I can currently see a couple ways to fixing the One to none bar syndrome in your home or business.
- Bitch loudly and constantly at your cellular provider but stop short of them not answering your calls
- Setup your own cellular repeater system
- Go VoIP on a dual mode cellular+WiFi handset
Solution #1: First and foremost, when a mobile provider has to pay somewhere between $300-$1000/month just to bolt a set of antennas on top of a building, then add in the leased line costs, and the gear; and you get a formula for bitch triage. They just can't make everyone happy. Even with folks like Verizon, T-Mobile, etc all plunking huge amounts of money down for employees to drive around checking coverage; you always end up with pockets of dead that are out of their control. Like for instance, if you happen to be on the other side of a bank vault from the cell site, count yourself lucky if you get any signal at all.
Solution #2: Personal cell repeaters really are legal and they no longer cost a king's ransom. Folks like Cellantenna.com make several solutions of varying sizes. Keep in mind that you MUST get one antenna outside and the amplifier needs power.
The above diagram is "borrowed" from the folks at Cellantenna.com
Cellular Solutions is another result from my Google Search using "cellular repeaters home" as my search criteria. So with lots of solutions to choose from, you need to keep a few things in mind.
- How far away can the exterior antenna be from the indoor amp? Extension cables are NOT a good idea since signal drops logarithmically by cable length.
- If you can't get a good signal in the general location where you'd put the outdoor antenna, you may not want to use an omnidirectional antenna there. Instead go for a yagi (unidirectional) instead that will concentrate the RF energy in a single direction instead of trying to grab it from everywhere.
- Just keep in mind that unidirectional antennas need to be aimed in two dimensions...it needs to point at the cell tower.
- This isn't a magic bullet...there are limits to how much it can amplify. If the signal is too weak, all the amp will do is amplify both noise and signal and all you get is garbage.
- Lastly, these units are typically sized by number of users. If a phone is turned on, it's going to suck up one of those channels on some units, while others only count the number of people actually calling through the system. Make sure you check which one you're buying.
Solution #3: Dual mode handsets are now pretty common and I've already talked about just how good the DiVitas Mobility Solution is in a video I did at the Interop HotStage. However that's only going to help if you've got an IT group that's into VoIP. There is however, another solution from the folks at T-Mobile and that's T-Mobile - HotSpot @Home where you literally setup a T-Mobile hotspot in your home or office. Basically as long as you have a WiFi system that your dual mode phone can connect to, AND a $20/month extra fee subscription, you can have your phone flip over from cellular to WiFi. The best part is that it also doesn't seem to count against your cell minutes, but the catch is that you MUST have an unlimited data plan attached to that dual mode phone. The other catch is that the list of phones supported is fairly short for now, but growing quickly.
Posted by Brian Chee on July 5, 2007 02:47 PM
