How can I boost a Cell signal from 1/2 mile away?

[birwin]

Hi,

I occasionally go camping on some family property where we have no cell coverage (Verizon). There is a small hill about 1/2 mile away that has excellent reception. When we hike to the top of it we can make calls with no problems. I believe the phone says it is an analog signal when we use it.

I would like to place a repeater / booster / ? whatever on top of this hill. Probably it would nbe solar powered / 12 volts...

Any ideas of products I could look into that would solve this problem.

Thanks for your input.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by birwin

Hi,

I occasionally go camping on some family property where we have no cell coverage (Verizon). There is a small hill about 1/2 mile away that has excellent reception. When we hike to the top of it we can make calls with no problems. I believe the phone says it is an analog signal when we use it.

I would like to place a repeater / booster / ? whatever on top of this hill. Probably it would nbe solar powered / 12 volts...

Any ideas of products I could look into that would solve this problem.

Thanks for your input.

Repeaters that are available commercially are only effective at best up to 10,000 square feet. They are designed for areas where there is decent street level coverage, but indoor coverage is poor. You may want to try purchasing a yagi antenna and mounting it on a pole, or towards the top of the tree.

-Jay

[Maximum Signal]

do you have no service at all in the desired locaion? I f youdo than you do not need to place the amplifier on the hill , just at the location.

Originally Posted by birwin

Hi,

I occasionally go camping on some family property where we have no cell coverage (Verizon). There is a small hill about 1/2 mile away that has excellent reception. When we hike to the top of it we can make calls with no problems. I believe the phone says it is an analog signal when we use it.

I would like to place a repeater / booster / ? whatever on top of this hill. Probably it would nbe solar powered / 12 volts...

Any ideas of products I could look into that would solve this problem.

Thanks for your input.

[spleck]

Originally Posted by birwin

I believe the phone says it is an analog signal when we use it.

When was the last time you verified that signal? With the analog sunset, you may no longer have that analog signal, or it may have been replaced by a digital signal with more or less coverage area.

I would try an external antenna on your phone first, but the hill may be blocking your line of sight.

[birwin]

There is no coverage at the camping site. If I am not mistaken, the Yagi antennae will only help if I can get a signal. The hill (1/2 mile away) is the closest place that gets any signal. Am I right in assuming aYagi will not help in this instance?

I believe the signal is still analog. I know it was three months ago and I did not notice Monday (Last camping trip), but everything else was behaving the same (Same hot spots, etc...)

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by birwin

There is no coverage at the camping site. If I am not mistaken, the Yagi antennae will only help if I can get a signal. The hill (1/2 mile away) is the closest place that gets any signal. Am I right in assuming aYagi will not help in this instance?

I believe the signal is still analog. I know it was three months ago and I did not notice Monday (Last camping trip), but everything else was behaving the same (Same hot spots, etc...)

A yagi is directional, and of course if you went 20 0r 30 feet up you may find better signal as well.

-Jay

[spleck]

Originally Posted by birwin

There is no coverage at the camping site. If I am not mistaken, the Yagi antennae will only help if I can get a signal. The hill (1/2 mile away) is the closest place that gets any signal. Am I right in assuming a Yagi will not help in this instance?

I believe the signal is still analog. I know it was three months ago and I did not notice Monday (Last camping trip), but everything else was behaving the same (Same hot spots, etc...)

I suggested the antenna because you may have some signal at the campsite, but not strong enough to be usable. Either a better omni or a directional might get you to the point of usability, but if the signal is on the other side of that hill, then probably not.

I don't imagine there is a big market for field deployable, ruggedized, solar-powered cell repeaters. You might try the oh-so-difficult passive repeater system where you have one antenna aimed at the cell site connected to another antenna aimed at your camp. I've only heard people talk about them (mainly for wifi), but few get it to work.

Also, analog sunset was 2/18/2008, but I think you would have noticed some difference if it was shut off. I was hoping for your sake that you'd get a stronger digital signal in exchange. I think Alltel still has some analog running. What area are you in?

[birwin]

The camp site is in Southern Utah... Near Hatch. The cell coverage is fairly constant on the highways, but once we dive offroad into the hills we are lucky to get reception. I will double-check the analog signal when I return. Like I said, I don't recall it being any different, but that may have been a detail I overlooked.

I believe I will try the antennae since it will be much cheaper to try and I may be dealing with weak signals. Thank you guys for your input!

[TheNasaWildman]

I have a Wilson 801201 Dual-band Wireless cellular amp, I purchased from Cellular Amplifiers Repeaters - Cellular Antennas - Cell Signal Boosters & I often travel between Alltel coverage markets in a very Rural part of South Mississippi for about a 10 mile section, where no wireless provider has service & with the booster my phone & my friends who have other service providers, (except nextel, or southern linc wireless) have went from 0 signal to at least 1 to 2 signal bars or more. If you want I very good product, then try this Wilson. They have been in the CB radio, & Ham radio bussiness for years. This might just be the answer you were looking for...

[spleck]

Here are the direct links for the unit TheNasaWildman has. Looks pretty promising. I'm envisioning one of these in a weather proof box with a car battery attached to a solar panel to charge the car battery.

Wilson 801201 Dual band Wireless cell phone repeater amplifier.

Wilson 801201 Amplifier In-Vehicle and Car Kit by Wilson Electronics

Actually, I was thinking for this price range, I could get one for my wife's office since she has a sporadic signal throughout her building.

Also, see the "newer" unit: Wilson_801230 Wireless Mini-SignalBoost | RepeaterStore.com

[TheNasaWildman]

Great Job , & thanks for the info Spleck on Wilsons new product. I for your research.......

[RJB]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

A yagi is directional, and of course if you went 20 0r 30 feet up you may find better signal as well.

-Jay

I would recommend this what Jay said.

[fonboy]

The Wilson Electronics products work very well. They are also located in Southern Utah (St. George) Cell Phone Antennas and Cell Phone Boosters at Wilson Electronics ...call Ginger there 1-800-204-4104 ext 120 ...she can tell you what products work the best...and tell her that SoCal sent you!

[shango]

Alltel and a few others are still operating analog today, but it will be almost all gone by the end of the year. Before you go and invest several hundred dollars in an amp I would recommend you wait till Nov-Dec and see if you get any usable signal on the hill.

[fonboy]

When the carriers take the analog system off their tower, they will increase the call capacity of the tower, not the signal strength! Even with the analog being gone the tower will have the same power level. The Wilson products will boost BOTH analog and digital signals. If you need a boost now, no need to wait until the analog side is gone!

[spleck]

Originally Posted by fonboy

When the carriers take the analog system off their tower, they will increase the call capacity of the tower, not the signal strength! Even with the analog being gone the tower will have the same power level. The Wilson products will boost BOTH analog and digital signals. If you need a boost now, no need to wait until the analog side is gone!

He may not have a signal at all once the analog goes away, since he's not getting digital at the moment.

[shango]

Originally Posted by spleck

He may not have a signal at all once the analog goes away, since he's not getting digital at the moment.

Exactly, and amps or antennas do get around hard distance limits/access windows that are applied to digital signals.

Also he could have a pilot pollution problem if hes on a hill and the phone sees a digital signals from several towers.
Analog will be shut of in southern Utah in about 90 days. The phone will always seek a digital signal first, if it cant find one or if the digital signal is unusable it will kick to analog. If your not getting one now its not likely you will get one later as the digital build out is complete in Utah.

[TheNasaWildman]

Cellular & Pcs amps can only solve some problems.. It it recomended that you ckeck you coverage area closely, then see if you are on the fringe limits of a zone, if so these Wilson Boosters will work well, But only within a reasonable distance, not if you are in the middle of the Desert, unless your carrier has a Cell site somewherenear or within about 5 to 9 miles, give or take a mile or two...

[william007]

Great Job , & thanks for the info Spleck on Wilsons new product. !

[NickyHavok]

Yeah this was really helpful.
I'm rarely in any kind of place where I get zero signal, but the reception at my house [North Salt Lake, UT on a large hill] isn't so hot. I'm going to look into getting one of these wilson receivers.
thanks!

-Niki

[spleck]

Originally Posted by NickyHavok

Yeah this was really helpful.
I'm rarely in any kind of place where I get zero signal, but the reception at my house [North Salt Lake, UT on a large hill] isn't so hot. I'm going to look into getting one of these wilson receivers.
thanks!

-Niki

Please report back your results! I think we all would like to hear more field reports about their effectiveness.