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Thread: cell phone reception boost

  1. #1
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Default cell phone reception boost

    Besides going out and buying a couple hundred dollars worth of equipment is anyone using a simple signal booster for their cell phone.

    I live inside an aluminum siding covered box with a sheet metal roof. I can only get signal at one window on the north side of the house (tower is north of me 2 miles away), and that signal is weak.

    Outside I get all the bars.

    I effectively, live inside a Faraday cage. I can not get radio or TV reception inside either.

    Sitting on the back porch to talk is not a problem in the summer, but the evenings are dipping back into the teens this time of year and I am missing calls and getting dropped due to weak signal constantly, besides the tiring nature of standing at the window to talk. Makes me feel like I am in an old fashioned phone booth!

    Yes this is definitely a survival question since I would like to be able to call emergency services from anywhere in my house and not just a 3 foot semicircle around one window.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member WalkingTree's Avatar
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    I can only get signal at one window on the north side of the house (tower is north of me 2 miles away), and that signal is weak.
    I can not get radio or TV reception inside either.
    Must be nice.
    The pessimist complains about the wind;
    The optimist expects it to change;
    The realist adjusts the sails.

    - William Arthur Ward

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by WalkingTree View Post
    Must be nice.
    I was thinking the same thing.

    Why get away from it all, then try to access it?

    No hypocrisy here, kyrat. I do the same thing, but I don't have reception problems.
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

  4. #4

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    I've got nothing for you on the booster. We had to wait for another tower to be built before we got coverage over in NC. We would go into town so Kelly could call her Mom and sisters. I'd get on line and check the forums. Then one year we got up there and voila, we had reception. Now it's pretty much everyday Kelly is on the phone. And they are talkers. Sadly it's taken something away from our off the grid summers. But I hope you get some reception soon.

  5. #5
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Sorry fellows but I am not in a quest to "get away from it all".

    I have been "away from it all" for years at a time and discovered that, in general, it sucks. I am not hauling water, splitting wood, taking trips to the outhouse in the snow or navigating by kerosene lamps any more unless I have to.

    I want my access to electricity, running hot and cold water, the fire department, TV, radio, telephone and the internet. I also have come to refer to my compass as back up to the GPS and the cell phone sure beats smoke signals and leaving post it notes in zip lock bags at the cattle gate.

    I want my wilderness to start only when I walk out the door and to end when I get back home.

    I am getting to the age where I need to be able to call for emergency services from any room in the house, not just while standing in front of one specific window with one foot on the sofa and the other on top of my head.

    Speaking of which we do have folks on here that complain of the modern intrusions while using their wifi equipped laptops or tap-a-talk remotely from wherever.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Was kinda looking around at boosters today....most seem to be for ..areas.. that have poor coverage...not just inside your building.

    At 'The Place"..We used to go up on the ridge...and hold the phone out the window....but they put a new on the ridge across the river...I can see the flashing red light.
    So now phone works pretty good from the recliner ...the modem is slow, but work as well.

    You may have to look for an exterior antenna....?
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    I have also been looking and found a deal at Walmart with an exterior antenna and inside booster on sale. It will work as a small cell tower inside the house. Should work all over.

    I have been working with this situation for 8 years and should have addressed it back when I moved here. There have been many missed calls and problems due to the situation. Back in the summer my doctor was trying to get in touch with me for 2 weeks and I was not getting either calls, messages or text. I just happened to stop in the office for an unrelated matter and they grabbed me immediately.

    Cost is less than one month of land line use and I have not had a land line in years so I will still be ahead for cost efficiency.
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  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by kyratshooter View Post
    Sorry fellows but I am not in a quest to "get away from it all".

    I have been "away from it all" for years at a time and discovered that, in general, it sucks. I am not hauling water, splitting wood, taking trips to the outhouse in the snow or navigating by kerosene lamps any more unless I have to.

    I want my access to electricity, running hot and cold water, the fire department, TV, radio, telephone and the internet. I also have come to refer to my compass as back up to the GPS and the cell phone sure beats smoke signals and leaving post it notes in zip lock bags at the cattle gate.

    I want my wilderness to start only when I walk out the door and to end when I get back home.

    I am getting to the age where I need to be able to call for emergency services from any room in the house, not just while standing in front of one specific window with one foot on the sofa and the other on top of my head.

    Speaking of which we do have folks on here that complain of the modern intrusions while using their wifi equipped laptops or tap-a-talk remotely from wherever.
    I hear you. I use that term loosely, like I think most do. I guess I really meant, "Get away from some of it." I have no desire to move back to the stone age, either.

    Modern conveniences are, well, convenient (for the most part). I moved from SoCal to rural Arkansas, and I occasionally miss the ability to get anything you want, whenever you want it. Mostly raw materials, like metals. I still wouldn't move back.
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

  9. #9
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    I don't really feel that I miss much of anything living in a rural area in the eastern U.S. Even though I am in the country I am still 45 minutes from downtown Cincinnati, 50 minutes from Lexington, little better than an hour from Louisville.

    With the price of gas at its present rate I can drive to any of those urban areas to pick up raw materials for less than the shipping cost on most items. It also means that I have Bass Pro, Gabellas, Gander Mountain, and many other outlets in that same area.

    All of the normal non-sporting goods outlets are close by too. The NKY urban area is really one big shopping outlet with only curb bumpers separating the various parking lots. That condition rules supreme from the Ohio River for 15 miles south. I can be mixed up in that mess in about half an hour driving time. This time if year I avoid going to town as much as possible. Outside of the Holiday season the experience is semi-tolerable.

    I also have access to Buds Gun Shop, Kentucky Gun Company, Centerfire Systems, and Anderson Mfg. in less than a one hour drive. Being inside this state I can buy either long guns or handguns with the simple presentation of my CCW permit. No shipping fees, no LGS transfer charges and the only wait I have is for the products to go from the warehouse to the retail desk.

    Being in North KY I also have access to three good indoor range facilities, one private outdoor club range, one public range facility and about 30 miles away as the crow flies I have Friendship Indianian with the Walter Cline facility where I have access 365 days a year with no use fee other than my membership in NMLRA. I am also close enough to Camp Perry to run north for some shooting during the Nationals.

    And in what some would call more practical matters, I am close to some very good medical facilities of world wide repute in case things go more haywire than they have so far.

    All of that is a primary reason I reside where I do. I did not move here until I was in my 50s, and thought the change over thoroughly before I made it. I am sure there is a down side, but it has not discovered me yet.
    Last edited by kyratshooter; 11-28-2017 at 12:50 PM.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

  10. #10

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    It's not really the distance to an urban area that's the issue for me. I'm an hour from Little Rock. The problem is finding anything even there.

    For example, I am having trouble locating a lace to buy metal for knives. I know I can order online, but it always bugs me to pay more for shipping than the for the item. And I am in North Little Rock every day of the week. Yes, I'm stupid. I drive 53 miles one way as a commute. There are sheet metal building supply places everywhere, but all they have is sheet metal and angle iron.

    it's an Arkansas problem, not just a rural problem.
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Check with a local specialty tool and die shop. They will have a local supply for specialty steels if they do any real die work at all.

    When I worked in the shop we had to use specified steels for various die parts and the boss made a phone call and they were delivered within minutes.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Pipe and Tube Supply. No minimum. Cut to length. 1407 North Cypress, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114.

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    Pipe and Tube Supply. No minimum. Cut to length. 1407 North Cypress, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114.
    Why didn't this come up when I searched?
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnLeePettimore View Post
    Why didn't this come up when I searched?
    Because your googlefu is weak Grasshopper.

    You must spend more time learning from the master.

    I have had the exact same thing happen many times. I search and then come here and ask and three or four people google search with the wording of the query changed slightly for each one and they get things that never came onto the screen for me.

    Google even tells me I do not want what I want, I want something else that is what they wish I would want.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    May the force be with you...

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Google is female....She imposing her will on you.....
    Kinda like a electronic wife..... "You don't need that.....So I'm not gonna tell ya..."
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  17. #17

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    I'm actually pretty good at searching, Old Man, but Google does drive me crazy sometimes.

    Biggest peeve: results that don't have all of my keywords.
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

  18. #18

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    Not to drag this post back on topic or anything. LOL

    Kyrat did you buy the rig from Walmart. I need to get something like this for my truck and UTV.

  19. #19
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    The unit I was researching used a large external antenna and needed a 110ac power source.

    It appears that the plug in section was a step down adapter of some sort, so DC power might be possible but the antenna is about 2 feet long and might be a hindrance on a small vehicle.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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