ga.prime
Well-known member
I don't think Samsung phones work better than iPhones or any other phone, I think they work the same and cost a fraction as much to buy.
Improving Cell service
- Thread starter JMJ Farms
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Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
ga.prime said:
Maybe maybe not i don't know. I do know that my cheap flip phone will have service where the smart phone won't. I know that here at my house you might sometimes catch a bit of service. With the booster we have we have enough service to recieve and make calls.
JMJ Farms said:
We also never buy a phone from Verizon. We use https://swappa.com which will eliminate guessing if it's a stolen phone. It saves money in the long run. I am still running my note 3 and thankfully no issues. I wouldn't "buy" a phone from a network carrier if it was free. Too much fine print and that added $15 a line doesn't usually reduce even after you pay the phone off.
The Wilson boosters work great, if you have good service outside. If you have bad service outside they won't help inside service. If you get one make sure to get a 4G. I live in a metal house so have had one for 6-7 yrs now. Really need to upgrade to a 4G but can't make myself spend $300 for what pretty much amounts to nothing.
greybeard
Well-known member
With a booster, If you have no service inside but "just ok" or poor service outside, the booster will provide the same service inside as you have outside.Lucky said:
Silver
Well-known member
If you go to the trouble of installing a booster for the house, a yagi antenna for the booster is a great cheap investment, and a game changer.
greybeard
Well-known member
Yes, the single dipole under the plastic cover works only minimally.
Yagis are pretty limited in regards to frequency.
LPDA is a needed improvement now that most phones and data wireless transmission is beyond the early 800/1900 MHz.
Yagis are pretty limited in regards to frequency.
LPDA is a needed improvement now that most phones and data wireless transmission is beyond the early 800/1900 MHz.
JMJ Farms
Well-known member
Silver said:
greybeard said:
Either one of you care to elaborate a little on this? Foreign language to me but I'm trying to educate myself and what y'all are talking about sounds promising.
slick4591
Well-known member
Lucky said:
It's Geek.
Silver
Well-known member
greybeard said:
I don't know about the US, but in Canada cell frequencies are between 700 and 2100 MHz, and Yagi's can be purchased (Wilson for example) that cover from 700 to 2500 MHz. This catches 3G, 4G, and LTE up here.
I haven't used an LPDA, although I see them from time to time.
greybeard
Well-known member
I don't and won't pretend to understand everything about antenna theory..and there's a reason it's still regarded a 'theory'. No one knows or fully understands exactly how radio wave transmission and reception works. It is very complex. I'll give it a shot tho.JMJ Farms said:
Cell phones work on specific frequencies, or more aptly, within a specific range of frequencies. It's not like radio (recievers) in your house and cars..cell phones send traffic as well as receive so the number of users in any area can burden down the system and dropped calls become common.
In the early days the USA cell phones were all 800MHz on an analog system called AMPS. Then, as more and more cell phone users joined, the providers needed additional (and wider) bands to be able to provide service to everyone, especially in larger cities. 800-1800MHz was the new common frequency, then 1st came a different architecture called GMS (required a SIM card) , then CDMA digital replaced AMPS and that bumped it up into 800 thru 1900MHz for 2G.
3G uses a combination of 850-190MHZ, and 4GLTE is anywhere between 600 up to 3500MHz in some areas.
5G is going to be anywhere between 300MHz up to 'nearly' 6GHz. There are many sub-sets within the frequencies and different providers use different subsets, including millimeter bands.
There is also db..decibels..I don't really understand that at all.
Dipole means there are only 2 elements to the antenna, and they are identical in length.
Different types of antennas work better for different frequencies.
Yagis work much better for 3G than the single folded dipole antenna that is inside the little box on my booster antenna but they don't work well for the 4g and will work even less when 5G is common.
This is a yagi, but antennas can be very small and do the same thing. Where the cable connects is the driven element. Behind that driven element is a sort of diploe that is nothing more than a reflector. Out beyond the driven element are the collector elements..they are all equal lengths and equally spaced apart. Because the element lengths are all the same, it is very good at receiving signals, but it is restricted to a relatively narrow band of signals due to the equal length elements.
It doesn't have to have the elements exposed to the outside..it can be covered, and usually is.
This is an LPDA. That stands for Log Periodic Dipole Antenna. Notice the elements are different lengths and out near the end, the spacing between the elements is closer. That is what makes it different than a Yagi.
For boosters, they will usually be covered.
Inside it, it will look something like this, with the antenna elements being 'printed'.
When selecting a signal booster (really a repeater with amplification) you need to know which (and how many different) carriers you are going to be using in the household.
Excuse the dust, the other 2 parts of my booster are in a very seldom used room, but they do provide cell and data for the entire house except one small area behind the stairs. With the booster I have cell service inside, and can use my laptop. When the power goes out, I have to go outside to use my phones.
Coax from the outside antenna leads to this amplifier. The gain dials are to dial in better signal..fine tune it so to speak.
That gets the usable signal into the house, boosts it, but I still have to have an available signal "in the air' of the interior of the house for my phone and other devices to receive and use..
From the amplifier is a small (and much shorter) cable which leads to this..it's the transmitting antenna. It's from this, that my phone and evices gets and sends their signals. (yes, the booster is bi-directional..helps in both reception and transmitting (sending).
The amplifier and transmitting antenna have to be a specified minimum distance from the outside receiving antenna to prevent a feedback loop called oscillation from happening. That's where the transmitting antenna signal is being picked right back up by the recieving antenna and what you get is a really dirty crappy unusable signal and data. It varies with different brands and types, but for mine, the minimum distance was 25'.
