[ALime]

Hey all,
I live in a house that was built like a fortress. My office is located in the basement, and no cell phones work down here. I have AT&T, my buddy has Verizon, my brother has Sprint, and my mom has T-Mobile. Needless to say none work in my basement. Is there a product out there that may help in getting a stronger cell phone reception. I need to figure something out until I can get a WIFI Berry with VOIP. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[John Clark]

CellAntenna Corporation: Building Repeaters, Cellular Antennas, accessories, cellphone products.

I purchased a system for an office building from them 3 years ago and it hasn't hiccuped since the day I installed it. Great customer service, too.

[serrano_yejo]

Originally Posted by John Clark

CellAntenna Corporation: Building Repeaters, Cellular Antennas, accessories, cellphone products.

I purchased a system for an office building from them 3 years ago and it hasn't hiccuped since the day I installed it. Great customer service, too.

Which one you will recommend for an apartment? I am with T-MO

[Dawg]

wow they arent cheap.

[djm2]

Originally Posted by Dawg

wow they arent cheap.

True, but if construction techniques limit signal strength, what are you going to do? It (poor signal) seems to have a bigger effect on data services as opposed to voice, at least in my limited experience.

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by djm2

True, but if construction techniques limit signal strength, what are you going to do? It (poor signal) seems to have a bigger effect on data services as opposed to voice, at least in my limited experience.

Oh if I had the problem in my ofice i would certainlydo it but cant rationlize the expense for my home when I have a land line I can use.

[Entropy666]

I personally use spotwaves z1900 but keep in mind all of these cost at least 200$ with the spotwave coming in at 299. You also need to consider that the antenna and repeater need to be at least 40 feet away so that the antenna does not pick up the repeaters signal and cause a loop. Also the antenna in my experience needs to be located on the roof or somewhere where reception is at least 3 bars so that it can transfer the signal to the repeater. I found that with less than 3 bars I had insane issues where my phone reported having service but really did not.

Sorry the link for spotwave is:
https://secure.spotwave.com/productf...er_results.asp

[John Clark]

The one I bought from cellantenna.com was a dual band system 850/1900Mhz. That's what upped the price. If you just want TMo then you can get the single band system. It's much cheaper. AT&T uses alot of 850Mhz so if you get the single band system, you're stuck with TMo (unless AT&T happens to use 1900Mhz in your area.)

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by Entropy666

I personally use spotwaves z1900 but keep in mind all of these cost at least 200$ with the spotwave coming in at 299. You also need to consider that the antenna and repeater need to be at least 40 feet away so that the antenna does not pick up the repeaters signal and cause a loop. Also the antenna in my experience needs to be located on the roof or somewhere where reception is at least 3 bars so that it can transfer the signal to the repeater. I found that with less than 3 bars I had insane issues where my phone reported having service but really did not.

Sorry the link for spotwave is:
https://secure.spotwave.com/productf...er_results.asp

they didnt offer anything for verizon.

[serrano_yejo]

Originally Posted by John Clark

The one I bought from cellantenna.com was a dual band system 850/1900Mhz. That's what upped the price. If you just want TMo then you can get the single band system. It's much cheaper. AT&T uses alot of 850Mhz so if you get the single band system, you're stuck with TMo (unless AT&T happens to use 1900Mhz in your area.)

For TMO :
CAE50 PCS
1900 MHz (PCS, GSM, CDMA, TDMA)


or

CAE50-GEMINI
Dual Band (850 MHz and PCS 1900 MHz)

[dyzs]

Originally Posted by John Clark

CellAntenna Corporation: Building Repeaters, Cellular Antennas, accessories, cellphone products.

I purchased a system for an office building from them 3 years ago and it hasn't hiccuped since the day I installed it. Great customer service, too.

Which system did you implement from them?

[ALime]

Wow, I did not know how expensive these systems where. This may just be my next investment. Thanks everyone for your help.

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by dyzs

Which system did you implement from them?

I can't remember which one exactly. It was a dual band 850/1900Mhz system with 3 repeaters for inside. It came with the antenna, all the cabling, the amplifiers, splitters, and repeaters. It was simple to install and has been very reliable for 3 years. I would definitely purchase another from them, if necessary. They are very helpful on the phone as well. It seems like after I received it I needed another 50' of cable and they were quick to get it out to me.

I've since seen their installtions in other office buildings, shopping malls, airports, etc.

[dyzs]

Originally Posted by John Clark

I can't remember which one exactly. It was a dual band 850/1900Mhz system with 3 repeaters for inside. It came with the antenna, all the cabling, the amplifiers, splitters, and repeaters. It was simple to install and has been very reliable for 3 years. I would definitely purchase another from them, if necessary. They are very helpful on the phone as well. It seems like after I received it I needed another 50' of cable and they were quick to get it out to me.

I've since seen their installtions in other office buildings, shopping malls, airports, etc.

Sounds like the CAE-500. How many hours did the install take you? How many square feet/floors were you trying to cover?

If there are enough users in the area and people complained, why wouldn't the service provider set up their own repeater? In other words, why are people putting these systems in place on their own dollar?

[John Clark]

Seems like I did it in an afternoon. It only covers basically one floor. sorry, I don't remember the square footage. It's an office attached to a large aircraft hangar. There are only 30 people at most that work in the building and of those only about half are there at any one time. Signal was fine outside but inside the metal building the signal was weak and calls would drop.

I've never heard of the carriers setting up their own repeater systems in a building for you.