Cell phone signal boosters (repeaters)

I'm curious if any fellow permies who live in rural areas with spotty at best cell phone coverage have tried or are using a cell phone signal repeater, and if they have good results with such a device. Reason I'm asking is my wife and I are moving to a rural area, and our cell phone signal (verizon) is weak. I get no signal inside the new home we're building and I need to walk down the driveway to get 1 bar of signal to make a call, and I would say 4 out of 10 calls are dropped. I must note that I have an old phone (it's not a smartphone). My brother, who does have a snazzy smart phone, can get a fairly reliable signal (also verizon) if he stands at the laundry room window to talk. If he ventures further into my 1200sq/ft house, his calls start breaking up, sometimes being dropped. No one gets any bars on their signal meter down in the basement.

I just spent a little time on the interwebs with lord google as my guide, and came across this: https://www.repeaterstore.com/products/cel-fi-go-x?variant=46280293834 but the one caveat is the almost $900 price tag. ugh. I can think of better things I'd rather spend $900 on, like new fence supplies...

What are other folks on permies doing to boost weak cell phone signals?

So our situation sounds quite similar.  Older Nokia "dumb phone", rural living with poor signal, metal siding on house which is great in all respects other than cell phone signals, and 'Tracfone' (Verizon tower) service.  I bought and installed a WeBoost signal booster and it does seem to help.  We are trying to transition away from the landline and I bought an Alcatel 'Big Easy' larger button somewhat-smarter-than-dumb phone, hoping it would have better base strength than my older phone.  Can't tell for sure....both work okay with the booster and better than without.  But I'm concerned about ditching the landline as I'm still getting some dropped calls which I find really stupidly frustrating with the technology at this point.  I think the WeBoost cost around $400.00 if i recall correctly....they may have it listed still on BestBuy's website.  Good luck!

We have no cell phone coverage where we live.  Our son in law installed something that is probably what you are looking at.  Before that we bought an antenna that boosts the signal., like what you might put on your car.

When power goes off which can be often, we are left with the signal booster antenna so we purchased a backup battery so the repeater thing (if that is what it is) will have 30 minutes of power so we can call the electric company and who ever else we might need to call.

Our phone usually has lots of bars.

1) Try cheap first. $900 sounds kinda weird.  I believe there are repeaters that work effectively for a lot less than $900

2) Do you have good internet (not dependent on your phone)? You can get modems/routers that you phone will connect with if the cell signal is low and the phone will then place all calls through the modem and over the net. Check with the cell companies as many offer a piece of equipment like this; the tech has been around for 5 years or so.

3) Verizon has one of the better coverage maps and their CDMA protocol has the longest range of any type of phone signal. Consider carefully before switching.

4) "http://howardforums.com/" is a trove of cell related info. If you spend a few hours there you should get a lot of good thought on the problem. They're not _all_ geeks, but be prepared to read carefully and exercise patience. It's easily the best one-stop shopping for cell info I have found.


Rufus

Rufus Laggren wrote:

2) Do you have good internet (not dependent on your phone)? You can get modems/routers that you phone will connect with if the cell signal is low and the phone will then place all calls through the modem and over the net. Check with the cell companies as many offer a piece of equipment like this; the tech has been around for 5 years or so.


Rufus

Internet is another challenge we're facing. Last we checked, earlier this year in the spring, there were no high speed internet offerings. What I found even more interesting is Viasat satellite internet is unavailable in the area. wtf? I'm no tech geek and actually a bit of a luddite, but I thought satellite internet worked on whatever side of the planet is facing the satellite. I'm guessing that if we can get a decent cell phone signal at the house then internet through verizon may be our best option.

Howdy, I'm a techie.
Before I retired for health reason I installed wireless Internet for ten years. We are lucky to have a mom and pop WISP (wireless ISP) in the little town nearby. Since I'm qualified with photovoltaics,  computerie type stuff and an upcycler I built a 20 foot tower on top of the ridge between our home site and town. Is there a place where you can get up high on your property?
Brian
P.S. I thought maybe a picture might help.

Hey Brian!

Fortunately, the home site is on a hill, so I at least have that in my favor. Since I wrote my last post, I looked on the internets for cell phone tower maps. There is a verizon tower about 4 miles away, and another one farther away in the opposite direction, which doesn't mean much to me since I don't know how far a signal from a tower can go and be useful. I'm assuming that's the one I'm making calls from.

You may find more leads about your local coverage on the howard site.

I believe that, given clear line of sight, it's barely possible that with a good dish antenna you could use that tower 4 miles away. But the issue might be more a legal question, the FCC type, if the tech is available. IAC, the antenna mounting would have to be take-no-prisoners rock solid. Directional antennas pack a lot of punch when they're built, installed and aimed properly. But it _would_ take serious effort, care and some skill to install a long haul link like that properly.

Another sort of similar avenue, maybe, would be to get rights to a spot to place your own wifi to cell bridge near the tower and then aim your antenna home antenna (a wifi antenna) at your bridge and make the long haul as a wifi signal. I think that works, but I have never used that tech myself so you would need research. Also a little social engineering to secure a place for your gear and antennas somewhere near the cell tower. The gear would go in a couple little boxes mounted with the antenna; you would need power 24/7, although if you got ambitious, you could install a UPS up there also.

Just  some ideas. The satellite link would probably be easiest if it becomes available.


Rufus

edit: ah, it sounds like reliable internet isn't available where you are. I guess this won't work for you then.

This isn't what you were asking for, but I think it is better. I use wifi for calls and texts when at my parents' place in the backcountry, and overall it is far cheaper and more reliable.

Either get the cheapest smartphone that supports wifi calling and use that once your house is built, or port your (smartphone only, sorry your dumbphone can't do it) number to google voice for a one time fee of $20. Then install the google voice app on your phone and set it to default for all incoming/outgoing calls over wifi, plus texts. This is all via the internet, so no minutes or data plans enter into this so the lack of cell phone bars doesn't matter so long as you are at home.

You can actually drop service on your phone at this point if you want, or keep it for when you are in town and have better reception. You can also downgrade to some cheap red pocket $5/month plan if you just want cell tower service every now and again, while mostly relying on your GV/WiFi calling/texting.

I don't know if you got this issue worked out or not.
You may have seen these products in this review. Wow, yes  they are pricey  best-cell-phone-signal-boosters
Brian

Before going the cell phone signal repeater route, I took the plunge and bought a new phone. Let's just say I was a hold out and late to the smart phone game. I got a motorolla, the others seemed overpriced to me. I've always been reluctant to get a smart phone as I didn't want another distraction. I must admit that this new smart phone is a handy tool, being able to do things that I would otherwise have to be at home sitting at the computer to do. Much to my delight this phone works waaay better than my old phone out on the farm. I no longer have to walk down the driveway to get a signal to make a call. I can make and receive calls within the house, and haven't dropped a call so far. There's still no signal in the basement, which is fine as I won't be living down there. I wonder if my old phone didn't work well in the country since it wasn't even 3G and was a 1X signal (whatever those are). This shiny new phone is 4G lte (whatever that is) and works pretty well at the farm which is really helpful when a delivery guy is lost and can call and reach me instead of me getting 3 or 4 voicemails 30 minutes later that start off concerned and ramp up to a frantic and irritated driver that can't find my driveway.

As far as cell phone signal goes, I still only get (generally) 1 bar, sometimes I get 2 sporadically, and once in a while I pull the phone out of my pocket to find no bars, so the signal is still weak at the house, but this new phone has indeed been a huge improvement as far as having a phone that works reliably.

I know this is a little bit of a necro post, but I've been struggling with this same issue and figured I'd ask if anyone has any suggestions.

I found this post: https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/blog/best-ways-to-boost-cell-phone-signal, which was helpful, but these repeaters are so expensive I don't want to invest in them if they don't work correctly.

James (if you're still there), did the new phone route still help? I have an LG smartphone that's a few years old, but the issue is inside my apartment, my phone drops calls nearly every time.

Alexander Baker wrote:
James (if you're still there), did the new phone route still help? I have an LG smartphone that's a few years old, but the issue is inside my apartment, my phone drops calls nearly every time.

Hey Alexander! I'm still here! Thanks for reviving this thread. I've been meaning to post an update.

Getting a new phone really did help a lot, but I still had dead zones in the new house. My wife and I decided to spring for a repeater because she can work from home, and that requires a decent internet connection. There are no high speed internet offerings out at the new farm other than through a cell phone provider, or satellite. Interestingly, Viasat doesn't offer satellite internet out there, it's only Hughesnet. So we knew that if we could get a stable 4g signal from verizon (our current carrier), that would suffice for her needs to work from home. We took the plunge and purchased a cel-fi go-x repeater. I installed it, putting the broadcast antenna in the attic aimed down and it works as advertised. I was getting one bar one the phone or an occasional two bars if I stood on one foot, closed one eye and held my breath, and the repeater took that fairly consistent one bar and gives us four bars inside and just around the house, like on the porches. If I stray 20 or 30 feet from the house, I've lost the repeater signal. The signal it rebroadcasts is very localized, but that's ok with us. We now have a stable, consistent signal throughout the house, even in the basement. My wife brought her laptop from work out there one day to test it to make sure she can work from home before we move. She set up her phone as a hot spot and connected to that from her laptop and it was satisfactory.

James Freyr wrote:

Alexander Baker wrote:
James (if you're still there), did the new phone route still help? I have an LG smartphone that's a few years old, but the issue is inside my apartment, my phone drops calls nearly every time.

Hey Alexander! I'm still here! Thanks for reviving this thread. I've been meaning to post an update.

Getting a new phone really did help a lot, but I still had dead zones in the new house. My wife and I decided to spring for a repeater because she can work from home, and that requires a decent internet connection. There are no high speed internet offerings out at the new farm other than through a cell phone provider, or satellite. Interestingly, Viasat doesn't offer satellite internet out there, it's only Hughesnet. So we knew that if we could get a stable 4g signal from verizon (our current carrier), that would suffice for her needs to work from home. We took the plunge and purchased a cel-fi go-x repeater. I installed it, putting the broadcast antenna in the attic aimed down and it works as advertised. I was getting one bar one the phone or an occasional two bars if I stood on one foot, closed one eye and held my breath, and the repeater took that fairly consistent one bar and gives us four bars inside and just around the house, like on the porches. If I stray 20 or 30 feet from the house, I've lost the repeater signal. The signal it rebroadcasts is very localized, but that's ok with us. We now have a stable, consistent signal throughout the house, even in the basement. My wife brought her laptop from work out there one day to test it to make sure she can work from home before we move. She set up her phone as a hot spot and connected to that from her laptop and it was satisfactory.

Thanks for responding! So they seem to work well. I've been eyeing one of these, because budget is an issue for me and I live in a suburban area. But I may go for a Cel-Fi Go-X if you say you've gone from 1 to 4 bars - that's really an incredible change.

Ok I have to ask, what is

a necro post

please?

Necromancy is raising the dead. Most other forums tend to view bringing up threads more than X days or weeks old as a negative thing, and is considered posting to a dead thread, thread necromancy, or necro for short.

This forum is quite different, where knowledge is curated and adding useful info that is on topic to a thread of any age is welcomed. I can understand why some other places with very time sensitive topics wouldn't want people to keep reviving old threads, but it always struck me as being very curious when a thread that is filled with knowledge where someone could make a meaningful contribution would get locked simply because it sat idle for a few days, scattering information around and making it extremely difficult to find important nuggets of knowledge. Compound this with forums changing their file structure and breaking all old links, and you could spend years trying to learn something complex and be left essentially sabotaged. I clearly know this from experience and am extremely grateful for this site!

Daniel Schmidt wrote:Necromancy is raising the dead. Most other forums tend to view bringing up threads more than X days or weeks old as a negative thing, and is considered posting to a dead thread, thread necromancy, or necro for short.

This forum is quite different, where knowledge is curated and adding useful info that is on topic to a thread of any age is welcomed. I can understand why some other places with very time sensitive topics wouldn't want people to keep reviving old threads, but it always struck me as being very curious when a thread that is filled with knowledge where someone could make a meaningful contribution would get locked simply because it sat idle for a few days, scattering information around and making it extremely difficult to find important nuggets of knowledge. Compound this with forums changing their file structure and breaking all old links, and you could spend years trying to learn something complex and be left essentially sabotaged. I clearly know this from experience and am extremely grateful for this site!

Yes, exactly. Was just about to post this exact thing.

I grew up on old Invision forums and posting in threads over a month old could sometimes have really strict consequences - up to and including bans or suspensions.

For those still looking for a low cost alternative that works as well, I found Surecall kit that is cheap yet powerful enough to work in my house. You can read the details and customer reviews here and decide for yourself:
https://www.signalbooster.com/products/surecall-fusion4home-3g-4g-home-building-signal-booster

I am in a similar situation. Verizon is the only service that get constant signal. I get great 4G and full bars at some places on my property, but my place is a bowl and where the majority of the site is is in shadow.

I have been looking on and off for the last 3 yrs. You should only be looking at $400 and up. Anything bellow that is junk and just a waste of money. In fact the price of decent repeaters is what has stopped me for getting one. Well and I like not using my phone for days at a time.

I hope to revive this not so fresh thread because I've been looking for help with the issue of rural signal boosting. I'm particularly interested in Brian Rodgers' post about his 20' antenna tower on the hilltop to get a signal for his cabin downhill. I'm familiar with boosters as I have one on my home in town to improve coverage in my house since my roof blocks all cell signal. I'm looking to get a signal in or around a cabin in a ravine off the side of a river valley. Cell signal is available down the road in the valley or up the hillside out of the ravine, but not down where the cabin is. I'm wanting to know if it is possible to use two directional antennas and a booster to receive the signal from the nearest cell tower, 11 miles away down the valley, from up the hillside above the cabin, and then use a second directional antenna to transmit the signal to the cabin (as opposed to running a cable to an indoor antenna inside the house). I'd be content with signal anywhere around the cabin; it doesn't have to be inside. I estimate the hilltop to cabin distance is about 1000 ft, but I may not need to go all the way to the hilltop to get a signal with a decent antenna and booster. I will need to power the set up with solar panels. Has anyone any knowledge of such a system actually working? Or is retransmission by antenna just not feasible to get a decent signal?

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Don't do it.

Demand fiber optics.

Fiber optic cables are 1/8th the cost of twisted pair copper.

And 1/100th of the cost of wireless crap bullshit toxic bee killing shit.

Fiber is cheap.

RF/5G is really a waste of potential

Simon Torsten wrote:Demand fiber optics.

Demanding is one thing. Convincing a telco to trench fibre to a remote location is another.

I agree with Douglas!

I recently wanted to look into a landline, based on cell phone towers being inoperable during the infamous Dec 31st winter ice storm.

I kept getting told that the only thing that was available was through my internet provider that they did not have fiber optic out here.  I don't want my internet provider as my phone provider.  

After being referred to several different companies and being told the same thing I finally said "As I am driving down the road I see these lines that are not electric lines.  I want a phone that uses those lines."  Finally, they put me in touch with the right person.

Cell service is not available here so we use a booster which I may have mentioned earlier in this thread.

I have the SureCall Fusion2Go and it works great. The installation was quick and easy. Our signal dramatically improved at our home where we live in the country outside city limits.