into signal boosters is that how well they work is almost entirely dependent on how strong of a signal you receive where you'd mount the external antenna. So if on the roof of your house, you only get one bar and can't make a call, you're not going to have great success (although it's still possible to get it working using a strong external antenna). If you can get 3 or more bars outside, a signal booster will work pretty well for you.

Verizon and AT&T 2G and 3G can both be boosted using a standard dual-band amplifier. If you have a weak outside signal, you'd usually want to use a directional antenna, but since you need to boost two carriers, either the AT&T and Verizon towers would have to be in the same general direction, or you would need to use multiple directional antennas which is a little more advanced. If you have an ok signal outside, you might be able to get away with an omni-directional antenna which sends and receives from all directions and would make it easier to cover both providers.

If you only need signal in a small part of your house, which it sounds like is the case, consider a YX545. It's a less expensive unit that could easily cover a room or two as long as the outside signal is strong enough. If you want something a bit more powerful, the Wilson DB Pro is a great system and comes in a directional and an omni-directional kit. I hope that helps. If you end up getting one, let us know which and how well it works for you.

 

[RayVoy]

If the AT&T phone and the Verizon phone act the same, they could be using the same cell site (one provider leasing from the other)


Try this site to locate the tower: AntennaSearch - Search for Cell Towers, Cell Reception, Hidden Antennas and more.

 

[willn513]

Drm183,

Very informative and explanatory. Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed.

 

[Silver Trooper]

If you are looking for a booster to use in your vehicle, try one of the many systems that Wilson Electronics markets from a simple cell phone holder with built in amplifier to a major amplifier/antenna upgrade.

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[drm183]

Drm183,

Very informative and explanatory. Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed.

You're very welcome. I hope it helps get you one the right track.