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Fishfiles

cellular antenna

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We recently changed cellular carriers from ATT to Spectrum , saving $135 per month on two phone and getting move usage for data , but Spectrum coverage sucks , the place it has the worst service is in the house , I heard to get a antenna mount outside for cell phone use inside , people that have metal roofs swear by it , any suggestions on type and model 

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Cricket.

 

We pay $100/month for 4 lines, unlimited everything.

 

And Cricket is ATT for poor people.  Same company, same coverage, same towers 

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Hm..... You have my attention....but i will add this, a metal roof acts as a ground plain, so yes it would help. As for antenna make and model.... Let me do some looking and ill get back to you....... Or you could search   RadioReference.com.

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Saving a 135 per month dropping at&t is kinda blowing my mind. We have 4 lines and unlimited data and our bill is 162? Either spectrum is that cheap or maybe prices are that different up north? But being we just got a metal roof installed on our house i am eager to see what can improve my cell signal. Although havent really noticed much of a change we arent living at the house fulltime yet since we gutted and are remodeling. So maybe i am in for a surprise lol.

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2 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

I heard to get a antenna mount outside for cell phone use inside , people that have metal roofs swear by it ,

 

This ^^^^  is correct

 I have an idea of what might be what you need, it's an outside mobile antenna with it's own ground plane. I never studied much on cell antennas, but I've seen a bunch of these on vehicles.....AND... I have no idea of the frequency range it's the wilson (no pun intended ) 318401 mobile, according to my short research it helps to boost cell signals

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I'm kind of jealous you guys get to choose different carriers. I can but none get any service besides Verizon. If I want to use the phone I have one carrier to choose from, even though I can see the att tower from my house.

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I'm in the same boat ether Verison (which is sketchy most of the time) to AT&T ........ Bell south stopped doing up keep on hard lines, wether routed on poles, or buried under ground, so it's ether Verison, AT&T, radio (ham or other types of radio transmitions ) OR the very old tested and true technique.... raise the window and yell.......then of corse email, or snail mall, nether of which can compete with the speed, and convence of voice transmitions.

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It's been a few years since I dabbled in cell boosters.  First one I did was at the main office for the railroad.  I found the nearest line of sight tower and found out the frequencies it used.  Verizon had way more actual employees that would talk to you and share info back then.  Today?  Good luck.

I purchased a cell booster and a Yagi directional antenna tuned to the frequencies given to me by Verizon.   It worked great for our office.

 

The second one I did was for a temporary emergency command center in an black hole area of our mainline.  It consisted of a wider band Yagi antenna that could be mounted on portable light plant.  One of those generator trailers that had a crank up light tower.  With the nearest tower list in hand, I would have to decide where the trailer was to be place then mount the antenna so when the tower was raised the Yagi would point to the best cell tower.

Luckily we never had to use this setup but it would have worked to establish comms in case of a derailment. 

 

Today with 5G operating on a different frequency range than 4G and LTE you may need to get a system capable of upgrading to a different antenna once 5G gets fully implemented.   I'm pretty sure one can find the cell tower frequencies on the FCC website but as with any .gov website it ain't gonna be easy.

 

 

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Sierra , now you are  scaring me with different frequencies and where to point the antenna

 

There are  many carriers to choose from here , ATT , Verizon , T Mobile , Spectrum , Cricket , etc ------ ATT had great service for us where we live , likely the best .........  we are in the woods , but still close to the cities --- when friends come over to ride ,  many don't have good service , but ATT would work for me any where in the woods , BUT , I was paying $184.35 per month for two lines with unlimited cellular and 9 bits of data per phone ---- Spectrum comes along and say $29 per line flat rate , unlimited , no fees or taxes --- in the house I get 1 bar , on the patio 2 bars , one mile from the house 5 bars , the bill is $59.00 and some change with Spectrum , but it is sucking at the moment 

 

 Wilson brought up some interesting antennas , and it looks like Yagi and Wilson are the same -----  the Wilson brand antennas go from $69  to $300 , $500  to $1,000 ---- which model to get , HMMM  

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I use the term Yagi as a generalization of directional antennas.  There are many brands of directional antennas on the market today.  They aren't hard to set up since one can just slowly rotate the antenna until you get the strongest signal.

 

Here's one example 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cell-Phone-Signal-Booster-Verizon/dp/B07ML28SWS/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=1WZZH96Q0C7P1&keywords=cell+booster+for+home&qid=1662631356&sprefix=cell+booste%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

Edited by 56Sierra
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Oh i didn't mention beam antennas, actually a beam antenna would work better on a stationary unit then an omnidirectional, but then again i never messed with a beam antenna setup.

 

 Thank you fish, now that i think about it, a beam would be better IMO listen to Sierra.

 

and a big thanks to Sierra, very informative post!! 

Edited by _Wilson_™
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This one comes in 700 Mhz  or 500 Mhz models  , it is a Wilson / Yagi 

 

image.png

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40 minutes ago, 56Sierra said:

I use the term Yagi as a generalization of directional antennas.  There are many brands of directional antennas on the market today.  They aren't hard to set up since one can just slowly rotate the antenna until you get the strongest signal.

 

Here's one example 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cell-Phone-Signal-Booster-Verizon/dp/B07ML28SWS/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=1WZZH96Q0C7P1&keywords=cell+booster+for+home&qid=1662631356&sprefix=cell+booste%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

 

 

I just seen your post , missed it before  >>>>>  I can't open that link , I can see it is Amazon 

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You need to find out what frequency Spectrum uses.  In reading the reviews on the Amazon link it's either hit or miss whether it works or not.  My guess is the tower they are trying to reach isn't in the correct bandwidth.  Almost any antenna will work with shear power and brute strength but cell signals are very narrow frequency and very low power so a tuned antenna works best.  Height is also very important. 

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Fish, do you have internet at home or are you relying on cell?  If you do have internet many phones can use Wifi instead of cell for calling.

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8 minutes ago, 56Sierra said:

You need to find out what frequency Spectrum uses.  In reading the reviews on the Amazon link it's either hit or miss whether it works or not.  My guess is the tower they are trying to reach isn't in the correct bandwidth.  Almost any antenna will work with shear power and brute strength but cell signals are very narrow frequency and very low power so a tuned antenna works best.  Height is also very important. 

 

 

We have a lot of tall trees between me and the tower

 

 The closest tower is only about 1/2 mile to the east 

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3 minutes ago, 56Sierra said:

Fish, do you have internet at home or are you relying on cell?  If you do have internet many phones can use Wifi instead of cell for calling.

i have spectrum internet , I have WIFI , it is connecting to the WiFi ,  but is not help the signal issue at all !!!

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I have a good WIFI booster that was bought a couple of years back , used it with ATT when we had parties many people would hook up and drain the You Tube , wonder if that could help 

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10 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

I tried to get WIFI calling going , i-phone is telling me I need to call Spectrum to enable WIFI calling 

Good luck getting someone in this country to speak with.

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I hope this gets him fixed up, i called about my new phone the other day..... Emergency alerts and amber alerts stopped working, i couldn't understand what the guy was saying, i finally asked to talk to someone else..... Then during the call transfer we were disconnected...... But i really would like to get the EMA back up and working!! 

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Well that went terrible , Spectrum tech could not get wifi calling enabled , says go into the store --- and if they did get it working , then it would have to be turned on then off every time you leave and get home , very easy to forget that 

 

then they " can't " give the Mhz frequency out as they don't support booster antennas 

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Figures.  do you know anyone with an oscilloscope?  Poor man's spectrum analyzer.  I used to have a Picoscope at work.  Little box that plugged into my laptop.  I could see how close our company radios were to the assigned frequency. 

 

I'd tell Spectrum it's their internet and their phone.  Either fix it or Starlink will be your next call.

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